Note 120 — COMMENCEMENT OF THE EXPEDITION (continued 6)

It is usually conceded that none of the early explorers—Cabrillo, Sir Francis Drake, or Viscaino—sighted the present San Francisco Bay, although that name had been applied to the harborage under Point Reyes, now known as Drake's Bay. Therefore it was the land expedition under Portata (1769-70), who first saw the southern shore of the great bay, and attempted to pass around it to old Port San Francisco. Failing in this, the party turned back to Monterey and were succeeded by two more exploring parties in 1773 and 1774. The following year (1775) Ayala first entered the bay from the ocean. Serra had long wished to found a mission in honor of Saint Francis; he therefore besought a colony from Mexico, to establish a presidio which should guard such an outlying mission. This being arranged, an expedition under the lead of Moraga set forth in 1776, and in September of that year formally installed the presidio, the mission being dedicated in October. The mission lay south of the fort, and is now included in the limits of the city, where the church (dedicated in 1795) still stands. It was never a prosperous mission, owing partly to the climate, and partly to the character of the Indians. Moraga continued as commandant of the presidio until his death in 1785. Fort San Joaquin was finished in 1794, when there was a total population of about one thousand. The United States flag was raised on the plaza in 1846. Under the Spaniards, San Francisco was always an outpost maintained for defense; its importance began with the discovery of gold in 1848.—Ed.