Settlement of California

In 1542, Juan Cabrillo discovered San Diego Bay.
The Spanish kept this discovery a secret to prevent other European powers (England, Russia, France) from entering the region.

Junipero Serra, a Franciscan monk, accompanied the settlement of San Diego.
He established a mission in San Diego and founded 21 missions along the California coast.
Serra encouraged missionaries to learn indigenous languages and shared hardships with the natives they sought to convert.
He practiced self-flagellation and other extreme forms of physical punishment to purify his spirit, which was considered extreme even at the time.

Serra's journey to California was prompted by a royal decree by Carlos III, expelling all Jesuits from the Spanish Empire as part of the Bourbon Reforms.
Franciscans, like Serra, filled the void left by the Jesuits.
Missions functioned like a cult: natives had to voluntarily choose to stop living like a native, settle permanently at the missions, learn the Catholic faith, adopt European dress, and learn a trade.
They were segregated by sex in separate dormitories and faced physical punishment if they tried to escape.
Many natives were drawn to missions for the promise of food (porridge).

Despite the incentives, many indigenous people resented the suppression of their culture.
Newly baptized natives were called "neophytes."
At the San Gabriel Mission, neophytes strained resources and caused conflict with the Gabrielino/Tongva natives, who remained independent in the mountains.
The Tongva natives included several tribes: Cucamonga, Pimugonga, Topanagna, among others.
The Spanish prohibited traditional dances crucial for the souls of the dead to enter the afterlife, causing significant resentment.
Spanish soldiers frequently raped native women without punishment, further fueling resentment.

Nicolas Jose, a neophyte and the first alcalde (mayor) of the San Gabriel Mission, became disillusioned after being punished for providing women to soldiers.
He planned a revolt against the Spanish in October 1785 and recruited Toypurina.
Toypurina, a 25-year-old medicine woman from the Quiche people, rallied other indigenous villages to join the revolt.
On October 25, 1785, Toypurina and a group of armed men attacked the mission, but their plan was thwarted when a guard, Jose Maria Pico, overheard their plot and alerted the Spanish soldiers. Jose Maria Pico later fathered the last Mexican governor of California.
The plotters were apprehended and put on trial. Toypurina expressed anger at the Spanish for occupying native lands.
Toypurina was convicted and imprisoned for three years before being sent to the San Carlos Borromeo Mission.
Nicolas Jose was sent to the San Dolores De San Francisco Mission and remained a prisoner for six years on half rations with shackles.
The other male plotters were publicly lashed.
While incarcerated, Toypurina converted to Christianity, taking the name Regina Josefa.
She married a Spanish soldier, Manuel Montero, and had three children.
She died in 1799 at age 39. Her conversion and marriage are often seen as acts of convenience rather than genuine affection.
Toypurina has become a symbol of indigenous resistance.

French explorers encountered plains tribes who had members that couldn't be classified as male or female, calling them "berdache."
Berdache is now considered an offensive term; the preferred term is "two-spirit."
Two-spirit individuals possessed both male and female characteristics, occupying a third gender role.
This gender was often assigned in childhood if a child preferred women's work or had a significant vision or dream.
Two-spirit individuals often became shamans or healers, fulfilling a specific role within their tribe.
One of Crazy Horse's wives was said to be two-spirit.
Two-spirit individuals' teepees were often elaborately decorated, making them skilled interior decorators.
Two-spirit individuals allowed communities to integrate atypical individuals without stigmatization.
The US government suppressed two-spirit traditions, especially on reservations, as indigenous people were pressured to conform to Euro-American gender roles.

The mission at San Diego was founded in 1769 by settlers traveling overland via the Gaspar de Portolá expedition, the first recorded European land expedition into California.
Portolá became the governor of California.
The expedition traveled over 900 miles to reach San Diego Bay, where Spanish ships awaited with supplies.
Only half of the original 300 settlers survived the journey.
The Mission de San Diego Del Alcalá was placed among the Kumeyaay, the indigenous people of the San Diego Bay area. The People at the San Diego Mission were known as the Agueno.
Tensions were high, and the mission was attacked a few months after its establishment. Serra's servant was killed by natives.
After the initial settlement, the Spanish could only access Alta California by sea, as no expeditions traveled from the east.

Juan Bautista de Anza, captain of the military fort at Tubac, secured permission from Spain to find an overland route to California from the east.
The Presidio at Tubac was established among the Yuma, a semi-sedentary agricultural society.
The Yuma, led by Salvador Palma, allied with the Spanish and helped the Anza expedition cross the Gila and Colorado Rivers.
This marked the first time Spanish forces successfully crossed the Colorado River.
The Anza expedition set out from Tubac in 1774 with 600 settlers and supplies; they experienced thirst, exhaustion, and starvation.
Anza adopted a policy of non-violence towards natives.
Upon arriving in San Diego Bay, they were welcomed by an earthquake.
They faced dire conditions and were rationed only three tortillas a day, supplemented by foraged herbs, roots, and small rodents.
Most expeditions had to return to Yuma for provisions.
Anza returned to California in the fall/winter of 1775-1776 after an indigenous rebellion at the San Diego Mission, where they killed Serra's servant.
The Revolt led to halted construction of the Mission of San Juan Capistrano.

Indigenous allies were critical to the Spanish Empire's expansion to Texas, Mexico, and California.
Indigenous people remained a political entity with power in the frontier.

In 1781, the Quechan (Yuma) revolted against the Spanish, closing the overland trail laid by Anza. Spanish could no longer make the journey to california through the land.
For the next forty years, no Spaniard could come up to California overland
For the remainder of the Spanish period, California was isolated and accessible only by sea from ports like Mazatlan or San Blas.