About the Project
Public Policy Initiatives related to the story of the 250th Commemoration. CA Tribes and the Spanish Portolá Expedition of 1769.
The Ohlone – Portolá Heritage Trail, San Mateo County, CA
The proposed Ohlone-Portolá Heritage Trail for San Mateo County is seeking to connect historic Native Californian trails and the Spanish Portola Expedition route of 250 years ago. This 90-mile trail is along the San Mateo Co. coast from Big Basin and Año Nuevo State Parks, north to Pacifica, over Sweeny Ridge (GGNRA) to Millbrae, Woodside and Palo Alto. 45 miles are already available. Seeking support to complete this Heritage Trail from state government, agencies, county government, local towns, property owners, and other interested constituencies.
For more information:https://parks.smcgov.org/ohlone-portolá-heritage-trail-project
Tom Huntington, along with dozens of others, is a member of the Ohlone-Portolá Heritage Trail Committee, San Mateo County. 2018-2019. Committee Chair: Mitch Postel; Chair, Ramaytush Ohlone, Jonathan Cardero, Ph.D; Sam Herzberg, Planner, San Mateo, County Parks; Deborah Hirst, and the Board of Supervisors of San Mateo County, Chair, Carole Groom, VP. Warren Slocum, Don Horsley, David Canepa, Dave Pine, others.
Additional proposed projects and policies to be posted as developed. Check back.
Statement of Purpose
250 years ago, March to November 1769, the colonization of California began with the arrival of the Spanish Portolá Expedition from Baja CA, Mexico, up the California coast to the San Francisco Bay Area. The expedition, with over 60 men and over 200 horses and mules, traveled overland approximately 1,200 miles in nine months (averaging 8 miles a day) from Loreto, central Baja California Sur, Mexico, to the San Francisco Bay. The population of Native Californians at the time is estimated to be from 350,000 to ever greater, consisting of more than 80-90 tribes. At the time, California was one of the most populated and culturally and linguistically diverse regions in North America. California’s coastal tribes along the route include the Kumeyaay in San Diego area, Tongva in Los Angeles area, Tatavium in Los Angeles and Ventura area, Chumash in the Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo area, T’eoptaha’l and Esselen in the Big Sur Mountains and Salinas River Valley, and numerous Ohlone tribes including the Rumsien and Ramaytush in area of Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco. Names of tribes, then and now, vary depending tribal decisions and linguistic relationships. See map below.
The Spanish Expedition leader was Gaspar de Portolá, a military captain and the governor of Spanish Baja California, Mexico, then in the northern corner of the Spanish empire. Portola became the first Governor of what is now California (then Alta California). Catholic missionary padres (Serra, Crespi, and others), as well as two Spanish ships, were part of the journey and colonialization during that year. Spanish forts (presidios), settlements (pueblos) and missions (misiones) would be established over the following 50 years as the Spanish population grew to over 7,000, mostly along the El Camino Real trail on the California Coast. The Spanish claimed California for over 50 years: 1769 -1821. The Mexican era was almost 30 years: 1821-1848 and the American (U.S.) era: 1848 to the present.
This expedition had the first written accounts (four journals: Portolá, Crespi, Costansó. Serra) of an overland journey into California. Along the route, at villages, and on trails they met 1000’s of Native Californians from dozens of tribes. Contact was often on a daily basis. The Spanish were seeking Monterey Bay, which for the previous two hundred years – starting with sailor Cabrillo in 1542 – was visited by Spanish ships, including the frequent Manila Galleons. Ships stopped briefly for water and supplies along the coast, and they likely often meet Native Californians during these visits. However, no ports or settlements were ever established for two centuries, until 1769.
The expedition of 1769 traveled from Baja, through what is now San Diego, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz, Pacifica to Palo Alto. In the SF Bay Area they encountered numerous Ohlone. The Spanish view of the bay was the first recorded sighting by Europeans of the San Francisco Bay inside the Golden Gate. “A harbor that could fill all the navies of the world”. From their viewpoint, near and far, the Spanish saw many Ohlone villages surrounding the bay shoreline and nearby mountains. The expedition camped near a tall redwood tree they named “Palo Alto” (Spanish: tall tree) near what is now Stanford University. They camped for almost two weeks in November 1769 and then returned walking 600 miles via Monterey, returning to Father Serra and San Diego in January 1770. With the Spanish Portolá Expedition, a new era of immigration and settlement began that continues to this day.
During the nine month journey the Spanish journals describe frequent contact with the tribes that were mutually interactive: sharing with one another time, food, material items, and in spite of language differences, directions, and information. The journals cite only a few instances of resistance by and harm to the indigenous people. However, soon the arrival and contact would turn tragic for Native Californians. It is estimated that within 100 years (1770 to 1870), the population of Native Californians declined from over 350,000 to 35,000 (90% decline) due to European diseases, mistreatment and death by settlers, and severe cultural and environmental disruption. Today the population of Native Americans in California is nearly one million, largest of all states in the U.S. Of this nearly one million, 400 thousand are thought to be direct descendants of California tribes, with the others being from elsewhere in North America (for example: Cherokee, Navajo, Native Alaskan). For over 50 years, a new era of California’s Native American self-determination and cultural revitalization has been underway. Join in continuing to learn this history. Attend 250th Commemoration and other related events, explore the educational resources provided and support the public policy initiatives highlighted here.
The views expressed on this website are those of the author and not necessarily those of referenced committees and institutions.