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Spanish mission settlements in North America

  • San DiegoIn 1542, Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailed his flagship San Salvador into a bay he named San Miguel. He claimed the land for the Spanish…
  • San AntonioOn the 13th of June 1691, a Spanish expedition led by Domingo de Terán and Alonso de León stumbled upon the San Antonio River.
  • Santa Barbara, CaliforniaSanta Barbara sits on a south-facing stretch of coastline that extends for miles along the Pacific Ocean. The Santa Ynez Mountains rise steeply behind the…
  • Santa Clara, CaliforniaThe year 1777 marked the arrival of Spanish colonizers in a valley already home to the Tamien tribe for several millennia.
  • San FranciscoOn the 2nd of November 1769, a Spanish exploration party led by Don Gaspar de Portolá arrived at San Francisco Bay. This marked the first documented European…
  • Los AngelesOn the 4th of September 1781, a group of forty-four settlers known as Los Pobladores founded the town they called El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los…