doc241 - Schoenherr Home Page in Sunny Chula Vista

quisition, had neither time nor money to expend upon the conquest of the wilderness.
Such efforts as were made came to nothing, but when, in 1598, a merciful providence
removed the royal fanatic from his blood-
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[San Diego de Alcala]
stained throne. Philip III immediately took steps to improve the Spanish possessions of
what is now the Pacific Coast of the United States.
Don Sebastian Viscaino was chosen as Captain-General of the expedition and
sailed on May 5, 1602, from the port of Acapulco, with two ships and a frigate, together
with a small vessel to be used in exploring shallow waters. He was accompanied by
three religious Carmelites, one of whom, Friar Antonio de la Ascension, became the
journalist of the expedition and wrote an account of the voyage, which extended to the
northern coast of California.
Viscaino pursued his leisurely course northward, stopping at several points in
Lower California, and found himself at the picturesque islands which rise abruptly from
the sea off San Diego on November 6, 1602, precisely six months after leaving Acapulco.
He gave the islands the name which they still bear, the Coronados. It was November
10 when his fleet sailed into the harbor which no white man, save Cabrillo and
his com-
Page 33
panions, had visited before. A survey of the harbor was immediately undertaken, for
Viscaino was bent on obtaining exact information as far as it was possible with the facilities
at his command, and he was able to leave several maps which constituted a very
valuable contribution to the geographical knowledge of the time.
It was he who gave the port its present name, though many people suppose that
the name originated with the mission which was established more than a century and a
half later, and others suppose it was derived from St. James of the Bible. Because his
survey was either begun or ended on November 12-no one knows exactly which,
though the former seems more probable-and because that was the day of Saint James
of Alcalá (San Diego de Alcalá) Viscaino gave the port the name of San Diego. It would
be pleasant to linger on the virtues of this saint, whose best monument is the San Diego
of today; but space forbids the digression. Born in a hamlet of the Archbishopric of
Seville, Spain, in 1400, he died on November 12, 1463, and was buried in the chapel of
his monastery near Toledo, Spain. His sainthood was won by a life of loving service, and
may well inspire the city which bears his name to lofty effort in behalf of humanity.
On the day after his arrival the Captain-General organized a party to survey a
forest lying "on the Northwest side of the Bay,"-evidently Point Loma. The party was in
charge of Ensign Alarcon, and included Captain Pequero, Father Antonio de la Ascension,
and eight soldiers. In this forest they found "tall and straight oaks and other trees,
some shrubs resembling rosemary, and a great variety of fragrant and wholesome
plants." The identity of the spot with Point Loma is further confirmed by the report that
"the high ground commanded a view of the whole harbor, which appeared spacious,