Bruno de Heceta
Spanish Basque explorer of the Pacific Northwest
1743 CE to 1807 CE
Bruno de Heceta (Hezeta) y Dudagoitia (1743–1807) is a Spanish Basque explorer of the Pacific Northwest.
Born in Bilbao of an old Basque family, he is sent by the Viceroy of New Spain, Antonio María Bucareli y Ursúa, to explore the area north of Alta California in response to information that there were colonial Russian settlements there.
World
The Far West
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The Spanish royal authorities have ordered an exploration of the north coast of California, "to Ascertain if there were any Russian Settlements on the Coast of California, and to Examine the Port of San Francisco".
Don Fernando Rivera y Moncada had already marked the point for a mission in what is now San Francisco, and a land expedition to establish Spanish rule over the area, under Juan Bautista de Anza had been sent northwards.
Lieutenant Juan de Ayala, one of those assigned to the naval expedition, had arrived in Vera Cruz in August, 1774 and proceeded to Mexico City to receive orders from the Viceroy, Frey Don Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursua.
Bucareli had sent him to San Blas where he had taken command of the schooner Sonora, part of a squadron under the general command of Don Bruno de Heceta, in the frigate Santiago.
However, when they are lying outside San Blas about to set out early in 1775, the commander of the packet boat San Carlos, Don Miguel Manrique, is taken ill - some sources say that he went mad.
Ayala is ordered to take command of this larger vessel, sails back to San Blas to land the unfortunate Manrique, and rejoins the squadron after a few days' sailing.
Ayala has been designated to pass through the strait and explore what lies within, while the Santiago and Sonora continue northwards.
The San Carlos takes on supplies at Monterey, leaving there on July 26.
Proceeding northwards, ...
...Ayala passes through the Golden Gate on August 5, 1775, with some difficulty and great caution because of the tides.
He tries a number of anchorages, finding that off Angel Island most satisfactory, but fails to make contact, as he had hoped, with Anza's party.
The San Carlos remains in the Bay until September 18, returning to San Blas via Monterey.
Ayala's subsequent report to the Viceroy gives a full account of the geography of the bay, and stresses its advantages as a harbor (chiefly the absence of "those troublesome fogs which we had daily in Monterey, because the fogs here hardly reach the entrance of the port, and once inside the harbor, the weather is very clear") and the friendliness of the local Native American people.