Entrance of the San Carlos into San Francisco Bay

People at the shore's edge shouted for the Spanish to come ashore, and over the six weeks that followed they came aboard more than once; Ayala reported them always friendly. He made the survey nursing a wound, a loaded pistol having gone off in his foot weeks into the voyage, and the first chart of the bay was drawn from the ship's launch by his pilot, José de Cañizares. Ayala had hoped to meet Anza's land party here. It came the following March.

What the plaque says

First Ship into San Francisco Bay On August 5 1775, the Spanish packet San Carlos, under the command of Lieutenant Juan Manuel de Ayala, became the first ship to enter San Francisco Bay. A month and a half was spent in surveying the bay from its southern most reaches to the northern end of present-day Suisun Bay. The San Carlos departed September 18, 1775. California Registered Historical Landmark No.236 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the San Francisco Twin Bicentennial, Inc., August 5, 1975.

Where it stands

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