Historical Marker · No. 24
Portolá Expedition Camp at San Pedro Creek
Pacifica, San Mateo County · California
Erected by California Centennials Commission, 1949
Portolá halted here on 31 October 1769 and stayed three days, not to rest but to settle an argument: some of his men still would not believe they had walked past Monterey. He gave the scouts three days to prove it. On 2 November soldiers out after deer climbed the hills and came back describing an immense arm of the sea. The scouts returned firing their guns, certain from misread signs that Monterey lay two days ahead. It was not. A Catalan tablet given in 1988 cuts his name Portolà; the state bronze casts Portolá.
What the plaque says
Discovery of San Francisco Bay Captain Gaspar de Portolá camped, October 31, 1769, by the creek at the south side of this valley, and to that camp scouting parties brought news of a body of water to the east. On November 4 the expedition advanced. Turning inland here, they climbed to the summit of Sweeney Ridge and beheld for the first time the Bay of San Francisco. State Registered Landmarks Nos. 24 and 394 Tablet placed by California Centennials Commission. Base furnished by County Board of Supervisors in cooperation with San Mateo County Historical Association. Dedicated October 16, 1949 Captain Don Gaspar de Portolà Born in Balaguer, Catalonia, Spain. First governor of California, founder of San Diego and Monterey, discoverer of the Bay of San Francisco on November 4, 1769. Presented by the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia the Honorable Jordi Pujol, on November 5, 1988, to the people of the State of California, the Honorable George Deukmejian, Governor
Where it stands
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