Letters From Alcatraz - Michael Esslinger [14]
Six years after Portolá’s discovery of San Francisco by land, and in the same period when Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were completing the first draft of the Declaration of Independence in the new America, Juan Manual de Ayala, a young Spanish naval lieutenant, commanded the San Carlos on a voyage to chart the waters of the San Francisco Bay.
After so many explorers had sailed right past it in their search for safe harbors, Ayala would be the first to log the discovery of the island of Alcatraz in 1775. Here is an excerpt from the ship’s log of the San Carlos:
August 11, 1775: The boat was launched and I set out to search for better anchorage for the ship. I went out toward the island I named de los Angeles (Angel Island), which is the largest in this harbor, in search of proper moorings for making water and wood; and though I found some good ones, I rather preferred to pass onward in search of another island, which when I reached it proved so arid and steep there was not even a boat-harbor there; I named this island La Isla de los Alcatrazes (Island of the Pelicans) because of their being so plentiful there. After this I attempted to reach the SW shore at the mouth of the of the inlet running to the SE, in order to examine a bight, but neither wind or current allowing it, I returned aboard the San Carlos at 5:30 p.m.
An original survey chart drawn in 1775 by José Cañizares, the First Pilot of the vessel San Carlos. This detailed chart of San Francisco Harbor was surveyed from a small boat during a forty-five-day expedition.
Nevertheless, the Spanish maps of the bay waters would mislabel the names and locations of Alcatraz and Yerba Buena. It would not be until 1826, when British Naval Captain Frederick Beechey secured permission to survey the San Francisco Bay and surrounding waters that the names would be properly assigned. There also is still considerable speculation as to why the bay went undiscovered for so long, despite a series of explorations that sailed in close proximity to the inlet. A United States Survey Map from 1851 indicated that the Farallon Islands might have played a role in the deception. This survey suggests that the Farallons may have influenced explorers to stay clear of the coastline, since they indicated hidden reefs lying close by, which could have kept the mariners sailing in deeper waters far from shore. Along with the near perfect positioning of Alcatraz across the mouth of the bay, and the textured blending of the East Bay Hills, this may have been what kept the Golden Gate from discovery for several centuries.
This United States Survey Map from 1851 illustrates how Alcatraz Island masked San Francisco Harbor. The combined factors of the near perfect positioning of Alcatraz across the mouth of the bay, the textured blending of the East Bay Hills, and the frequently foggy weather conditions may have hidden the Golden Gate from explorers for several centuries.
Alcatraz –The Fortress
When the territories of Mexico were granted their independence from Spain in 1822, the Mexican Government inherited the land title for California. Despite the development potentials of Monterey and San Francisco, the government’s focus remained on developing the lowlands within the southern regions of California.
On May 13, 1846, when relations dissolved between the United States and Mexico, the U.S. Congress officially declared war against its southern neighbor. In June of 1846, John Charles Frémont and Kit Carson led an attack to seize a Mexican garrison in Sonoma, and declared California’s independence from Mexico. In their victory, they raised a makeshift flag with the claim seal entitled in bold print, The California Republic. The flag was made from white cotton