![]() When I stopped by for the anniversary celebration, tourists seem more interested in the panoramic views of the Pacific and hiking trails than the musty visitor center with ratty mannequins dressed in faux colonial-era costumes and an empty movie theater that showed short films about Cabrillo.įor Portuguese Americans across the United States and especially in California, Cabrillo remains a hero. After landing in San Diego, Cabrillo’s expedition spent four months sailing up the California coast as far north as Point Reyes, then back down to the Channel Islands, where he died from an injury. In 2015, the Maritime Museum of San Diego debuted a $6.2-million, life-size replica of Cabrillo’s ship, the San Salvador.īut his story is so old, and his visit so brief, that the details are mostly forgotten. About 684,000 people visited last year, according to the National Park Service. ![]() In 1913, President Wilson designated the Cabrillo National Monument. ![]() San Diego has marked his landing since at least the 1890s with festivals that have reenacted the feat many times. Hundreds of streets, freeways, neighborhoods, schools, museums, beaches and parks bear Cabrillo’s name. “Cabrillo” belongs to a roster of names from California’s Spanish era - Coronado, Serra, Pico, Portola - that have long dominated the landscape. “It’s all the truth.”Ĭalifornia Following in the Wake of Cabrillo : Biographer’s Study of Pacific Explorer to Be PublishedĪn eight-year quest to trace the life of the first European to explore the California coast and discover San Diego Bay has resulted in a biography of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo which will be published this fall by the Huntington Library at San Marino. “If we want to talk about decades of lies, we can talk about it,” Benayas told me. Yet the plaques claiming Cabrillo as Portuguese remain. There are now agave plants where Casa de España’s plaque once stood. Compton mailed back the Casa de España plaque - all 60 pounds of it - with a thank you note and an explanation that it was no longer necessary, since a new exhibit mentioned there was “evidence” of Cabrillo’s Spanish roots. Park rangers placed it at the base of Cabrillo’s statue, steps away from a 1957 plaque that deemed Cabrillo a “Portuguese navigator” and another donated by the Portuguese Navy in 1988 that stated the same.īut this June, Supt. In 2018, Casa de España spent about $1,500 to cast a bronze plaque noting that Cabrillo was born in the Spanish province of Córdoba. Unperturbed, he went to hang out with members of the Spanish air force and army decked out in their dress uniforms. People stayed away from him afterward, even as they whispered behind his back. There would be more applause for a Clarence Thomas speech hosted by an abortion-rights group than what Benayas received. The Portuguese consul general from San Francisco tapped away on his phone.īenayas finished by saying that the Cabrillo National Monument and the National Park Service should “correct their own historical errors.” The Spanish consul general from Los Angeles crossed his arms, then rubbed his forehead. The once-joyous mood of the crowd turned sour.
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