On The
28th They Camped On Pilarcitos Creek, Site Of Spanish Town Or Half Moon
Bay.
They named the camp El Llano de los Ansares - The Plain of the Wild
Geese - and Crespi called it San Simon y San Judas.
Every man in the
command was ill; the medicines were nearly gone and the supply of food
very short. They contemplated killing some of the mules. That night it
rained heavily and Portola, who was very ill, decided to rest on the
29th. On Monday, October 30th, they moved forward. Half Moon Bay and
Pillar Point were noted but no names given. Several deep arroyos were
crossed, some of which required the building of bridges to get the
animals over. They proceeded up the shore until a barrier of rock
confronted them and disputed the passage. Here in a rincon (corner)
formed by the sierra and. sheltered from the north wind they camped
while Ortega and his men were sent out to find a passage over the
Montara mountains. A little stream furnished them with water and they
named the camp El Rincon de las Almejas, on account of the mussels and
other shell fish they found on the rocks. Crespi calls it La Punta del
Angel Custodia. The site of the camp is about a mile north of the
Montara fog signal. By noon of the next day, October 31st, the pioneers
had prepared a passage over the bold promontory of Point San Pedro, and
at ten o'clock in the morning the company set out on the trail of the
exploradores and made their painful way to the summit. Here a wondrous
sight met their eyes and quickened their flagging spirits. Before them,
bright and beautiful, was spread a great ensenada, its waters dancing in
the sunlight. Far to the northwest a point reached out into the sea,
rising abruptly before them, high above the ocean. Further to the left,
west-northwest, were seen six or seven white Farallones and finally
along the shore northward they discerned the white cliffs and what
appeared to be the mouth of an inlet. There could be not mistake. The
distant point was the Punta de los Reyes and before them lay the Bahia o
Puerto de San Francisco. The saint had been good to them and with joy in
their hearts they made the steep and difficult descent and camped in the
San Pedro valley[29] at the foot of the Montara mountains.
Some of the company thought they had left the Port of Monterey behind
but would not believe they had reached the Port of San Francisco. To
settle the matter, the governor ordered Ortega and his men to examine
the country as far as Point Reyes, giving them three days in which to
report, while the command remained in camp in the Vallecito de la Punta
de las Almejas del Angel de la Guarda, as Crespi calls it, combining the
two names of the camp of October 30th and transferring them to the camp
in San Pedro valley.
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