Cabrillo's Exploration of California (1542)

Timeline

1. 1542Acapulco · GuerreroCabrillo led the two ships San Salvador and Victoria north from the Pacific port of New Spain, aiming to find a northern passage to Asia and survey unknown coasts.
2. 1542San Diego Bay · San DiegoThe fleet reached San Diego Bay at the southern tip of present-day California, made contact with coastal indigenous peoples, then continued north along the coast, recording bays, islands, and shoreline features in the first systematic European survey of these waters.
3. 1542–1543San Miguel Island (present-day Santa Barbara Channel, California) · Channel IslandsThe fleet reached near Point Reyes, north of present-day San Francisco Bay, then turned back south; Cabrillo died in early 1543 near San Miguel Island from complications of a fall, and his lieutenant Bartolomé Ferrer continued leading the fleet home.