The NPS manages a variety of park units—national sea-
shores, scenic parkways, Civil War battlefields, lakeshores and
so on. When we think of a national park, we almost always
visualize a huge protected area like Yellowstone. However,
the Anza Historic Trail is a substantial park unit in its own
right. Within the United States, it is approximately 1,200
miles in length, and the Mexican government has designated
another 600 miles south of the border as part of the historic
trail. The Anza Trail is managed by the NPS office in San
Francisco, it has its own foundation to help support it, and
there is a free quarterly publication available to all who are
interested in Anza history and trail events.
The year 1776 not only marked the signing of the
Declaration of Independence but also the arrival of the Anza
Expedition into Alta California for the purpose of establishing
a presidio and mission in San Francisco. It was a remarkable
journey across many miles of rugged desert with men,
women and children and hundreds of farm animals. The
party arrived in Monterey in early March of 1776 to rest
and recover. Only one of the colonists died during the trip;
a woman who succumbed during childbirth. The colonists
were ordered to remain in Monterey by the royal governor
at that time. Anza vigorously denounced this decision,
and continued his mission with just a dozen soldiers and
Fr. Pedro Font. The route from Monterey had the group
traveling through Gilroy after crossing the Pajaro River on
March 24, 1776.
From the diaries kept by Font and Anza, it seems that the
party journeyed along the west side of the valley, following
today’s Santa Teresa Boulevard alignment and camping along-
side Llagas Creek in Morgan Hill. To find the location of the
original campsite, drive north on Santa Teresa from Gilroy,
turn right on California Street, make an immediate left on
Water Street and follow it to Easy Street and Llagas Creek.
At the time of the Anza Expedition, before all of the
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
residential housing and creek engineering, Llagas Creek was a
large open crossing or shallow pool, not the narrow channel
with steep embankments that it is today. For many years, old
timers referred to this spot as a “poza” where the crossing was
easy and there was a perennial source of water.
The diaries of the explorers also noted a number of local
Ohlone villages and accounts of Ohlone Indians fishing from
tule rafts along Llagas Creek. The nearest Indian settlement
of any size and permanence was most likely at what is
now known as Chitactac-Adams Heritage County Park on
Watsonville Road. After refreshing themselves at the Arroyo
de las Llagas, Anza and his men continued north by northwest
along Coyote Creek and camped next in Cupertino. After
exploring the San Francisco area and identifying a potential
mission site, Anza decided to loop around the southern end
of San Francisco Bay and return to Monterey through Henry
Coe Park. It was an unfortunate choice due to the severity
of the terrain, but they did name the area after the haunting
howls of the neighboring coyotes. During this return trip Anza
designated a mission location for Santa Clara and a pueblo
for San Jose. Anza returned to Monterey and then home to
Mexico, leaving the actual settlement of San Francisco to his
second in command, Lieutenant José Joaquin Moraga. Moraga
and the colonists followed the same route in June of 1776,
staying at las Llagas and finally establishing Mission Dolores
and the Presidio of San Francisco. The Pueblo of San Jose was
also established by Moraga in November of 1777.
There are several markers along Santa Teresa Boulevard that
recall the Anza visit to Morgan Hill. The easiest one to drive
to and read is at the corner of Watsonville Road and Santa
Teresa. This Fall I will organize a walk along Llagas Creek to
the spot recognized as the campsite for the Anza and Moraga
parties. In the meantime, go out and visit a park. It’s fun to
remember the history and to imagine what the place was like
before ‘civilization’ took over.
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