Iris H.W. Engstrand Rancho Los Cerritos: A Southern California Legacy Preserved, Southern California Quarterly Spring 2000, 82, no. 1, pp. 1-42.
[p. 4] At the time of Spanish contact, the culture of Southern California included the Hokan-speaking Chumash of Santa Barbara and Kumeyaay of San Diego who lived north and south of the Uto-Aztekan (Shoshone) linguistic groups later designated by such mission names as Gabrielino, Fernandino, Juaneno, and Luiseno, and occupying the coastal plain of southern California. The Gabrielino (or Tongva) were those living in the area of Rancho Los Cerritos . . .
[p. 6] The Rancho Period: Nieto and Cota Families 1790-1843
Although California was visited by Spaniards in 1542 (Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo) and 1602 (Sebastian Vizcaino) it was not until late in 1767 the reports of Russian advancement to the north of California caused the Spanish king Carlos III sufficient unrest to advise the viceroy of New Spain to investigate the matter. Because the occupation of the northern country in 1769 was to be spiritual as well as for defense, with the founding of missions and conversion of Indians equally as important as establishment of presidios and pueblos, the expedition to California was led by Military Governor Gaspar de Portola with the assistance of Franciscan Father Junipero Serra. With regard to the Indians, the expedition members were always to "exercise the greatest care not to exasperate or alienate" them. [13] [13. Jose de Galvez. Instructions for the expedition to San Diego and Monterey, Ms., Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley.] Father Serra oversaw the founding of seven missions by 1776, the year of American independence from England.
Although missions and presides were the primary institutions founded during California's Spanish period, three civilian pueblos are also founded: San Jose on the Guadalupe River (1777), Los Angeles on the Porciuncula (Los Angeles) River (1781) and Villa de Branciforte (1797) near present day Santa Cruz.
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