by Carlos Lazcano Sahagún

It was towards the end of 1533, 493 years ago, that Fortún Jiménez, commanding the ship Concepción, arrived at what is now La Paz Bay. The exact date of his landing is unknown, as little documentation exists about this voyage. This was the first time Europeans arrived at what is today our peninsula.

This voyage had been organized by Hernán Cortés, the founder of México, who placed Diego Becerra in command. The expedition departed from Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, on October 30, 1533. Fortún Jiménez was the pilot, a very ambitious character who believed he could locate islands full of treasures, and thus convinced many of the crew members to mutiny so he could take command of the voyage. The mutiny occurred while they were sailing off the coast of Michoacán; Becerra was murdered, and those who did not support the mutiny were abandoned on the coast of Colima.

Now as fugitives, the mutineers came upon the California peninsula, which they believed was an island, and disembarked in La Paz Bay, as we already mentioned. Far from finding treasures, they found a difficult land, with indigenous groups that were constantly hostile toward them. The closest thing to treasures was the discovery of pearl fields, managing to obtain some of them, but not of much value. They did not stay for long. One of those days Fortún wanted to fill his ship’s water barrels from the spring that was in the bay; however, he was unaware that for the Guaicura Indians of the region, water ownership was one of their greatest resources, and reaching the spring without permission or agreement with them was cause for war. When Fortún and his men were filling the barrels with water, they were attacked suddenly and furiously by the Guaicuras, with Fortún and 20 more Spaniards dying. Only eight Spaniards survived, those who had not disembarked, and they quickly returned to the coast of New Spain.

When Cortés learned of the outcome of this venture, he decided to organize a new expedition, only this time he would be in charge personally. In total, Cortés organized four expeditions that discovered what is today the California peninsula, and thanks to them it has belonged to Mexico ever since.

Fortún’s arrival in California could have occurred between late December 1533 and early January 1534. We don’t know for certain. It is thanks to this venture that we have the oldest news of California, as well as of the indigenous groups that inhabited it. The consequences of this encounter were that California began to appear in world cartography and began to form part of Mexico.

The explorations in the Pacific by Hernán Cortés not only discovered the California peninsula, but also all of the Mexican Pacific, and thanks to these voyages, the first maps soon began to emerge where the complete cartographic profile of Mexico can already be seen.

Although Fortún Jiménez was the first European to reach the California peninsula, Cortés is considered the discoverer because this encounter was part of a broad project by Cortés, which he planned, developed, financed, and personally participated in. This project lasted 20 years (1521-1540) and, as we mentioned, the entire Mexican Pacific was discovered, among other aspects. To carry out his project, Cortés explored, established ports and shipyards, built more than 20 vessels, hired qualified personnel such as cartographers, captains, pilots, mathematicians, blacksmiths, builders, etc., achieving results that benefited New Spain, that is to say México, and expanded knowledge of world geography.

Addendum: The Name California and Fernando Consag

From the editors at Traveler Publications

The name California has one of the most fascinating origins of any place on Earth. It is said to have come from a 1510 Spanish novel, Las Sergas de Esplandián by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, which described a mythical island called California, ruled by Queen Calafia and inhabited by black warrior women. Rich in gold and pearls, this fictional island captured the imagination of Spanish conquistadors. When Cortés’ men encountered the peninsula with its pearl fields in 1535, they applied the name California, making it the only U.S. state allegedly named after a fictional location.

Although Francisco de Ulloa proved in 1539 that California was a peninsula, a curious cartographic error emerged in 1622. Maps suddenly began depicting California as an island, an error attributed to friar Antonio de la Ascensión. When Dutch pirates intercepted his map, European cartographers copied it for over a century, despite mounting evidence to the contrary.

Croatian Jesuit missionary Fernando Consag played a crucial role in correcting this error. In 1746, he led a maritime expedition from Mission San Ignacio to the Colorado River, meticulously documenting the coastline. His detailed diary and precise maps proved definitively that California was connected to the mainland. Consag’s work, published throughout Europe and used by Alexander von Humboldt and the French encyclopedists, helped convince King Ferdinand VI of Spain to decree in 1747 that “California was not an island.” Consag died in 1759 at San Ignacio, having dedicated his life to the Cochimí people and the exploration of what is today, Baja California, leaving behind not only missions and maps, but also the definitive proof of California’s peninsular geography.