Arroyo de San Joseph Cupertino
Cupertino, Santa Clara County, California
Marker Inscription
Arroyo de San Joseph Cupertino This arroyo honoring San Joseph, patron saint of flight and students, was first discovered and traversed by Spanish explorers in 1769. On March 25–26, 1776 Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza made it his encampment no. 93, as mapped by his cartog- rapher Padre Pedro Font, before continuing on to the San Francisco Bay Area where he initiated steps to found a colony, a mission and a presidio. California Registered Historical Landmark no. 800 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Cupertino Historical Society, Inc., May 29, 1968.
Erected by California State Department of Parks and Recreation
The Story
This creek carries the name of San Joseph of Cupertino, the patron saint of flight and students, and its banks were traced by Spanish explorers in 1769. In March 1776 the expedition of Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza camped here—encampment No. 93 on Padre Pedro Font's map—while marching north to help found the mission, presidio, and colony that would become San Francisco. The arroyo gave the later town of Cupertino its name.
Why it matters
It marks a link in the Anza trail, the audacious overland trek that seeded Spanish settlement of the San Francisco Bay and reshaped the map of the American West.
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Related people
- · Juan Bautista de Anza
- · Pedro Font
Related events
- · Anza Expedition, 1776
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Arroyo de San Joseph Cupertino
Cupertino, CA
This arroyo carries the name San José de Cupertino, given as Spanish explorers pushed north through California in 1769. In late March 1776, the expedition led by Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza camped along its banks while making its way to help found a settlement at San Francisco Bay. The little watercourse thus witnessed a pivotal moment in Spain's colonization of Alta California.
De Anza Expedition
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In 1775–1776, Lt. Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza led a Spanish expedition, authorized by King Carlos III, to colonize the San Francisco Bay Area. The overland journey brought settlers hundreds of miles across the deserts and mountains of the Southwest to establish a lasting Spanish presence on the northern frontier of New Spain.
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