Background
Sebastián Vizcaíno was born in about 1548, in Spain, and probably was the son of Antonio Vizcaino of the town of Corcho, a commoner.
Sebastián Vizcaíno was born in about 1548, in Spain, and probably was the son of Antonio Vizcaino of the town of Corcho, a commoner.
Vizcaino is said to have served in the royal army in Portugal in 1567. He went to Mexico about 1585 and, becoming interested in the very profitable China trade, made at least one voyage to Manila between 1586 and 1589. He was a passenger on the unlucky galleon Santa Ana when it was taken off Lower California and burned by Thomas Cavendish in November 1587, and lost a good part of his fortune. In 1593, a company which he had organized for the exploration of the Gulf of California, reputedly rich in pearls, received a commission from the viceroy of New Spain, and in 1594 an expedition was sent out under the command of one Perez del Castillo, who bungled it badly and returned to face criminal action.
Apparently, no blame was attached to Vizcaino, for the following year his company was given a new contract, and in June 1596, he sailed from Acapulco with three ships and 230 men. The expedition was entirely fruitless, though Vizcaino asserted that he had reached latitude 29 30', and by the following December he was back at Acapulco. After many delays and long negotiations, a new voyage was undertaken in 1602 to explore the outer coast of California as far as Cape Mendocino, locate good harbors that might be used as refuges for the Manila galleons, and find the supposed Strait of Anian, through which the English and French were rumored to have reached the Pacific. A full complement of men, experienced navigators to advise the general, Vizcaino, two cosmographers, and a company of missionaries left Acapulco in three good vessels on May 5, 1602.
Vizcaino explored the difficult coast of Lower California in the teeth of the heavy northwest gale that prevails on that coast almost the year round and reached San Diego Bay in November. After resting and refitting he sailed northward again and on Dec. 15 discovered Monterey Bay, which he called "the best harbor that could be desired. " Vizcaino had encountered all the hardships of the northern passage head winds, fog, thirst, hunger, and scurvy and had so many disabled men that he sent one of his vessels back with them. With the two remaining vessels he pushed on up the coast to Cape Mendocino, which he reached on January 12, 1603, missing San Francisco Bay in the bad weather.
At Cape Mendocino his expedition was found to be so badly battered that there were not enough hands to man the sails, and he decided to return. On February 18, 1603, he reached Mazatl n. This expedition, the first to make a scientific exploration of the west coast, furnished the first maps of that dangerous coast, did much to explode the myth of the Northwest Passage, and discovered Monterey Bay. Vizcaino strongly recommended the establishment of a port at Monterey for the protection and refitting of the Manila Galleons. Winning some support, he went to Spain to plead his case before the Council of the Indies and received a royal decree establishing the port of Monterey with him in charge (1607). Meanwhile, however, a new viceroy in New Spain, the marquise of Montesclaros, opposed the plan on the grounds of expense and expediency, and the undertaking was abandoned for a hundred and sixty years.
By way of compensation, Vizcaino was put in command of an expedition to discover the fabulous islands, "Rica de Oro" and "Rica de Plata, " which were supposed to lie in the neighborhood of Japan. The expedition sailed in 1611, established the non-existence of the islands, made an ineffectual attempt to promote relations with Japan, and returned to Mexico in January 1614. In 1615, Vizcaino was in the New Spanish province of Avalos, where he enlisted a force to defend the coast against Dutch attack. Beyond that date nothing is known of him.
Vizcaíno entered and named San Diego Bay. Sailing up the coast, Vizcaíno named many prominent features such as the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, Point Conception, the Santa Lucia Mountains, Point Lobos, Carmel River and Monterey Bay (thus obliterating some of the names given these same features by Cabrillo in 1542). He was the first person in recorded history to note certain ecological features of the California coast such as the Monterey cypress forest at Point Lobos.
Vizcaino had married, sometime before 1589, a woman of some property, and in 1596, had one son.
