Heritage: Latino

California's Legacy

From Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo's first glimpse of the Pacific crashing against this rich red land, to America's Manifest Destiny, its War with Mexico, and California's steady advance, the histories of the Latino people and the state of California are, and always will be, inseparably entwined.

"Very close to the paradise on earth," is how Spanish explorers described what, for 200 years, was mistaken for an island. In 1521, Hernán Cortés, aided by thousands of Indian soldiers, encountered and defeated the Aztec forces. With Spanish control, Cortés sent men to look for this fabled California with its pearls, gold, and silver. Once its peninsular nature was realized, the Spanish Crown developed a three-pronged approach to California's occupation: the spread of Christianity through a chain of missions, military security through the presidios, and civilian population growth through the pueblos. The first two towns established were San Jose (1777), and Los Angeles (1781); the presidios were San Diego (1769), Monterey (1770), San Francisco (1776), and Santa Barbara (1782.) The colonizers and descendants of these efforts became known as the Californios. Remnants and restorations of 21 of the 23 missions, which were once small communities teeming with activity, still stand today. El Camino Real began as a military road and became an important highway for the northern expansion of New Spain. It was through this passage that began the continual migration of Mexican peoples to California.

Throughout the statehood of California, there have been periods of great influx of Mexican and other Latin American peoples, resulting today in the vitality of the Latino cultural heritage. More Latinos live in California than in 40 other states–combined–and their valued contributions to the arts, economy, and culture of the Golden State are both incalculable and immeasurable. Latino culture and heritage is indeed rich, and continues to flower in current-day California–a land of wealth and great strength, and very close to the paradise on earth.