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The Filipino Landing in Morro Bay in 1587
- Filipino American National Historical Society Journal
- University of Hawai'i Press
- Volume 4, 1996
- pp. 15-18
- 10.1353/fil.1996.a908214
- Article
- Additional Information
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THE FILIPINO LANDING IN MORRO BAY IN 1587* by Eloisa Gomez Borah MORRO BAY, OVER 400 YEARS AGO The date is October 18, 1587. It is one of those overcast and foggy October days along the coast of California, when the sun may or may not burn through the haze until past noon. The Nuestra Senora de Buena Esperanza, a Spanish three-masted ship of some forty tons, approaches its first landfall since it left Manila on July 12th of the same year. Just ahead is the land they spotted the day before, what we now know as Morro Bay in California. Captain Pedro de Unamuno directs the approach through the north entrance to Morro Bay (this was sealed offby a roadway in 1933). The fog is very thick, so thick that Unamuno does not mention the Morro Rock in his diary, but he does accurately describe the long sand spit which is also a MorroBay landmark. All those aboard the ship look forward to this first landfall after the long ocean crossing - surely fresh water, and perhaps fruits. They are on a voyage of exploration. They had followed the new northeasterly Pacific Ocean route to Acapulco, looking for some chartered and many unchartered lands along the way. From the ship they spot two Chumash Indians on the coast, who look them over as well. Seeing the two Indians, those aboard ship decide to land and explore the area around the bay. They drop anchor in Morro Bay on the feast of San Lucas, October 18th, and Unamuno names this port Puerto de San Lucas. •1ne article is based on a presentation made by the author at the installation of the Second Filipino American National Historical Society Historic Site Landmark at Coleman Park in Morro Bay, California on October 21, 1995 to commemorate the first known landi ng of Filipinos in the continental United States of America in 1587 and on the occasion ofthe 408th Anniversary ofthat landing. The author is a librarian at the University of California in Los Angeles and a member ofthe Board ofTrustees ofFANHS. Filipino American National Historical Society Journal 15 FIRST FOOTPRINTS ON THE SHORE BELONG TO FILIPINOS On this same day at about noon, Unamuno selects men from his crew for a landing party to explore the coast. Among them is a priest, a dozen soldiers and some eight Filipinos, referred to as "Indios Luzones" in Unamuno's diary. The captain assigns duties in anticipation of discoveries and the taking possession of the land for the King of Spain, since this is a voyage commissioned for exploration. They take the small boat ashore from where they are anchored, which is about 150 feet from shore because Morro Bay is heavy with marsh land especially at low tide. It would be safe to conclude that upon reaching wading distance to the shore, it is the Filipinos who pull the small boat onto the beach, perhaps carrying the priest to keep his long robes dry, and that Filipino footprints lay beneath those of the rest of the landing party. The landing site has been identified as White Point, where the water meets land just south of where the Museum of Natural History now stands. FILIPINOS LEAD THE LANDING PARTY The landing party proceeds inland in the following formation: First, as many as eight Filipinos with swords and arm shielqs, then a pri�st carrying a cross, then the twelve armed Sparush soldiers, and the captain. The Filipinos in the landing party always walked ahead as scouts. They grapple with the decision of whether to go in the direction of some campfires seen earlier or to where they had seen the Indians. They decide to go up a slope to where they had spotted the two Indians, since the trail looks heavily traveled. They do not encounter any Indians. Once on this slope, they are pleased to see a river, present day Chorro Creek. Among the �y paths they see, they decide to follow the one leadmg to a hill to be ableto survey all the surrounding land. They proceed in the usual formation, with two Filipinos ahead ofthe priest, who carries a cross. Volume 4 - 1996...