Military Expeditions into the Central Valley
The Spanish settlements in California generally were located near the coast. But Spanish military expeditions regularly traveled into the Central Valley, usually to pursue escaped mission Indians or to recover cattle and horses taken by Indian raiders.
One of the most active figures in the Spanish exploration of the California interior was Lieutenant Gabriel Moraga. His father, José, had come to California in the second of the Anza expeditions and was the first commandante of the San Francisco Presidio. Between 1805 and 1817 the younger Moraga led several expeditions into the Central Valley. He visited and named such prominent geographical features in the interior as the Sacramento River (named for the Holy Sacrament), the San Joaquin River (named for Saint Joseph), and the Merced River (named for Our Lady of Mercy). Moraga named Mariposa for the butterflies seen in the area, and Calaveras for its many skulls.
Spaniards were not the only Europeans to establish colonial outposts in California. In 1812 the Russian-American Fur Company built Fort Ross, a fortified village north of San Francisco. Spanish officials objected to the Russian presence, but they lacked sufficient military force to back up their objections. The Russians professed to believe that San Francisco was the northern limit to Spain's claim of exclusive right of settlement in California.
Fort Ross, a name derived from the same root as that of Russia, had several purposes. Its primary mission was to serve as the headquarters for hunting sea otter in northern California waters. Sea-otter pelts, with their thick, black, glossy fur, could be sold in China for about $300 apiece. Aleuts, Kodiaks, and other Alaskan Natives served at the fort as sea-otter hunters.
Fort Ross also was to produce food for itself and for other Russian fur-trading posts in Alaska. The Russians hoped to establish regular trade relations with the Spanish California settlements. Although such trade was strictly forbidden by the Spanish imperial government, local trading did occur.
Count Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov, the 42-year-old commander of the Russian brig Juno, sailed into San Francisco Bay in 1806. He came seeking supplies to relieve the danger of starvation at the Russian fur-trading outpost in Sitka, Alaska. He also hoped to explore the possibilities of establishing trade relations with the Spaniards in California.
Shortly after his arrival, Count Rezanov met Dona Concepcion Arguello, the fifteen-year-old daughter of the commandant of the San Francisco Presidio. Whether the count was motivated primarily by romance or economics is unknown, but we do know that he and the young San Franciscan soon became engaged.
Before the couple could "accomplish their nuptials," Rezanov was summoned back to Russia. At his parting, according to local legend, the two lovers pledged their undying devotion to one another. Dona Concepcion placed around the Count's neck a small gold locket containing two strands of hair--hers intertwined with his. The Count then sailed away, never to return. While crossing Siberia on horseback, he was thrown from his horse and fatally injured.
As Rezanov lay dying, he asked a soldier to promise to find Dona Concepcion, tell her of his love, and return to her the locket. It was several years before a messenger reached California and delivered to her the sad news.