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The Discovery of San Francisco Bay: The Portola Expedition of 1769-1770

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This diary from Miguel Costanso, the engineer on the Portola expedition, provides fascinating glimpses of native California of the brink of major change. The brief text for each day is like snapshots from a roadtrip.

The expedition of 64 men and 200 horses and mules crosses a landscape filled with grizzly bears, tule elk, redwood trees. In the first two weeks the expedition experienced several major earthquakes. Later on, they suffer from scurvy, hunger, rain and cold. They experience, for the first time, acorn mush. They painfully learn not to eat raw acorns. Through the eyes of this spanish traveler, we see the native Californians react to this shock of the new. After the initial shock, the natives are overwhelming friendly and helpful.

Upon the expedition's return to San Diego after six months, in an ominous foreshadowing, the last entry has a retelling of the first violence between the Spanish and the natives.

A Route of the Expedition is included for those readers interested in following the same road trip. Throughout the book, the author provides brief annotations, mostly clarifying location.

The journal of Miguel Costanso is a credible 'picture' of the what we now call California before the landmass west of the Sierra Nevada was grossly alterred by European man in the name of 'progress'. Any individual attempting to understand the extent of loss from the invasion of techno-industrial man (a.k.a hydrocarbon man) should read this book.