The March of Portola and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco

The popular mind accepts the oft-repeated statement that the settlement of California was due to the pious zeal of a devoted priest, eager to save the souls of the heathen, supplemented by the paternal care of a monarch solicitous for the welfare of his subjects. The political exigencies of the day are forgotten; military commanders and civil governors sink into insignificance and become mere executives of the priestly will, while the heroic efforts of Junípero Serra to convert the natives, his courage in the face of danger, his sublime zeal, and his unwearied devotion, make him the impelling factor in the colonization of California.