The
Significance
Anza
successfully opened an overland route of emigration and supply from Sonora
to the missions and settlements of Alta California. He confirmed that San
Francisco Bay was a great harbor.
The
soldiers and families that Anza escorted brought with them their language,
traditions, and diverse New World Hispanic culture. The backgrounds of
all soldiers and settlers were carefully recorded as espaÒol, mulatto
or mestizo. Almost all the expedition members were born on this continent
and had mixed European, African or Indian parentage. These influences changed
the lives of the indigenous peoples and shaped the development of Arizona
and California.
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The route
Anza opened supplied the settlements of Alta California long enough for
them to become established. In 1781, the Yumas revolted against Spanish
rule and closed the route during the rest of the colonial period. In later
years, Anza's trail served the military, settlers, cattlemen, forty-niners
and other desert travelers.
Additional
Reading
Herbert
Eugene Bolton, Editor, Anza's California Expeditions, 5 Volumes, Berkeley,
CA, 1933.
Don
Garate, Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, Southwest Parks
and Monuments Association, 1994.
Richard
F. Pourade, Anza Conquers the Desert, Copley Books, 1971. |
