Anza Glossary
This glossary provides several important terms useful in understanding the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail. While incomplete, it gives a place to start so that sources given in the Bibliography can be consulted. Source: Greg Bernal-Mendoza Smestad’s Anza Trail Guide.
Mayor, person of authority over a settlement.
Upper (as opposed to Baja, or lower)
A valley, town and presidio; southwest of present-day Nogales, Sonora.
A person whose ancestors were in North or South American before Europeans arrived.
A ground food made of grains or nuts. In California, American Indians made acorn amole.
Anza was born in 1735 or 1736 at the Fronteras Presidio, Sonora. He married Ana Maria Regina Perez Serrano in 1761. In 1774, he was Capitán of the Presidio of Tubac, and from January 8, 1774 to March 15, 1774, he traveled from the Tubac Presidio to Alta California, first to Mission San Gabriel and then to the Monterey Presidio in Alta California. This is known as his first expedition to California, and its purpose was to establish that a direct route was possible. He was then made Teniente Coronel (Lieutenant Colonel) in His Majesty's Cavalry. He made a second journey to Alta California, starting in October 1775 to bring over 200 colonists to found the Mission and Presidio of San Francisco. Upon his return to Mexico City from Alta California, he was made Comandante (Commander) of all the troops of Sonora, and took up residence at his command post, San Miguel de Horcasitas, the capital of Sonora. While in that position, he learned that he had been appointed Governor of New Mexico. He died December 19, 1788 in Arizpe, Sonora and is buried in the church there.
is on the Río Sonora, and was the capital of the Provincias Internas.
Commander of His Majesty's packet boat, the San Carlos, and first to sail into the San Francisco Bay. He named several of the landmarks in the Bay Area.
A village in Sonora between Fronteras and Arizpe; later became a presidio; sometimes spelled Bacuache.
community, neighborhood, district.
Viceroy of New Spain, 1717 - 1779. In this capacity, he had the authority of the Spanish Government to grant Anza's requests for his expeditions to California, and it is to him that Anza reported his success and progress.
A presidio on the Yaqui River between Álamos and Pitic, Sonora.
Carpenter; also, a woodpecker.
(literally means "Big House") and is an ancient Hohokam city ruin between present day Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona.
Sometimes spelled "Cienegita"; a village southeast of Altar.
A village in the province of Sinaloa where the first colonists were recruited.
A village just north of Oposura on the Río Moctezuma.
Born in 1736 in Alazar (Seville) Spain, he went with Anza on the first expedition to Mission San Gabriel (now near Los Angeles) and back to Tubac. He kept a diary of that expedition. On July 17, 1781, he was killed in the Yuma Indian uprising along with Father Garcés
A title meaning "Sir". In Spanish California, land owners were called Dons.
During the time of Anza's expeditions, he was Purchasing Agent for the Californias (Alta and Baja). He calculated the probable cost of the second Anza expedition and put together a detailed budget for it.
Born in 1742 in Spain, he was a Franciscan priest who had been ministering at Mission Tumacácori when he was assigned to go in company with Father Garcés on the second Anza expedition (the 1776) as far as the Colorado River. Anza had a cabin built for Father Garcés and him, and he remained there (Nov. 30, 1775-May 11, 1776) on the west side of the river across from what is today Yuma, Arizona, working with the Quechan Indians until Anza's return. He then returned with Anza to Sonora.
A lively Spanish or Spanish-American dance.
A Spanish measure of harvested crops which was equivalent to approximately 100 pounds of corn or beans; or 82 pounds of wheat or flour.
Born in 1738 in Gerona, Catalonia, Spain, he was a Franciscan missionary at San Jose de Los Pimas (Sonora) in 1775. He was Chaplain and diarist of the second Anza expedition to California. He wrote two diaries of the expedition.
Members of a religious order founded by Saint Francis of Asisi (1182-1226 A.D.) in 1206 A.D. St. Francis was an Italian Catholic friar known for his simple life, his imitation of Christ's marks of the crucifixion, his kindness to lepers and his love of nature.
Presidio thirty miles south of present-day Douglas, Arizona; originally called Santa Rosa de Corodguachi but in the late seventeenth century the Caballería de los Fronteras, or "Cavalry of the Frontier," was assigned there and the town eventually adopted the name; Anza and his sister next in age to him, Gregoria, were born there while their father, also Juan Bautista de Anza, was serving as its captain; Anza began his military career there under his brother.
"The Fort" in English; an early-day Spanish Presidio in the province of Sinaloa at the time of the Anza expeditions.
A Franciscan priest from Aragón in Spain who went with Anza on the first expedition, and on the second expedition as far as the Colorado River. There, he started missionary activities among the Quechan (at Yuma). He died at the Colorado River in the Yuma uprising of 1781.
In 1775, he was the Sargento who joined the second Anza expedition at Tubac (Sonora) to go to Alta California.
Presidio and town in Sonora northeast of present-day Hermosillo. It was an assembly point for the second Anza expedition.
A member of the Society of Jesus, a Catholic order founded by Ignatius of Loyola in 1534 A.D.
1 league is about 2.56 miles.
A Presidio, a Mission and a Pueblo (town) in Baja California.
of mixed Spanish and Indian blood.
city; capital of New Spain. Today, the name applies to the whole country.
Spanish California's northern most Presidio in Anza's time; it was later the capital of Alta California. Present-day city of Monterey, California.
Born in 1741, by 1775, he was Alférez (2nd Lieutenant) at the Fronteras Presidio in Sonora. During the second Anza expedition (1775-1776), he was second in command, and was charged with taking the settlers from Monterey to San Francisco where he founded the Mission and Presidio. He was made Teniente, and in 1777 Comandante, of the new Presidio. He also founded San José, California and the nearby Mission Santa Clara. He died on July 13, 1785 in San Francisco and is buried at the foot of the altar at Mission Dolores.
A mission in Sonora northeast of Pitic.
This comes from the Spanish word "palmo" and is a measurement of the length from the extended tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger on a large hand; it is about 8.277 inches.
He was chief of the Quechan tribe at Yuma. His name in his native language was Olleyquotequiebe. Anza gave him the name Salvador Palma during his first expedition to California. The two men developed a genuine friendship and Captain Palma, as he became known, was critical to the success of both the first and second expeditions, in that he and his tribe helped the soldiers and colonists cross the Colorado River. Upon Anza's return to Yuma from California in 1776, Palma insisted on going with him to Mexico City so that he might present his case to Viceroy Bucareli for missions and a presidio on his lands. Anza took Palma, his brother and two other members of the tribe to Mexico City where the Viceroy gave them high honors in October of 1776. After being baptized there in the Cathedral, Anza escorted them to Horcasitas where Presidio soldiers escorted them the rest of the way back to their village. The relationship between the Spanish and the members of the Quechan was not guarded by subsequent expeditions, and in July of 1781, they revolted, killing Father Garcés, three other priests, and several soldiers and settlers at the newly formed mission and settlement there. As far as the Spanish were concerned, this effectively closed the Anza Trail.
general area of the Papago (O'odham) Indians between Altar and the Gila River.
A Packet (or supply) Ship. The San Carlos was such a ship.
General area of the Papago Indians between Altar and the Gila River.
Married Anza June 24, 1761.
General area of the Pima (O'odham) Indians between Santa Ana and the Gila River.
Town; presidio prior to the expedition; present-day Hermosillo, Sonora.
A type of small, trapezoidal harp. In Spanish, it is called a Psalterio.
Suisún Bay near Carquínez Strait, northeast of the San Francisco Bay.
A surveying instrument resembling a protractor that allows the measurement of the sun, or other astronomical body, to be measured relative to the horizon. It can be used to determine one's latitude. In more modern times it was replaced by the sextant and, most recently, by Global Positioning Systems.
Apostolic College for all the Franciscans serving in northern New Spain; north of Mexico City.
Commander of all the troops in Alta California. It was his responsibility to govern and protect the settlers that Anza brought to Alta California, and to see to it that the new settlement at San Francisco and San José would be established. Unfortunately, for a myriad of reasons, he was more of an obstacle than a help. He was reassigned, and he died in the Quechan uprising at Yuma in July 1781. He is credited as leading the expedition that established the Pueblo of Los Angeles that year.
A town and shipping center on the West Coast of Mexico in Nayarit, below Baja California.
Name of a city and a former Franciscan Mission in Alta California near present-day Los Angeles.
Mission just north of present-day Magdalena, Sonora.
A Mission just south of present-day Tucson, Arizona.
Village just south of present-day Magdalena, Sonora.
Original name for Fronteras, Sonora.
Franciscan priest who was the father president of all the missions in Alta California. He was instrumental in their creation, and founded nine of the twenty-one missions.
A state in present-day Mexico located south of Sonora, Mexico. It is the name of a small town in the state of Sinaloa formerly called Villa de San Fernando y Santiago de Sinaloa, now called Sinaloa de Leyva. It is were Anza began recruiting settlers for the 1775-76 expedition to California.
A province in New Spain, and a state in present-day Mexico located south of Arizona.
1 span is about 9 inches.
A march done in two stages. It is so named because the party would leave in the afternoon instead of the morning (i.e., por la tarde.)
Presidio due east of present-day Nogales, Sonora.
Presidio; present-day town south of Tucson, Arizona.
Site for a presidio that was being established during the expedition's layover at Horcasitas; presently under concrete and pavement in downtown Tucson, Arizona.
site for a presidio that was being established during the expedition's layover at Horcasitas presently under concrete and pavement in downtown Tucson, Arizona.
Soldado on Portola's 1769 expedition to San Diego. He also carried dispatches to Mexico as a courier. In 1773, he carried one to Anza from Viceroy Bucareli that gave authorization for Anza's expedition. In 1774, he was a guide and courier on the first Anza expedition.
A measure of length. The Spanish vara is about 0.836 meters or 33 inches (5,000 varas are in a league, which equals about 2.6 miles). A vara was a measurement of roughly one yard (2.7424 feet).
The governor of a country or province who rules in the place of the king.
