The first European to visit San Diego stepped ashore in 1542 on a spot now overlooked by Cabrillo National Monument. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo failed to find treasure, but he claimed the region for Spain. (He named the bay San Miguel; explorer Sebastian Vizcaino changed the name to San Diego in 1602.)
To prevent this land from falling into the hands of other empires, Spain finally moved to occupy California in 1769. On a hillside where the Junipero Serra Museum stands today, Father Junipero Serra established the first of California's Franciscan missions, alongside a presidio, or military outpost.
Mission San Diego de Alcala was moved to a better site in 1774, where it stands today. Mission San Luis Rey, founded 35 miles north in 1798, was among the largest, most prosperous, and most beautiful in California. Both missions maintained distant outposts such as the Asistencias at Pala and Santa Ysabel.
California's Mexican period ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, which concluded the two-year war between the United States and Mexico. The Battle of San Pasqual was the only major battle fought in the San Diego area.
Visitors to each of these historic sites will catch glimpses of this region's Native American and Hispanic past, which lives on in the descendants of both groups who inhabit San Diego County today.
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