plano del territorio de la alta california

··~I
Map 22
I~··
Jose Maria Narvaez, 1830
PLANO DEL TERRITORIO DE LA ALTA CALIFORNIA* ~tlHE
«44 }}
EARLIEST MAP devoted specifically to Alta California and delineating the
.U Central Valley and Sierra Nevada was prepared by Jose Maria Narvaez 0763-1838) ,
a native of Cadiz, who entered the Spanish navy as a cadet in 1773. In 1788 he was trans­
ferred to the Naval Department of San Blas in Nayarit where he served as second pilot on
the San Carlos under Gonzalo Lopez de Haro in the charting that year of Prince William
Sound and Aleutian Islands, and the occupation ofNootka Sound in 1789. In 1791, com­
manding the Santa Satumina, he explored the Straits of Juan de Fuca, San Juan Islands,
and Rosario Strait with the expedition of Francisco de Eliza. Following independence, he
held the rank of frigate captain in the Mexican Navy, prepared a geography of Jalisco in
1821, and, in 1822, commanding the brigantine San Carlos, he carried Canon Agustin
Fernandez de San Vicente of Durango to Monterey, Alta California, as the emissary of
Emperor Agustin I to receive the oath of allegiance to the new nation and to organize
local government. Commandant of the port of San Bias to 1827, in 1831 Narvaez retired
to Guadalajara where, unable to collect his back pay, he died in poverty.
Following his voyage to Monterey, Narvaez drew a more general map, Carta esferica
de los territorios de la Alta, Baja Califomias y estado de Sonora: construido por las mejores
noticias y ovservaciones propias del Teniente de Navio D. Jose Maria Narvaez 1823. The
more detailed 1830 map of Alta California shows some of the essential features of
California topography: the Sierra Nevada, the Coast Range and the great Central Valley
between them. This stands in contrast with printed maps that were devoid of topography
except for the great mythical rivers (map 21). The map also includes political divisions,
coastal soundings , offshore islands , the Tulare lakes , missions, presidios, Indian
rancherias, and principal ranches from "The Russian Establishments" (Fort Ross)
southward to "Mission San Miguel" (La Mision), Baja California, the boundary
established between. the two Californias by Fray Francisco Palou in 1773. His statistical
table provides population figures for each mission and totals for the four districts of
Monterey, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and San Diego which, in addition to the 4,500
residents of pueblos, presidios, and ranches, totals 23,676 inhabitants.
WMM
Plano I Del Territorio de la Alta California construido por I las megores noticias y Observaciones
proprias del Capitan I de Fragata D. Jose Ma. Narvaez. I Ano de 1830. I D. O].M.N. [Map of the
Territory of Alta California compiled from the best reports and personal observations of Frigate
Captain Jose Maria Narvaez. 1830.] [Manuscript, 53.7 x 39.3 cm.]
*MAP OF THE TERRITORY OF ALTA CALI FORNIA
Map courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento, California.