ALK: Sea-faring Kapampangans Discovered California?
Dave Nepomuceno
< K a p a m p a n g a n >
First Filipinos in California
by Rodel Rodis
Telltale Signs, Philippine News Oct 22-28, 1997
Last of a two-part series
Irene Wright, an accomplished Spanish scholar and researcher, translated
Unamuno's narrative to English which was then printed in the July 1923 issue
of the California Historical Quarterly.
In his narrative, Unamuno wrote that he and his crew left Macao and headed
south towards the Babuyan Islands and then headed east northeast across the
Pacific Ocean. After three months, on October 17, they saw land which
seemed to disappear in the mist. On October 18, Sunday, when the mist had
cleared they saw land and put in toward land. As it was the feast of San
Lucas, Pedro de Unamuno named the port he landed Port San Lucas.
After sighting some men watching them, Captain Unamuno, along with Fr.
Loyola and 12 Spanish soldiers and some Luzon Indians, 'armed with swords
and targets', decided to make a reconnaissance of the vicinity around the
port. With the *Luzon Indians* as scouts, Unamuno's party saw five
California Indians and proceeded to follow them. When they could not
overtake them, the group returned to the frigate. On the way, they saw a
hill with "a great quantity of very large pearl oyster shells". It was
there that Unamuno took possession of the port and the land in His Majesty's
name and ran up across "in sign of the Christian faith". Then they returned
to the frigate and had supper.
The next day, October 19, Unamuno and another priest, Fr. Francisco de
Noguera along with 12 soldiers and 8 Luzon Indians proceeded east on another
exploration of the territory. After marching for several hours, they came
upon an old Indian camp with 17 dugouts each of which, they estimated, could
hold more than a dozen persons. After marching further east and unable to
discover 'no settlement or people', Unamuno decided to return to the
frigate. As it was near night fall, they rested and slept overnight in a
camp by a river.
The next morning, on October 20, they proceeded down river towards their
ship. By the afternoon, they had caught sight of their ship and headed
towards it. As they neared the ship, Unamuno's party was suddenly attacked
by a group of Indians armed with bows and arrows and javelins. One of the
Spanish soldiers with Unamuno , Felipe de Contreras, "was wounded with a
javelin which went entirely through his breast". He died immediately.
"Along with him," Unamuno wrote, "they killed one of our Indians with a
javelin-thrust which he failed to ward off with his target." Unamuno and his
men were able to safely return to their frigate.
After supper, the men discussed the situation: whether to land and encounter
the enemy or continue on their voyage. "It was resolved," Unwnuno wrote,
"that it was advisable to continue on our voyage" because they were low on
powder, many men were badly wounded and medicines to treat them were scanty.
The last sentence in Unamuno's narrative: "We entered the port of Acapulco
on November 22, Sunday, whence we wrote to Your Excellency and reported at
length on the events and hardships of our
voyage."
After receiving Unamuno, the Viceroy of Acapulco, Villamanrique, wrote to
King Philip II about Unamuno's arrival and included Unamuno's narrative as
well as the account of his pilot. The California historian, H.R. Wagner,
reported that, for whatever reason, after the king received the Viceroy's
report he found no later reference to Unamuno or his voyage "nor is it
referred to in any of the subsequent reports on California which were drawn
up from 1620 to 1700. The Port of San Lucas does not appear on Vizcaino's
maps nor on any others that I have seen."
We will never know the name of the *Luzon Indian* who died somewhere in the
Port of San Lucas on October 20, 1587.
(For a copy of the California Historical Society Quarterly July 1923 issue
on the "Voyage of Pedro de Unamuno to California in 1587", please send a
check in the amount of $2.50 to cover postage and handling to 2429 Ocean
Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94127 or call (415) 334-7800).
------------------------------------------------------------------
< Daragul yang anting labung, kakaba yang alang bulung. >
The Kapampangan Homepage <http://www.balen.net>
To unsubscribe, send the command (without quotes)
"SIGNOFF KAPAMPANGAN-L" to LIST...@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM.
If you have questions about the list, write to:
KAPAMPANGA...@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM