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For History Buffs Only... Discover How Monterey Got its
Name, Sebastian Vizcaíno left what is now Acapulco, Mexico, in May 1602 400 years ago to map out Alta California and find places where Manila Galleons from the east could stop and rest. On Dec. 16, 1602, the ships San Diego and Santo Tamás and the frigate Tres Reyes sailed past Carmel Bay, around Point Pinos and entered the harbor. Vizcaíno named the bay Monterey after the viceroy of Mexico, Don Gaspar de Zuñiga y Acevedo, Count of Monte Rey. His crew went ashore the next day and pitched a church tent under the shade of an oak with branches that touched the tidewater (located near where the north entrance to the Lighthouse Avenue tunnel is today). In the shadow of this historic tree, Father Andrés de la Asunción celebrated the first recorded mass north of San Diego. Remnants of the oak tree are on display at San Carlos Church. |
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History Buffs Rev. 09/03/09 L. Huelga http://www.monterey.org/focus/winter02/historybuffs.html |