Gabriel Moraga (1765 – June 14, 1823) was a Sonoran-born
Californio
Californios (singular Californio) are Californians of Spaniards, Spanish descent, especially those descended from settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries before California was annexed by the United States. California's Spanish language in C ...
soldier, administrator, and explorer. As an explorer in
Alta California
Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...
, Gabriel Moraga found and gave names to a number of rivers in the
Central Valley. Gabriel's son Joaquín was the namesake of the city of
Moraga, California.
De Anza expeditions
Gabriel Moraga was the son of the expeditionary
José Joaquín Moraga, who helped to lead the
de Anza Expedition to California in 1774. The expeditions of
Juan Bautista de Anza aimed to explore and consolidate the north-western limits of
Spain's colonial claims in Alta California. The first expedition in 1774 established a new overland route from
Sonora
Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...
, Mexico, to
Mission San Gabriel. The second, in 1775–6, went as far north as
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
.
The second expedition included a group of colonists for settlement at the newly established
San Francisco Presidio,
Mission San Francisco de Asís and
Mission Santa Clara de Asís. The colonists included the Moraga family. José Moraga became commander of the garrison at San Francisco Presidio, and Gabriel became a soldier as well.
Early career
As a corporal, Gabriel Moraga was appointed ''comisionado'' (military administrator) of the
Pueblo of San Jose, some years after its establishment by his father in 1777. When another civilian town, the
Villa de Branciforte, was established in 1797 (part of today's city of
Santa Cruz), Corporal Moraga was transferred to the same position there and was replaced at San Jose by Corporal Ignacio Vallejo, father of
Mariano Vallejo.
Central Valley
Gabriel Moraga was one of the first Europeans to see the
Central Valley of California. He led the first official Spanish expeditions to explore the valley in 1806–1808 and encountered numerous villages, including the village of
Wá’peat.
Many of the names which Moraga gave to places in the region (especially rivers) have survived, often in shortened and/or anglicized form:
*
Sacramento River, after Moraga's ''Río del Sacramento'' (River of the Sacrament), later applied to the
capital of California and
its county (originally, Moraga had used the term ''Río del Sacramento'' to refer to
Feather River only, while the lower Sacramento river was known as ''Río de San Francisco'')
*
San Joaquin River, later applied to the
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...
and
San Joaquin County
*
Merced River, which Moraga named ''Río de Nuestra Señora de la Merced'' (River of Our Lady of Mercy), later applied to the city of
Merced and
Merced County
*
Kings River, which he named ''Río de los Santos Reyes'' (River of the Holy Kings), later applied to
Kings County
*
Calaveras River or ''Río de las Calaveras'' (named after Native American skulls found there), later applied to
Calaveras County
*
Mariposa River and the old name of the
Chowchilla River, Big Mariposa River, later applied to the town of
Mariposa and
Mariposa County which was named after the swarms of butterflies Moraga found in the region of Chowchilla.
Fernando Martínez Laínez, Carlos Canales, ''Banderas lejanas: la exploración, conquista y defensa por España del territorio de los actuales Estados Unidos'', EDAF, Madrid, 2009. p.360
/ref>
Not all of Moraga's place names have survived. Today's Stanislaus River
The Stanislaus River is a tributary of the San Joaquin River in north-central California in the United States. The main stem of the river is long, and measured to its furthest headwaters it is about long. Originating as three forks in the h ...
was named ''Rio de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe'' by Moraga. Even at the early date of Moraga's expedition, the name was redundant. Today's Guadalupe River was named in 1776 by the de Anza expedition.
Legacy
Many years after Gabriel Moraga's death, his widow Ana Joaquina Alvarado (1788–1863) was granted (in 1841) the Rancho Cañada Larga o Verde, not far from Mission San Buenaventura. Gabriel and Ana's son Joaquín was co-grantee of Rancho Laguna de los Palos Colorados in present-day Contra Costa County, part of which is now the city of Moraga.
References
The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft: History of California.
1884–90, Volume 2; Volume 19, Hubert Howe Bancroft, Henry Lebbeus Oak, William Nemos, Frances Fuller Victor, note 33, p. 5
External links
Moraga Explores The Valley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moraga, Gabriel
Explorers of California
People of Alta California
Explorers of North America
1823 deaths
1765 births