Pedro Font (Pere Font in Catalan, his native language) (1737–1781) was a Spanish Franciscan missionary and diarist.

Biography

Font was born in 1737 in

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He received his training at Querétaro Missionary College. From 1773 to 1775, Font served at

Mission San José de Tumacácori Mission San José de Tumacácori () is a historic Spanish mission near Nogales, Arizona, preserved in its present form by Franciscans in 1828. History Mission San Cayetano del Tumacácori was established by Jesuits in 1691 in a location near a S ...

in Pima Country. He was the chaplain of

Juan Bautista de Anza Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto (July 6 or 7, 1736 – December 19, 1788) was a Novohispanic/Mexican expeditionary leader, military officer, and politician primarily in California and New Mexico under the Spanish Empire. He is credited as on ...

's expedition that explored

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 ...

from 1775 to 1776. Font's diary, ''With Anza to California'', gives the principal account of the expedition; in it, Font describes military governor

Fernando Rivera y Moncada Fernando Javier Rivera y Moncada (c. 1725 – July 18, 1781) was a soldier of the Spanish Empire who served in The Californias (''Las Californias''), the far northwest frontier of New Spain. He participated in several early overland exploration ...

using force against a neophyte. Font was involved in Rivera's excommunication. While on the expedition, Font drew one of the first maps of the

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 ...

, naming the mountain range now known as the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

He also identified the site for the proposed

Mission San Francisco de Asís The Mission San Francisco de Asís (), also known as Mission Dolores, is a historic Catholic Church, Catholic church complex in San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Operated by the Archdiocese of San Francisco, the complex was founded in ...

, which would be established later that year by

Junípero Serra Saint Junípero Serra Ferrer (; ; November 24, 1713August 28, 1784), popularly known simply as Junipero Serra, was a Spanish Roman Catholic, Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order. He is credited with establishing the Francis ...

and

Francisco Palóu Francisco Palóu (, ; 1723–1789) was a Spanish Franciscan missionary, administrator, and historian on the Baja California Peninsula and in Alta California. Palóu made significant contributions to the Alta California and Baja California miss ...

. Font later served at Mission San José de Imuris, Mission Santa Teresa de Atil, Mission Santa Maria Magdalena, Mission San Pedro y San Pablo del Tubutama and La Purísima Concepción de Caborca, prior to his death at the ''visita'' of San Diego del Pitiquito in 1781.

Writings and legacy

Font described the

California grizzly bear The California grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos californicus''), also known as the California brown bear, California golden bear, or chaparral bear, is an extinct population of the brown bear, generally known (together with other North American brow ...

, writing, "He was horrible, fierce, large, and fat." Font interacted with Native Americans and observed

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

behavior and saw a great need for Christianity to eradicate these "nefarious practices." quoted in Font Street, in San Francisco's Parkmerced neighborhood, is named for Pedro Font.''The Chronicle'' 12 April 1987 p.7

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Font, Pedro 18th-century diarists Spanish Friars Minor 18th-century Spanish Roman Catholic priests Franciscan missionaries in New Spain People from pre-statehood Arizona People of the Californias 1737 births 1781 deaths