Santa Cruz Cove

The broad waters of Monterey Bay indent the central Californian coast, near the lands of the Rumsen people. In 1602 Sebastián Vizcaíno entered the bay while surveying the coast and judged it a suitable harbor for Spanish ships to rest and take on supplies. Local Rumsen visitors brought shellfish to the expedition. In 1770, the Spanish founded the presidio and Mission San Carlos Borromeo at Monterey.