The record-union., 1894-03-24
CALIFORNIA; NAME.
The True EtymoIogy of the Name
Forever in Doubt.
Numerous Unsatisfactory Attempts to
Explain It's Origin by Dis
tinguished People.
Correspondence REcoRD-UN1oS.l

Correspondence RECoRD-UNIoN.l
A recent article in the San Francisco
Chronicle on ''Our Name and Story has
paper to know what has been said re-
garding the etymology and application of
the euphonious name California. AS
touching this question, many ingenious
guesses have been made, of which not a
few are far more ingenious than plausi-
BILE. Ambitious linguists have ransacked
many languages for an explanation, and
explanations have been offered ad h6-
it1tm; but we have yet to find the one that
will be generally accepted.
The peninsula of California was discov-
cred in 1888 by Jimenez, who supposed it
to be an island, and, SO far as is known,
applied no name to it. In the following
year Cortes. who had founded the city OF
Zacatula, on the Pacific Coast, as early as
1922. sent out an expedition under Gri-
jalva Tor GriXalva) ''to explore the coast
northward." The Bay of La Paz, after
ward called Santa Cruz, was discovered
and named, but the expedition was fail
ure. In 1886 Cortes personally COM
manded an expedition into the same
region, named the port and surrounding
country Santa Cruz, and left portion OF
his colonists in that barren territory.
Cortes was obliged TO send for the colo
nists to save them from starvation. 1t
was from this expedition, ii is believed,
that the name California arose. y ct the
name seems not TO have been found in
any of Cortes' writings.
In 1889 Ulloa sailed down the coast, and
it is in Preciado's diary Of that voyage
that the name California, historically ap-
piled, appears. Bancroft says it was ap-
piled, not to the whole country, but to a
locality probably, but not certainly,
Identical with Santa Cruz or La Paz."
In this diary, published in 1865, the name
occurs but once. while Santa Cruz was
frequently mentioned, the better to locate
lands in the west. Quoting from Preset
ado's diary, November 10th: 1--WE found
ourselves tifty-four leagues distant from
California, q little more or less, always in
the southwest, seeing in the night three
or four fires" Bancroft suggests that
''the definite distance of fifty-four leagues
indicates that California was place lney
had passed." There is obviously much
obscurity as to the meaning Of such APP
plication of the name, but the obscurity
only deepens when Bernal Diaz, in about
156S, speaks of the island of Santa Cruz
and says that Cortez went to discover
other lands and came to California, winch
is bay" Until recently this was often
called the first mention OF the name-an
obvious blunder i'll the light of facts now
we'll authenticated.
Again, following Bancroft: "The name
was applied between 1886 and 1889 to a
locality. 1t was soon extended to
the whole adjoining region, and as the
region was SUPPOSED to be a group OF
islands the name was often given in
plural form, Las CALIFORNIA;"
But the territory which now comprises
the great State OF California remained yet
without name, undiscovered and unex-
plored. On the 9th of June, 1912, Juan
Rodriguez Cabrillo, born Portuguese
in Spanish service, sailed from Navldad
Mexico. under the auspices of Mendoza
the Viceroy of Mexico, on voyage Of
discovery along the shores of the Pacific.
In this year he used the name California
as if it had a well-known application
Encountering great western headlanC
at almost Al degrees north latitude, he
named it Cape Mendoza, now known