The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-09-21
A TEACHER Of TEACHERS,
Exhaustive Paper on San Fran
cisco by Professor G.
Davidson.
WAS REWARDED BY CHEERS
Great Fund OF Information In
Historical and Scientific
Research.

1t was great intellectual treat-a feast
of erudition-which was enjoyed by the
800 teachers assembled yesterday after
noon at the regular monthly meeting of
the City and County Institute at Golden
Gate Hall. The speaker of the occasion
was Professor George Davidson, whose
name has become associated on this coast
with all that is synonymous for painstak-
ing historical and scientific research.
To give an idea of the fund of valuable
information the professor communicated
to his audience, his paper may be cpl
| tomiZed thus:
Historical-The early explorations and an
| cient charts of the North Pacific coast; the
| planting of the missions by the Franciscan
| padres; the political development of the Cali
| fornia region and San Francisco; this City's
! industrial and commercial growth from the
transitional period and the days of gold; origin
Of bay nomenclature; the early charts and
plans of the Preside and San Francisco; a
reference to the old Spanish land grants and
| the unique features OF the Jurisprudence OF the
period of transition.
scientifc-san Francisco's Typographical feat
| ures; local geology; photography and meteor
| ology; geographical work.
Philosophical = Sociological development;
| growth of education: the advantages and sug-
| gestiveness of San Francisco's geograp hical
| position.
All this the professor told the gathered
educational talent of the City in less than
two hours. He was a teacher of the teach
ers in the best sense of the term, and when
he got through, his attentive pupils. at the
suggestion of their chairman, Superintend-
ent Moulder, gave cheer after cheer in
token of their keen appreciation.
Professor Davidson commenced with an
allusion to the fact that Superintendent
Moulder and himself came to this City on
friendship then which "had never been
even frayed at the edges since" II am
simply a student and worker" he OBJ
served, modestly. He recalled that some
years ago he undertook detailed exami-
nation of the early Spanish and English
narratives of exploration, in order to utilize
the experience of nearly half century on
this coast-a work upon which he is still
engaged.
Then he plunged at once into the lesson
of the day, viz, San Francisco, for this
City was his theme, and when ne con-
Guided it was with this eloquent prophecy:
This magic City, in its unapproached geo.
graphical position on the parallel of the center
OF gravity OF present population OF 20, 100000
| people, on the parallel OF that city whence
Columbus sailed to wonderful discoveries, on
the parallel of Rome and Athens, with gate
way open to the commerce OF the world, will
sail its richly laden fleets to every port where
the sea reaches; will send its scholars, its men
of action the chlldr OF its brain, to challenge
| the supremacy of every state on Gods foot
| stool.
In his logical manner the professor be-
gan with the first explorations under
Cortez and Mendoza and those of Ulloa in
1889, Sir Francis Drake in 1879 and
| Sebastian Viscaino in 1902. Cortez
got only as far as Cape San Lucas;
| &c
| Island; but Cabrillo and Fenelo, COM
handing respectively Mendoza's two ves-
| sells, were the first to see the Farallones
| and the hills upon which great CONNER
cal city was yet to be built. 1t was on
November 16, 1912, that this sight re-
warded them. Owing to the adverse winds
they narrowly missed the Golden Gate,
and Sir Francis Drake also failed to see it.
Drake, however, was the first white man
to set foot on San Francisco soil. He
| landed on the Southeast Farallon July "a,
| 1879. Professor Davidson title for Drake
was "Captain-General of Freebooters."
| To Viscaino the professor gave the credit
paper of the geography of the Farallones
| in q crude chart One of Viscaino's two
ships, the Capitana, became separated
| from the other in a gale and anchored in
brakes Bay January Z, 1908 and Viscaino
called this "El Puerto de San Francisco"
Drake had called all this region Nova
Albion" from the color of the cliffs on the
coast, and took possession OF the region in
the name of Queen Elizabeth. Viscaino's
plans were rescued after hiding of 200
years.
After the spirit of Spanish exploration
| had lain dormant for 166 years, said the
I speaker, the Government was finally
aroused through fear OF Russian and
| British Entertainments and the instruc-
tons of the Visitador-General, Galvez,
were:
To establish the Catholic religion among
numerous heather people submerged in the
obscure darkness OF paganism and to extend
| the dominion of the King, our Lord, and to
protect this peninsula from the ambitious
views OF foreign nations.
A considerable portion of the paper fol-
! lowing was devoted to the discovery of the
| bay of San Francisco by the sea and land
expeditions of the Marquis de la Croix, in
| 1859; the establishment of the preside at
Monterey and the planting of the first
missions. Don Miguel Castanoso, IA
nous army captain and engineer, who &C
companied the land party, constructed the
| first chart of the coast and bay, and he also
made detailed report of the expedition.
| This important document has been OBJ
tanned by Adolph Sutro from the city of
papers in the Mayors collection. The
| Geographical Society, said Professor
Davidson, will publish the Spanish origi-
nal, with an English translation.
The professor, himself, has copies of un-
published letters of Father Juan Crespi,
Franciscan friar who made an itinerary of
De La Croix's expedition. 1t was this ex-
petition which first saw the bay of San
Francisco and secured a comparatively ac-
curate idea OF the geography of Point
Reyes. The date OF the bays discovery
was November l, 1859. 1t appeared to them
great inland sea, or rather lake.
| Portolas efforts to discover if there was
any entrance to the inland sea were next
dwelt upon. In December, 1774, Father
Palou, with military escort, reached the
northern end of the San Francisco PENN
sula and confirmed the previous reports of
| Crespi and Portola as to the existence of
an entrance. Professor Davidson's descrip-
| ton of the first vessel to actually enter the
| Golden Gate was as follows:
| On the 10Th of March, 1775, the mailboat
San Carlos, under command of Don Manuel
| Manrique, left San Bias Tin company with the
| Santiago and Sonora) with orders for the re-
| connassance of the new port of San Francisco
that had been seen by Portola In June, un-
| der command of Don Juan de Ayala, who had
| superseded Manrique, she left Monterey, and
| on the lit OF August entered the great inland
| sea through the Golden Gate, and is the first
vessel that did so.