Gabriel Moraga
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Gabriel Moraga (died 1823) was a Spanish army officer in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, an Alta California explorer, and son of pioneer José Joaquín Moraga.
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[edit] de Anza expeditions
Moraga was a member of both 1770s expeditions of Juan Bautista de Anza to upper Las Californias, the first for overland route exploration and the second for settlement.
[edit] Central Valley
Gabriel Moraga was one of the first Europeans to see and explore the Central Valley of California (1806–1808). He led expeditions of soldiers to do the first Spanish explorations of the valley.
Moraga became the source of many place names in the region, that derive from names he gave the rivers.
- These include:
- San Joaquin Valley from the San Joaquin River
- Sacramento from the Rio del Santissimo Sacramento ("River of the Most Blessed Sacrament")
- Merced from the Merced River, which he named El Río de Nuestra Señora de la Merced (The River of Our Lady of Mercy)
- Kings River, which he named Río de los Santos Reyes (River of the Holy Kings)
- Calaveras named after the Calaveras River or Río de las Calaveras after skulls found there
- Mariposa Mariposa County, Mariposa, Mariposa River and the old name of the Chowchilla River, Big Mariposa River,[1] which was named after the swarms of butterflies Moraga found in the region of Chowchilla, California.[2][3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Randolph B. Marcy, The Prairie Traveler: A Hand-book for Overland Expeditions, Published by Authority of the War Department, (1859), ITINERARY XXI--From Fort Yuma to Benicia, California. From Lieutenant R. S. WILLIAMSON'S Report.
- ^ Barbara Marinacci, Rudy Marinacci, California's Spanish place-names: what they are and how they got here, Presidio Press, 1980, p.98
- ^ 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
- 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
[edit] External links
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