morgan hill historically speaking
Blazing
El Camino
Real
Southern Santa Clara County …
has enjoyed many place names over the
years including Chitactac, Pleasant Valley,
Val Celico, Old Gilroy, Rancho Las Animas,
and Burnett Township just to mention a
few of the designations. We certainly live in
an especially beautiful area with a vibrant
community surrounding us. Our diverse
heritage and natural landscapes are certainly
worth getting to know, and I am sure that
we all consider ourselves fortunate to call
the Valley of Heart’s Delight our home.
In 1770, the first Spanish explorers
entered into our valley traveling from
Monterey with the goal of understanding
what San Francisco Bay was all about.
Captain Pedro Fages, the acting lieutenant
governor of Alta California, put together a
small exploratory party bound for the Bay
Area and set out in November.
The Fages expedition continued
78
northward to the Bay and decided upon
a heading that led them up the eastshore
arriving near Berkeley to see the opening of
San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean.
The party returned to Monterey following
the same general corridor always on the
watch for water availability and passageways
that avoided difficul