San Francisco History Connections

Henry the Navigator & San Francisco

Prince Henry the Navigator

You may remember Prince Henry the Navigator from your history class.  He died in 1460.  So, what could the Portuguese Henry possibly have to do with San Francisco, which wasn’t even located by Spain until 1769?  Let’s begin:  In the early 1400s, European coastal towns were regularly raided and looted by North African pirates from the infamous Barbary Coast (of which San Francisco’s infamous “Barbary Coast” would later borrow the name).  Ceuta,  the North African trading terminus of caravans from the famous Silk Road (bringing goods from Asia), was in the heart of the Barbary Coast and piracy.  To curb the piracy, Prince Henry’s father, Portugal’s King John I, attacked and took possession of Ceuta in 1415.  In the aftermath of the battle, Prince Henry wandered through the defeated trading center.  He became so impressed by the opulence of international trade that he decided to enter such business himself.  To gain an edge on Silk Road caravans, Henry wanted to sail trading vessels around Africa to Asia.  But European ships back then were not capable of extended ocean travel.  So, Henry sponsored research into shipbuilding and seafaring.  Henry needed to develop a highly maneuverable ship capable of handling the ocean as well as sailing against the northwest wind on return voyages from Africa to Portugal.  His designers came up with critical improvements, including a lightweight caravel using new designs of lateen (triangular) sails for beating (steering) against the wind. This was a huge advance in European shipbuilding.  Lateen sails were not new, but the Portuguese adaptation and arrangement of them was.  Henry used such ships to sponsor exploration south along the African coast, searching for a route to Asia.  After decades of monumental exploration, Vasco de Gama finally succeeded in reaching India in 1498, 38 years after Henry’s death. 

     By the time that Columbus sailed west across the ocean in 1492, Henry’s shipbuilding progress was well in use by Europeans.  All three of Columbus’ ships were based on Portuguese design.  After Columbus’s Santa Maria was destroyed in the Caribbean, it was aboard the small but seaworthy Nina, of classic Portuguese caravel design, on which Columbus sailed back to Europe.  Without Henry's financial support for new ship designs, Columbus most likely would have never sailed across the ocean.  And if he had, it’s unlikely that he could have made it back to Spain.   

     OK, that’s well and good about Henry, Columbus and world history, but where does San Francisco fit in this narrative?  Here’s where:  After the Spaniard land parties reached the Caribbean coast of Mexico in the early 1500s, they disassembled some ships and carried them across Mexico to the Pacific coast.  They reassembled them, and, using the Portuguese design, were able to beat against the northwest wind along the coast (the same northwest wind that we often refer to as San Francisco’s “natural air conditioner”).  In 1542 Juan Cabrillo became Spain’s first sea captain to voyage along the coast of San Francisco.  He failed to notice the Golden Gate Strait, as did all the crews of Spanish vessels until San Francisco Bay was discovered by a Spaniard land party in 1769, but Henry’s ship design had nonetheless made coastal exploration of California possible and was essential in the discovery of Point Reyes (and Drake’s Bay). 

     It was at Drake’s Bay, 40 miles north of San Francisco, that the Spaniards developed a makeshift port for Spanish ships carrying goods from China across the North Pacific Ocean.  Those voyages would take a few grueling non-stop months at sea before reaching the northern California coast, and Drake’s Bay became critical as the location for sailors to pause before continuing southward to Mexico.   Drake’s Bay was never a good port for the ships, but it was the best that they knew about.  Eventually, Gaspar de Portola’s land party from San Diego would find San Francisco Bay in 1769, and the Spanish ships then entered the Golden Gate. 

     Were it not for Henry the Navigator’s “school” of designers who developed the state-of-the-art ship that could successfully beat against the northwest wind, Spain could have never explored along the California coast and found Point Reyes as the precedent leading to the eventual use of San Francisco Bay as a world-class port. 

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>Prince Henry the Navigator, known by the Portuguese as Infante D. Henrique (   ), is a major name from the “Age of Exploration.”  It’s easy to find him on the web. 

>Ceuta, on the north coast of Morocco, has changed hands numerous times since the Carthaginians in the 5^th century BC.  Henry’s Father, King John I, took Ceuta in 1415.  It remained with Portugal until 1668, when the citizens there chose to align with Spain.  Ceuta has been part of Spain since then. 

>Point Reyes and Drake’s Bay make for an excellent day trip (or overnight).
>Cabrillo and Portola are household names in California and San Francisco history.  Both names are quite common in the Bay Area.

Death & Flowers - 101 Style

101 California, site of the 1994 massacre.

As I stood on the south side of Market, waiting to meet my son for lunch, I noticed a beautiful modern building across Market and a block to the left.  It was 101 California, aka the Itel Building, or the Hines Building (not related to the ketchup).  Late 20^th century architecture is often bland, boring, sometimes ugly, and sometimes impractical (e.g., the Student Center at SF State U.).  But not 101 California (opened in 1982).  It’s beautiful!  It immediately held my gaze.  Actually, I was looking at the back of the building, for the front was a short block away on California Street.  I walked across Market and wanted to enter the building.  Given our post-911 mindset, I immediately wondered if I would be turned away before the door closed behind me (as sometimes happens).  As I approached, I noticed activity going on at the other side of the building.  So I went there first.  I found a large patio area with a long (very long) line of people waiting to enter the Xxxxxxx Bar for lunch.  The patio area prefaces the true front of the building at 101 California.  After checking out the menu and walking briefly inside the restaurant/bar (where the food looked delicious!), I went ahead and entered the 101 California lobby.  What a wonderful surprise to find a spacious lobby in a seven-story glass enclosed atrium!   Equally wonderful is the outstanding indoor garden of tropical plants.  Most are in huge pots with plants about 10-12 feet high.  Both plants and pots are exquisite!  From locations around the world from Panama to Madagascar to Lord Howard Island (wherever that is), the quality and variety of the plants rivals those at the Conservatory of Flowers at Golden Gate Park.  But without the Conservatory’s humidity.      

     What I failed to realize, however, was that 101 California is the site of the infamous massacre on July 1, 1994.  Some of you will remember that horrible day.  Some of you are not familiar with it.  I remember when it happened.  I recall watching the massive news coverage on TV.  Back then it was usually referred to as “The 101 California Massacre.”  But all these years later I had forgotten the address, for which I now feel a little sheepish.  But from now on I won’t forget.  And, as for the garden in the atrium/lobby?  That garden is a memorial to the eight lives lost in the massacre.  If you find yourself in that part of town, I highly recommend a walk through the lobby.  ◊

For more on the massacre:  http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/10-YEARS-AFTER-101-California-massacre-victims-2567142.php

As for why the building is so beautiful:  It was designed by famed architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee.    

To get there:  Three blocks from the Ferry Building at Market & Davis, or California & Davis 

Post July 1, 2014

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Post 6 29 14

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Post June 27, 2014
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Post 6/26/2014
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3rd Post - Nothing to say at this time.