San Francisco bay first appeared in chronicles
and navigation charts two centuries before
being officially discovered. The news of the
existence of a great shelter to the north of New
Spain encouraged diverse expeditions and
brought back mythical images in literature
and cartography. This mysterious enclave
that maps glided stealthily was looked for
unsuccessfully by a number of seafarers.
Systematic advances to take control of the
Pacific during the period known as the
Enlightenment dispelled the obscurity to
which the territory had been submitted and
did shed light on the harbor that had been
hidden for so long. The expeditions of the 18th
century finally banished the last frontier of the
New Spanish Great North and from that
period onward an image of San Francisco that
exceeded its own legend was created.
La bahÃa de San Francisco apareció en las
crónicas y en las cartas de marear desde dos
siglos antes de ser descubierta. La noticia de la
existencia de un gran refugio en el Septentrión
Novohispano alentó expediciones y recreó
mitos en la literatura y en la cartografÃa.
Sucesivas navegaciones buscaron sin éxito el
misterioso enclave que los mapas deslizaban
sigilosamente. El avance sistemático por el
control del PacÃfico, ya en el siglo de la Razón,
disipó las brumas y dio luz al puerto que tanto
tiempo habÃa permanecido escondido. Las
expediciones ilustradas terminaron por
desterrar la última frontera del Gran Norte,
elaborándose desde entonces una nueva
imagen de San Francisco que superarÃa su
propia leyenda.
