Cabrillo, Juan Rodríguez

Cabrillo, Juan Rodríguez (hwän rôthrē`gāth käbrē`lyō), Port. João Rodrigues Cabrilho, d. 1543, Spanish conquistador and discoverer of California, b. Portugal. In 1520 he landed in Mexico with Pánfilo de Narváez and joined in the conquests of Mexico and Guatemala. Accompanying Pedro de Alvarado up the west coast of Mexico, he assumed command of the expedition and continued the voyage after Alvarado's death. He discovered San Diego Bay on Sept. 28, 1542, landing at Point Loma Head, now in Cabrillo National Monument. He then sailed on to Northwest Cape beyond San Francisco Bay, which he did not find. Returning to winter on San Miguel Island off the Santa Barbara coast, he died Jan. 3, 1543.

---

Cabrillo, Juan Rodríguez

(died Jan. 3, 1543?, off the coast of northern California) Explorer in the service of Spain and discoverer of California. Little is known of his early life, though he may have been born in Portugal. In 1520 he accompanied Spanish explorers to Mexico. He was one of the conquerors of present-day Guatemala, where he may have served as governor. In 1542 he left Mexico and sailed along the California coast, entering San Diego and Monterey bays. He landed on several islands off the coast; he apparently died of complications from a broken leg suffered on one such landing.