El Presidio de San Diego: Excavating Southern California’s Lost City

Before there was a Los Angeles or a San Francisco, there was Spain’s first colony in upper California, El Presidio de San Diego.

Founded in 1769, this small fortress and mission was the seedling for the twenty-one missions and four presidios that followed. It was here that Franciscan priest Junípero Serra planted the first Catholic cross in what became Alta California. The nearby harbor provided a safe port for sailing ships from all over the world, ensuring a steady stream of goods and supplies. Over its many decades, the San Diego Presidio was home to Spaniards, Mexicans, Native people and, toward the end, Anglo-Americans. Its cemetery became the final resting place for many of them.

Author and historian Richard Carrico provides insights into San Diego’s beginnings.

Richard L. Carrico is a well-respected scholar of Spanish Mexican history, an archaeologist and a retired professor of American Indian studies at San Diego State University. Richard directed archaeological excavations at the San Diego Presidio and at Mission San Diego de Alcalá. He has participated in archaeological projects throughout California, Baja California, Arizona and Hawaii. Richard is the author of five books and more than thirty academic articles.