Urbanization Interpretive Program Outline

From the Anza Expedition to the Transcontinental I-10

How Colonialism Has Led to Urbanization in the U.S. Southwest

• Mission: Exploring the causal relationship between the Anza Expedition’s role in building Californian cities.
• Theme: Colonization and Spanish settlements in the late eighteenth century have led to the widespread urbanization we see across the southwest United States today.
• Goals: Bridge the gap between the Spanish colonization period and the advanced urbanization existing today in the southwest United States.
• Tangibles: Architecture and infrastructure, natural landscape features or lack thereof
• Intangibles: Loss of natural resources, Ethical decision-making, Care for the environment
• Universal Concepts: Preservation, Loss, Safety, Fear, Hope, Responsibility to future generations

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Program Outline

There are many ways to interpret the Anza Trail regarding colonization and its causal relationship to widespread urbanization across the southwest. We can see how the Anza expedition played a role in building Californian cities and missions along the coast.

How you interpret this program will depend on your site. We recommend visiting https://webdeanza.org to read through both Father Font and Juan Bautista de Anza’s journals on the days leading up to and a few days after the expedition passed through your site or region to gather ideas. Below, we’ve included a few different examples of what this could look like:

The Anza Expedition & Urbanization:

Have you ever moved away from home before!? If so, what was the reason for doing so?

The Anza Trail follows the route of a Spanish colonial expedition that took place from October 1775 to March 1776. Approximately 240 family members, 1,000 pack animals, three Spanish priests, Indigenous guides and translators, soldiers, and the military colonel Juan Bautista de Anza made the trek from Sonora, Mexico to San Francisco in less than a year.

Although the journey was long and daunting, everyone on the expedition had something to gain from uprooting their lives to move to San Francisco: opportunity. For the families, it was social and financial opportunities; for military commander Anza, it was career advancement; and for the Catholic priests, it was spreading the word of Catholicism.

Father Font and military officer Anza both kept detailed journals during the expedition, and we can reference them today to see how the southwest United States has changed. It becomes apparent how much urbanization has spread since the Spanish missionization period.

Examples of Urbanization Along the Trail:

Urbanization is the population shift from rural to urban areas and how societies adapt to this change. The Anza expedition is a prime example of urbanization on the California coast, as they set out to build a settlement in San Francisco to expand their occupancy in Alta California.

What do you enjoy about life in the city? What do you enjoy about experiencing nature? We encourage you to think about your answers as we move through our program!

The Santa Cruz River & Water Quality

On the way north towards Tubac on October 14th, the expedition stopped in an area they called Las Lagunas, in modern-day Nogales, Arizona.

“All these lands are abundant in pasturage, and in them, the San Ygnacio [Santa Cruz] River rises.” (Diary of Father Font, October 14th, 1775)

The expedition relied upon the Santa Cruz River as a natural water source to survive. Today, however, the Santa Cruz River no longer flows year-round as it once did due to development and agricultural activities lowering the water table. Due to urbanization, the river water is unsafe to drink because it is contaminated by pollution and sewage.

Yuma, Arizona & Reduced River Levels

In November of 1775, The Anza expedition reached present-day Yuma, Arizona, where the Colorado and Gila Rivers converge. The colonists needed to cross the river to make it to San Francisco, but in 1775, the water level was too high to cross safely. The only way they could cross the river was on horseback with the help of the Quechan tribe who knew the best and widest crossings.

“The width of the river where we crossed it I judged to be some three or four hundred varas [0.15 to 0.2 miles], and this is at the time when it is lowest, for when it is in flood it is leagues in width and extent through that land that is so level.” (Diary of Father Font on November 30th, 1775)

Increased agricultural activity and the canaling of water to southern California and metropolitan Phoenix have dropped the water levels of the Colorado River so much that the river no longer reaches its destination at the Gulf of California. It is a concern for future water needs in the American Southwest. It’s much easier to cross the Colorado River today, even on foot.

San Francisco & the Lost Wetlands

When Font and Anza arrived in San Francisco Bay, they made a note of the natural landscape to inform the colonists where the best natural resources would be located to begin building the presidio. Font noted:

“The port of San Francisco… is a wonder of nature, and may be called the port of ports… The greater part of the shore of the port, as I saw it when we made the circuit of it, is not clear, but miry, marshy, and full of ditches, and is consequently bad.” (Diary of Father Font on March 27th, 1775)

Historically, San Francisco was surrounded by tidal wetlands. In the past 150 years, approximately 90% of San Francisco’s wetlands have been lost due to drainage, agriculture, and urbanization. The wetlands were filled and built upon to account for the increasing population, though tidal wetlands are extremely valuable to the environment for flood protection, water quality, and shoreline erosion control.

Urbanization & Opportunity:

The Anza expedition at its core is a story about the search for opportunities to grow financially, socially, and professionally. In 1775, there was no way of knowing how building California’s coastal cities would impact the southwest United States. Looking back on the past 250 years, we can see how it has had an impact on the natural environment.

There are a few things we can learn from the Anza expedition. The first is that human beings have impressive determination to provide a better future for their loved ones. They were willing to go through extreme hardship to make that possible. We, too, can use the same determination to create a hopeful future for the next generation as we look at how urbanization has impacted our planet.

Taking Action & Inspiring Hope

Here, you can highlight local organizations that are doing good work in your community and ways in which the audience might be able to support them.

What are some opportunities that come to mind to tackle some of the effects of urbanization on the environment? There is no right answer, but here are a few ideas:

• Partake in a local litter clean-up, or form a group yourself

• Opt to walk, bike, take the bus, or rideshare when you have the opportunity

• Practice sustainable recycling and/or composting

• Bring a reusable bag with you to the grocery store to reduce single-use plastics

The actions we take today impact the reality of future generations. Rather than focusing on the long journey ahead, we can follow in the footsteps of the Anza expedition and take it one step at a time to pave a better future for generations to come.