#0002 Ohlone-Portola Heritage Trail, Menlo Park

Title

#0002 Ohlone-Portola Heritage Trail, Menlo Park

Site information:

SE of the intersection of E Creek Dr and Alma St, Menlo Park, there is a smal park with a tree and plaque indicating where Portola camped. 

37.446962, -122.169645

Plaque information:

State plaque

Intersection of E Creek Dr and Alma St, Menlo Park

37.447843,-122.170901

Private plaque (I have no photo of this plaque yet, as I wasn't aware of it when I visited the site.)

37.446962, -122.169645

Plaque text:

November 6-10, 1769. Near "El Palo Alto", the tall tree, the Portolá expedition of 63 men and 200 horses and mules camped. They had traveled from San Diego in search of Monterey but discovered instead the Bay of San Francisco. Finding the bay too large to go around, and deciding that Monterey had been by-passed, they ended the search and returned to San Diego.

Plaque placed by the state Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Portolá Expedition Bicentennial Foundation, November 9, 1968.

Plaque text:

Under this giant redwood, the Palo Alto, November 6–11, 1769, camped Portola and his band on the expedition that discovered San Francisco Bay. This was the assembling point for their reconnoitering parties. Here in 1774 Padre Palou erected a cross to mark the site of a proposed mission (which later was built at Santa Clara). The celebrated Pedro Font topographical map of 1776 contained the drawing of the original double trunked tree making the Palo Alto the first official living California landmark.

Placed by the Historic Landmark Committee, Native Sons of the Golden West, Nov 7 1926

Registered 6/1/1932

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