History
On March 31, 1776, Padre Pedro Font camped at San Lorenzo Creek after traveling more than a thousand miles from his home in Mexico while ministering to colonists, soldiers, and workers. Fatigued by conflicts with Commander Anza, contact with new tribes, the search for the Sacramento River, and swarming mosquitos, he found some needed rest there. As Juan Bautista de Anza, Font, and a dozen soldiers watched the night sky, they reflected on having safely brought nearly 200 settlers to San Francisco to protect that distant corner of the Spanish Empire, where those families would build a presidio and a new way of life. The next morning, Font broke camp with a quick prayer after drawing the creek on his map. Anza's exploration party traveled through the East Bay in 1776, Font mapped the journey, and Arroyo de la Harina is now called San Lorenzo Creek.
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