San Diego, CA
Opinion: The jury is in — Cabrillo was a Spaniard
Sept. 28 was the 483rd anniversary of the arrival of the Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo aboard the San Salvador at what we now call San Diego Bay. The San Salvador was the first European sailing vessel to reach the California coast.
Cabrillo National Monument was established in 1913 by President Woodrow Wilson. The Cabrillo/Spanish connection was prevalent in the original plans for Cabrillo National Monument, which were formulated in 1913.
Twenty years later, a fabricated shift began that asserted Cabrillo was Portuguese. The first reference to Cabrillo being Portuguese, as it relates to the Cabrillo National Monument, occurred in 1934. The first mention of the name João Rodrigues Cabrilho — note the different spelling of the final name — did not appear until 1935 and has never been verified as authentic.
The iconic statue at Cabrillo National Monument was commissioned by the Portuguese Secretariat of National Propaganda in 1939. Two bronze plaques displayed at the monument referring to Cabrillo as a Portuguese navigator were gifted by the Portuguese Navy in 1957 and 1988. The addition of the statue and plaques was not approved by Congress nor the director of the National Park Service, as required by federal statute.
In 2015, renowned Canadian historian and expert on 16th century Central America, Wendy Kramer, Ph.D., while conducting archival research, discovered several thousand pages of manuscripts with legal documents written by official scribes. Numerous documents were signed by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo stating that he was a native of the Spanish village of Palma de Micer Gilio, now known as Palma del Río, Córdoba, Spain. Kramer was researching information about Guatemala in the 1520s and 1530s. Her findings were published in 2016 in The Journal of San Diego History.
Kramer’s paper — “Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Citizen of Guatemala and Native of Palma del Rio: New Sources from the Sixteenth Century” — was peer reviewed by several historians including Carla Rahn Phillips, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota, and Harry Kelsey, the former chief curator of history at the National History Museum of Los Angeles County and research scholar at the Huntington Library.
Robert Munson, former Cabrillo National Monument historian, verified and agreed with the historians’ peer review. Local historians Iris Engstrand and Molly McLain, then co-editors of “The Journal of San Diego History,” agreed with Kramer’s conclusion.
An April 25, 2018, letter from Cabrillo National Monument Superintendent Andrea Compton to the House of Spain acknowledged and accepted Kramer’s finding that Cabrillo was born in current-day Palma del Río, Córdoba, Spain.
Despite overwhelming evidence and scholarly acceptance, the Cabrillo National Monument refuses to affirm that Cabrillo was of Spanish birth. In fact, after Kramer’s findings, the Cabrillo National Monument inexplicably changed the birthplace of Cabrillo on its website from Spain to “the Iberian Peninsula.”
Why does the National Park Service promote the inaccurate history that Cabrillo may have been born in Portugal? Even Portugal did not recognize Cabrillo as a native on the famous Monument of the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos) in Lisbon.
Why does the National Park Service refuse to update the information it disseminates to the public on its website, wayside exhibit and brochures? Why does it reference the name João Rodrigues Cabrilho when that person does not exist in the history of California? This name is a fake created by the government of Portugal and the Portuguese in California. Read the history of California.
The House of Spain in San Diego’s YouTube channel shows a short video about the Cabrillo National Monument history.
Where is any similar historical research and peer review acceptance of the Portuguese claims? Answer: There is none.
Latin American history experts with whom I have consulted unanimously agree Cabrillo was Spanish. They unanimously agree there is no reliable evidence supporting the position that Cabrillo was Portuguese.
The National Park Service needs to be honest in telling the story of Cabrillo. Give all visitors the objective truth.
Benayas is president of House of Spain in San Diego and lives in San Diego.
Joan Endres
OBITUARY
Born January 1939 in Cincinnati Ohio. Died February 14, 2026, in San Diego, California, with her sons at her side. Her beloved husband Dean passed away in 2010.
Joan was the only child of Thomas and Edna Palmer. In 1943, the family moved to San Diego, where Joan graduated from Helix High School in 1956.
In 1957 Joan married Dean Endres of San Diego, where they raised two sons. Joan followed her two great passions outside the home, the Arts, and Gardening. Both activities being a way to bring beauty to others and to the community.
Joan received a degree in Environmental Design from San Diego State University, and afterwords worked at UCSD, for the Campus Architect.
As an artist, Joan worked in various media, especially ceramics. She was active in many cultural and arts organizations, eventually becoming President of the Combined Organization for the Visual Arts (COVA). Later she turned to gardening, with the Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca Community College and the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County.
Joan is survived by her son Jeff and wife Katrin, grandson Jackson, and son Todd Endres, all of La Mesa, and sisters Alice Buck of Phoenix, Elaine Kennedy of San Diego, Nancy and husband Don Jones of Vista, Eva Budzinski of Cloudcroft, New Mexico, and their children and grandchildren.
There will be a Celebration of Life for Joan in the near future. Those who wish to attend should contact celebratejoanuvart@gmail.com to receive details when they are confirmed. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully suggests a donation to the Water Conservation Garden or the Diego Visual Arts Network (SDVAN).
The San Diego State Aztecs’ have moved off the bubble and back into the NCAA Tournament’s Field of 64 in the latest ESPN’s Bracketology projections.
The Aztecs must feel like a yo-yo, but now it’s in a good way. Bracket expert Joe Lunardi moved them from the bottom of the First Four Out — No. 72 — to holding the Mountain West’s automatic bid after an 89-72 home romp Wednesday night over Utah State, which had held the auto-bid in bracketology for a few weeks now.
Lunardi now has the Aztecs as the No. 11 seed in the West Region, with a projected first-round date against former MW rival BYU in Portland.
Lunardi wrote that SDSU’s auto-bid “shifts the entire bubble.”
Wednesday night’s victory not only pulled the Aztecs (19-8, 13-4) into a tie with Utah State (23-5, 13-4) atop the MW standings, but it was just their second Quad 1 victory in six such opportunities.
SDSU’s next two games are both Quad 1 chances, at New Mexico on Saturday and then at Boise State on Tuesday night.
The win lifted the Aztecs only one spot in the NCAA NET Rankings, to No. 43. Those rankings are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee as the primary sorting tool for selection and seeding for March Madness.
SDSU’s resume for earning an at-large berth has been on shaky ground all season, and was seriously damaged last week when the Aztecs lost at home to Grand Canyon and were then routed at Colorado State, both Quad 2 games.
SDSU’s best bet to assure a trip to March Madness for the sixth straight season is to win the MW tournament in Las Vegas and claim the automatic bid. That requires winning three games in as many days, and perhaps a third showdown against the Aggies, who beat the Aztecs 71-66 in Logan on Jan. 31.
Lunardi now has Utah State projected as an at-large team, but still with the No. 7 seed in the East, facing No. 10 Texas A&M in a first-round game in St. Louis.
New Mexico (21-7, 12-5), lurking just a game behind SDSU and USU, has dropped from the Last Four In at No. 68 to the First Four Out at No. 70.
The Aztecs were the unanimous preseason pick to win the MW regular-season title in their final season in the league before moving into the Pac-12 along with Utah State, Boise State, Fresno State and Colorado State.
Saturday’s game at New Mexico is set to tip off at 11 a.m. PT and will air on CBS.
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