Territorial Timeline

Spanish explorers reach southern Oregon

Bartolome Ferrelo sailed north from Mexico and reached the Oregon coast at about 42 1/2 degees north latitude in 1543. Though Spain long maintained that all of the lands bordering the Pacific Ocean were theirs, this was their first attempt to explore the coast of the Pacific Northwest.

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was a Portuguese navigator sailing for Spain. As he sailed north along the coast of Upper California, he explored several islands and the bay of San Diego where he died on January 3, 1543. Before his death, Cabrillo ordered his pilot, Bartolome Ferrelo, to continue exploring to the. Ferrelo reached the northern-most point of his voyage on February 28, 1543. Exactly how far north he reached has been debated for centuries, but he probably reached the southern Oregon coast at about 42 1/2 degees north latitude.