Yerba Buena

In 1597 the English explorer Sir Francis Drake 

sailed north of San Francisco into what is now Drake's Bay.

 

In 1768 Spanish friars founded missions all along the californi coast to teach Christianity to the American Indians and Don Gaspar de Portola and his man descovered San Francisco Bay.

Years later another Spanish explorer, Juan Bautista de Anza 

 declared that the area was spain's and built a fort called Presidio.

The settlement was called Yerba buena, because of the sweet-smelling plants that grew there.

When the United States defeated Mexico in a war over land California became American and Yerba Buena's name was changed in San Francisco.