Day 23 - Morro Bay, Near Present-Day San Luis Obispo, California
📌APIA Every Day (23) - The first documented landing of Filipinos in what is now the Continental United States occurred on October 18, 1587, at Morro Bay. They arrived aboard the Novohispanic ship Nuestra Señora de Buena Esperanza, part of the Manila galleon trade between the Viceroyalty of New Spain and the East Indies. During their brief stay, the Filipino crew came in contact with the Chumash people, leading to a tragic encounter resulting in the death of a Filipino crew member. This event marked the earliest documented instance of Asians in California and the United States.
The Chumash people, indigenous to the central and southern coastal regions of California, had established their territories thousands of years prior. European explorers, including Juan RodrÃguez Cabrillo in 1542, made initial contact with the Chumash. The 1587 interaction with the Filipinos was another chapter in their encounters with outsiders. Despite the tragic events, the significance of this landing was not widely recognized until efforts by the Filipino American National Historical Society in 1992. A monument in Morro Bay was dedicated in 1995, and Filipino American History Month, established in 2009, now commemorates this historic event.
The landing in Morro Bay in 1587 was a pivotal moment, marking the first documented connection between Asian Americans and Indigenous/Native Americans in what is now the United States. This historical event, while often overlooked, contributes to the broader narrative of cultural interactions and migrations that have shaped the diverse history of America.
LEARN MORE:
Esquire Philippines: The Fascinating Story of the First Filipinos in America
Los Angeles Times: Essential California: The landing of the first Asians in California
SULO: The Philippines Studies Initiative at NYU (42 min lecture with Dr. Adrian De Leon)
Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) South Central Coast Chapter: Site Dedication
Filipino American National Historical Society
Filipino American National Historical Society Museum
Floro L. Mercene (2007). "Chapter Five: The First Filipinos in America". Manila Men in the New World: Filipino Migration to Mexico and the Americas from the Sixteenth Century. UP Press. pp. 38–42. ISBN 978-971-542-529-2.
Meares, Hadley (16 July 2015). "A Maritime People: The Chumash Tribes of Santa Barbara Channel". California Coastal Trail. Burbank, California: KCET. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
#apiaeveryday #filipinoamerican #filipinoamericanhistory #nativeamerican #nativeamericanhistory #indigenous #indigenoushistory #chumash #morrobay #sanluisobispo #california #asiansincalifornia #maritimehistory #firstlanding #aapi #aapihistory #filam #filamhistory #landingsite #historicsite #historicmarker #thanksgiving
