![]() states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. The Spaniards gave the name Las Californias to the peninsula and lands to the north, including both Baja California and Alta California, the region that became parts of the present-day U.S. The water separating the island, now called "Gulf of California" was sometimes called the "Red Sea". Nevertheless, the idea of the island persisted for well over a century and was included in many maps. In 1539, explorer Francisco de Ulloa proved that Baja California was a peninsula rather than an island. įollowing Hernán Cortés's conquest of Mexico, the lure of an earthly paradise as well as the search for the fabled Strait of Anián, helped motivate him to send several expeditions to the west coast of New Spain in the 1530s and early 1540s. The book described the Island of California as being west of the Indies, "very close to the side of the Terrestrial Paradise and it is peopled by black women, without any man among them, for they live in the manner of Amazons". The earliest known mention of the idea of California was in the 1510 romance novel Las Sergas de Esplandián by Spanish author Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The land of California existed as a myth among European explorers before it was discovered. ( February 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) ![]() Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ![]() Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This section needs additional citations for verification.
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