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Born in 1736, Juan Bautista de Anza, II was an explorer, trailblazer and military captain who became the first person of European descent to establish an overland trail from the Arizona-Mexico border to the northern Pacific coast of California.
In 1775-76, he led some 240 men, women, and children on an extensive journey to create the first non-Native settlement at San Francisco Bay.
Known today as the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, the 1,200-mile route starts in Nogales, Arizona and connects historic, cultural and outdoor recreational sites across the Copper State, many of which can still be visited today.
– Amanda Fox, The 100 Companies