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Golden Gate U.S National Recreation Area National Park Service Golden Gate U.S. Department of the Interior PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO Under Three Flags TWO HUNDRED YEARS OF MILITARY HISTORY The Presidio of San Francisco has importance, but under American con­ served as an almost continuously ac­ trol it became the most important tive military garrison under three military post on the west coast. countries for the past 200 years. In 1776 it became the most remote military base of the Spanish Empire Today, over 200 years of history, ar­ in North America. As an outpost of chitecture and historical landscapes the Mexican Republic it decreased in are preserved here for you to enjoy. Spanish Years: 1776 to 1822 In 1769 a Spanish expeditionary Monterey to San Francisco. These force marched up the coast from Baja colonists, under command of Jose California, establishing presidios Joaquin Moraga, built an adobe quad­ (military outposts), and missions. rangle and living quarters, and dedi­ During this early colonizing expedi­ cated the Presidio de San Francisco tion the great inland harbor of San on September 17,1776. In 1794 a Francisco Bay was discovered, and thirteen-gun battery was constructed plans were made to fortify and settle to defend the bay entrance. The the area. In June of 1776, a coloniz­ presidial forces represented the north­ ing expedition of soldiers and their ernmost expansion of Spanish rule in families marched north from North America. Second U.S. Artillery soldiers in dress uniform on the Presidio parade ground, around 1868. Mexican Years: 1822 to 1848 In 1821 the newly independent ferred the military headquarters north by the New York Volunteers of the Republic of Mexico included Califor­ to Sonoma. Over time, the Presidio's U.S. Army, who repaired several of nia as part of her territory. For the adobe walls slowly dissolved in the the old buildings. In 1848, California next 13 years Mexican soldiers winter rains. American forces landed was transferred by treaty from served at the Presidio. In 1835 the at San Francisco in 1847, during the Mexico to the United States and the post was temporarily abandoned United States'war with Mexico. The Presidio flew a new flag as the nation when General Mariano Vallejo trans­ ruins of the Presidio were occupied stretched from coast to coast. American Years: 1848 to 1890 The Indian Wars of the 1870s and Upon the discovery of gold in 1880s resulted in additional growth California, the sudden growth and of the Presidio. Soldiers stationed importance of San Francisco here saw action against the Modoc In­ prompted the U.S. government to es­ dians in the Lava Beds of northern tablish military reservations here. granite fort designed to hold 126 California and against the Apache In­ By executive order of President large cannon. The outbreak of the dians in the southwest. In the 1880s a Fillmore, the United States reserved Civil War in 1861 emphasized the im­ large-scale tree planting and post the Presidio in November, 1850, for portance of a rich California and the beautification program was started. military use. During the 1850s-60s military significance of San Francis­ Presidio soldiers fought Indians in co harbor to the Union. This led, in California, Oregon, Washington and 1862, to the first major program of By the 1890s the Presidio was no Nevada. To protect the Bay entrance construction and expansion at the longer a frontier outpost but a major the Army Corps of Engineers built Presidio since it was acquired by the military installation and a base for Fort Point, a four-tiered brick and United States. American expansion into the Pacific. American Years: 1890 to 1941 World War I in 1914. In 1916 the Na­ tional Park Service was created to the Presidio assisted the civilian manage the country's National Parks. government by providing food, cloth­ ing, shelter and protection. The United States' war with Spain, in 1898, increased the role of the In 1914 troops under the command Presidio. Thousands of troops of General John Pershing left the camped in tent cities awaiting ship­ Presidio for the Mexican border to ment to the Philippines. Returning pursue Pancho Villa and his men. sick and wounded soldiers were When World War I began General treated in the Army's first permanent Pershing became the Commander of general hospital, Presidio (now Let- the American Expeditionary Forces terman) Army General Hospital. in Europe. By 1905, twelve coastal defense bat­ The Presidio expanded in the 1920s In 1890, with the creation of Sequoia, teries of reinforced concrete were when Crissy Army Airfield was es­ General Grant and Yosemite Nation­ built along the San Francisco Head­ tablished to assist in harbor defense. al Parks in the Sierra Nevada moun­ lands. Presidio coast artillery units In 1924 the first "dawn to dusk" tains of California, the protection of were stationed near the Bay entrance transcontinental flight finished here. these scenic and natural resources at Fort Scott, with cavalry and in­ From 1933 to 1937 the Golden Gate was assigned to the U.S. Cavalry sta­ fantry garrisoned at the main post. Bridge was built, which increased tioned at the Presidio. Soldiers public use of the Presidio. The air­ patrolled these new parks during the During and following the 1906 field moved north to Marin County, summer months until the start of earthquake and fire, the U.S. Army at to become Hamilton Airfield. American Years: 1941 to 1994 American Years: 1994 to the Present When Golden Gate National Recre­ ation Area was created in 1972, the With the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Presidio was included in its bound­ United States entered World War II, ary. In 1989, as part of a military and Presidio soldiers dug foxholes base reduction program, Congress along nearby beaches. Fourth Army decided to close the post. It was Commander General John L. DeWitt transferred to the National Park conducted the internment of Service on October 1, 1994. The thousands of Japanese and Japanese- Presidio enters the 21st century as a Americans on the west coast. The In the 1950s the Presidio served as new kind of park: one dedicated not Presidio became headquarters for the the headquarters for Nike missile only to preserving and protecting its Western Defense Command for the defense located around the Golden resources, but also to finding solu­ west coast and Alaska. The nearby Gate, and headquarters for the famed tions to environmental, cultural and Fort Mason Port of Embarkation Sixth U.S. Army. social issues of global significance. shipped 1,750,000 men to fight in the From a proud past, the Presidio Pacific. As it became the largest The Presidio of San Francisco was looks to an even brighter future. debarkation hospital in the country, designated a National Historic Letterman Hospital peaked at 72,000 Landmark in 1962, with over 350 patients in one year. buildings having historic value. .
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