Juan Crespí

Juan Crespí
Cenotaph of Saint Junípero Serra in the Mission San Carlos Borromeo, Carmel-by-the-Sea (1924); Fr. Juan Crespí, who predeceased Serra, stands at the head, praying over him.
Born	Joan Crespí Fiol (1721-03-01)March 1, 1721 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Died	January 1, 1782(1782-01-01) (aged 60) Carmel-by-the-Sea, Las Californias, New Spain
Resting place	Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo
Nationality	Spanish
Occupation	Roman Catholic priest, missionary, explorer

Juan Crespí (March 1, 1721 – January 1, 1782) was a Franciscan missionary and explorer of Las Californias. A native of Majorca, Crespí entered the Franciscan order at the age of seventeen. He came to New Spain in 1749, and accompanied explorers Francisco Palóu and Junípero Serra. In 1767 he went to the Baja California Peninsula and was placed in charge of the Misión La Purísima Concepción de Cadegomó.

In 1769, Crespí joined the expedition led by Gaspar de Portolá and Junípero Serra (see Timeline of the Portolá expedition). He traveled in the vanguard of the land expedition to San Diego, led by Captain Fernando Rivera y Moncada, where a presidio and mission were established. Crespí then continued north with Portolá and Rivera to identify the port of Monterey. Because he was the only one of the Franciscans to make the entire journey by land, Crespí became the first official diarist for the missions. He was one of three diarists to document the first exploration by Europeans of interior areas of Alta California.

After reaching Monterey in October 1769, Crespí continued with the expedition that explored as far north as present-day San Francisco, and became one of the first Europeans to see San Francisco Bay. All told, the expedition traveled in the future state of California through the present-day coastal counties of San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, and San Francisco.