# 1725 FDC - 1977 13c First Civil Settlement: Alta, California
California’s First Civilian Settlement
Before the arrival of Europeans, the Ohlone Native American tribes lived in the area of present-day San Jose. The first permanent European settlements then came in 1770 when Gaspar de Portolà and JunÃpero Serra founded the Presidio of Monterey and the Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo.
Soon colonists arrived to establish a farming community, as the settlement’s sole purpose was to function as a granary since the presidios were not self-sufficient. By the following year, the population reached 68 people. Because the area was prone to flooding, San Jose was moved about a mile away in the 1790s.
California’s First Civilian Settlement
Before the arrival of Europeans, the Ohlone Native American tribes lived in the area of present-day San Jose. The first permanent European settlements then came in 1770 when Gaspar de Portolà and JunÃpero Serra founded the Presidio of Monterey and the Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo.
Soon colonists arrived to establish a farming community, as the settlement’s sole purpose was to function as a granary since the presidios were not self-sufficient. By the following year, the population reached 68 people. Because the area was prone to flooding, San Jose was moved about a mile away in the 1790s.