Presidio of Monterey, California
The Presidio of Monterey (POM), located in Monterey, California, is an active US Army installation with historic ties to the Spanish colonial era. Currently, it is the home of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLI-FLC). It is the last and only presidio in California to have an active military installation.
History
The Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno visited, named and charted Monterey Bay (especially the southern end) in 1602. In his official report, Vizcaíno recommended the natural harbor he found as an appropriate site for a seaport, military fortification and colonization. It would be over 150 years, until news of Pacific Coast moves by Spain's European rivals brought the remote area back to the attention of the leaders of New Spain.
José de Gálvez's grand plan
In 1768,
gave Gálvez the go-ahead. Spain moved to occupy regions along the Pacific coast of North America that its sailors and soldiers had only seen and claimed from previous maritime explorations.Portolá expeditions to Monterey
From March through June 1769,
In April 1770,
Strict discipline to build Spanish presidio
Spanish Fort
While Fages established El Presidio Real de San Carlos de Monterrey (the Royal Presidio of Saint Charles of Monterey), Junípero Serra founded Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, with the original location occupying the present day (remaining) chapel Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo.
Monterey became one of a series of presidios, or "royal forts," built by Spain in what is now the western United States. In 1792, the El Castillo de Monterey was established to protect the port and persido of Monterey.[6] Other California-based installations were founded in San Diego (El Presidio Real de San Diego) in 1769, in San Francisco (El Presidio Real de San Francisco ) in 1776, and in Santa Barbara (El Presidio Real de Santa Bárbara) in 1782.[7]
On 20 November 1818,
United States fort
This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2014) |
United States control of the area began in 1846 during the
The original Presidio comprised a square of
The 1846 US occupation of Monterey put an end to any Mexican military presence at the Presidio. In 1865, in the closing months of the American Civil War, the fort was returned to temporary life by the arrival of six officers and 156 enlisted men, but was abandoned again in 1866.[11]
In 1902, an
Presidio of Monterey
A school of musketry was located at the Presidio from 1907 to 1913, and a school for cooks and bakers from 1914 to 1917. In 1917, the Army purchased an additional 15,809 acres (64 km2) across the bay as a maneuver area. This new acquisition eventually was designated as Camp Ord in 1939 and became Fort Ord in 1940.
Between 1919 and 1940, the Presidio housed principally cavalry and field artillery units. However, the outbreak of World War II ended the days of horse cavalry, and those troops left Monterey. The Presidio, subsequently, served as reception center and temporary headquarters of the III Corps until it was deactivated in late 1944.
Civil Affairs Staging Area
The Presidio of Monterey was reactivated, under considerable difficulty, in January 1945 to accommodate the
Defense Language Institute
In 1946, the
Closure of Fort Ord
From 1946 onward, the Presidio itself was a sub-installation of the nearby Fort Ord. On 1 October 1994, this situation changed when Fort Ord closed and the Presidio of Monterey became a separate installation again, with the continued military areas of Fort Ord becoming known as the Presidio Annex.
Tenants
- Installation Management Command
- Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center
- 229th Military Intelligence Battalion, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command
- MARDET Presidio of Monterey, Marine Corps Communication Electronics School
- Information Warfare Training Command Monterey, Center for Information Warfare Training
- 517th Training Group, 17th Training Wing
- 902nd Monterey Field Office, C Company 308th Military Intelligence (MI) Battalion, 902nd MI Group
- California Medical Detachment, Madigan Army Medical Center
- Presidio of Monterey Dental Clinic
- Criminal Investigation Command
- Logistics Readiness Center, Army Materiel Command
- Mission Installation Contracting Command
- Network Enterprise Center, Army Network Enterprise Technology Command
Camp Roberts
US Army Signal Activity (USASA) Camp Roberts, California is a subinstallation of the Presidio of Monterey.[13]
See also
- Presidio Military Districts in Spanish California
- Presidio of Sonoma
- Naval Postgraduate School
- Bibliography of California history
Reference Notes
- ^ James J. Rawls & Walton Bean. California: An Interpretive History, 8th edition. McGraw-Hill, 2003, p. 32.
- ^ James J. Rawls & Walton Bean. California: An Interpretive History, 8th edition. McGraw-Hill, 2003, p. 36.
- ^ Maynard Geiger. The Life and Times of Fray Junípero Serra. Academy of American Franciscan History, 1959, vol. 1, p. 246.
- ^ Don DeNevi and Noel Francis Moholy. Junípero Serra: The Illustrated Story of the Franciscan Founder of California's Missions. Harper & Row, 1985, p. 99.
- ^ Maynard Geiger. The Life and Times of Fray Junípero Serra: The Man Who Never Turned Back. Academy of American Franciscan History, 1959, vol. 1, p. 253.
- ^ a b Spencer-Hancock, Diane; Pritchard, William E. (1922). California Historical Society quarterly. California Historical Society. pp. 230–231. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ISBN 978-0-87919-137-5.
- ^ J. D. Conway, Monterey: Presidio, Pueblo, and Port, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 2003, p. 49.
- ^ "History of the Presidio". Official website of Presidio of Monterey. United States Army. Archived from the original on 7 June 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
- ^ "History of the Presidio". Official website of Presidio of Monterey. United States Army. Archived from the original on 7 June 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
- ^ "History of the Presidio". Official website of Presidio of Monterey. United States Army. Archived from the original on 7 June 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
- ^ War Department Special Staff 1946, "History of the Civil Affairs Holding and Staging Area", Office of the Chief of Military History, U.S. Army, p.11 [1]
- ^ Joseph Kumzak, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs (June 12, 2019) USASA Camp Roberts cuts ribbon to new headquarters