The earliest land explorations to Alameda and Contra Costa counties were those of Fages in 1772 and of Anza in 1776. Journals were kept of both these trips; for the first by Crespi, for the second, by Anza himself and also by Font. All are well known and are easily available in the excellent translations by Herbert E. Bolton (1927; 1930). Therefore only the significant points are abstracted and referred to here.

Coming up from Monterey, the Fages-Crespi expedition camped (Bolton, 1927, p. 284) on March 24, 1772, near Milpitas. On March 25 the party moved north along the plain, which is described as being well-covered with grass but treeless, as far as San Lorenzo Creek. Five villages of natives were seen, situated on as many creeks, all concentrated within three leagues.

On March 26 the region of Fruitvale was reached (Bolton [1927, p. 287] says Mills College). Many deer were seen and also the tracks of elk. In the four leagues traversed, five streams of running water were found, and the vicinity of the Oakland-Alameda Estuary is noted as being covered with oaks. No Indians were seen. On the 27th, after crossing a grassy plain, the party reached Strawberry Creek. Seven arroyos were crossed, but again no Indians were seen. On the 28th the party reached Pinole. Six arroyos were crossed. At two leagues they reached Wildcat Creek where "... we found a good village of heathen, very fair and bearded ... they gave us many cacomites, amoles and two dead geese, dried and stuffed with grass to use as decoys in hunting others, large numbers being attracted in this way" (Bolton, 1927, p. 291).

On March 29, Crespi and Fages continued along the shore, reaching the western end of Carquinez Strait, "traveling by treeless, grass-covered hills." They continued along the steep bluffs on the south side, probably nearly to Martinez. "In the whole distance we traveled on these hills there was not a single tree. The bed of the estuary is very deep and its shores precipitous; on its banks we did not see so much as a bush ..." The last statement is interesting in view of the evidence contained in the accounts of Font and Anza (see p. 133).

Several native villages were seen. "On the banks of the other side we made out many villages, whose Indians called to us ... and many of them, seeing that we were going away, came to this side, crossing over on rafts, and gave us some of their wild food." On the south side: "In this part of our day's march we came to five large villages of very wild heathen ..." It is probable that the expression "this part of the day's march" refers to the first portion, i.e., from Pinole through Rodeo and Crockett. There the natives had "... pleasant faces, and were of a fair complexion, bearded and white, all with long hair which they tied with twine."

On March 30 the expedition set out and in two leagues crossed Pacheco Creek (see Bolton, 1927, p. 295n), which was a "deep arroyo with much running water" and bordered with trees. This reference to "running water" raises the question of local water supply, a matter that will be discussed more fully in connection with the Font-Anza descriptions. The plain between Walnut Creek and Concord is described as being well covered with grass and grown with oak trees. In this valley two Indian villages were encountered. After crossing the low hills northwest of Concord, Crespi and Fages entered the delta region of the Central Valley and camped somewhere near Pittsburg or Antioch.

The next day, March 31, it was decided to return. Accordingly, the steps of the preceding day were retraced as far as the area of Walnut Creek, whence they turned south to the night's camp near Danville. (This itinerary has been worked out by Bolton and is no doubt substantially correct.) On April 1 the party reached Pleasanton via San Ramon and Dublin, and on April 2 arrived near Milpitas.

The valley at and south of Walnut Creek is described as being covered with grass with the stream beds overgrown with alders, cottonwood, laurels, roses, and other shrubs. The same type of land, "covered with grass and trees," continued as far as Pleasanton. Then: "It is evident that the land is not so good now, but it all continues full of oaks and live oaks...." Crossing the hills to the shore of the Bay the same rough, wooded country persisted—essentially as it is today.

During the three days many signs of natives were encountered. Near Walnut Creek "we came to three villages with some little grass houses...." Between Danville and Pleasanton there were "numerous villages of very gentle and peaceful heathen, many of them of fair complexion." From Pleasanton to the Bay no new villages or Indians are mentioned.

From Milpitas north, Crespi saw five villages, as far as San Lorenzo. In Oakland and Berkeley he saw none. There was one "good village" on Wildcat Creek and from Pinole to Crockett there were five "large villages." In lower Walnut Creek Valley there were two more. The total is thirteen, and it is surprising that no more were encountered. Possibly the party kept too far inland to see the shell midden sites along the Bay shore.

With reference to numbers of natives it should be remembered that Crespi had seen Indian rancherias ranging in size from insignificant to the semi-cities of the Santa Barbara Channel. Hence a "large village" to him must have meant a really sizable place. If we ascribe 100 inhabitants to an ordinary village and 200 to a "large" or "good" village, we get a total of 1,900 persons.

On the return trip through the interior hills Crespi notes three villages near Walnut Creek and numerous villages in the vicinity of Livermore Valley. If we allow "numerous" to be half a dozen, there is a total of nine villages. The size was likely to be smaller than on the Bay shore, say 50 persons. Then the total population represented would be 400-500. For those portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties visited a population of at least 2,400 is therefore indicated. Since Crespi probably did not see all the villages, the actual value was no doubt considerably greater.