Fages, Pedro [key], fl. 1767–96, Spanish governor of Alta California (1782–91). In Mexico in 1767, he was ordered to accompany the expedition of Gaspar de Portolá, which established (1770) the mission at Monterey, where he became commandant. Later that year he led a small party to explore the east coast of San Francisco Bay. Friction developed at Monterey between Fages and Father Junípero Serra, and Fages was recalled (1774), but he returned in 1782 as governor. His administration was notable for its encouragement of colonization, agriculture, and missionary work. His diaries, The Colorado River Campaign (tr. 1913), The Expedition to San Francisco Bay in 1770 (tr. 1911) and A Historical, Political and Natural Description of California (tr. 1937), are valuable source materials for the history of the period.
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