Editing San Carlos, California (section)

===Spanish colonial era===
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In 1769, [[Gaspar de Portolá]] was the first westerner to reach the San Francisco Bay. While early historians placed his approach to the Bay from the Pacific Ocean as coming over the San Carlos hills, present researchers believe this "discovery" actually occurred in present-day [[Belmont, California|Belmont]].

The Spanish, with overwhelming military and economic advantages over the native population, quickly dominated the Bay Area. Initially, the missionaries invited local people to join them at [[Mission San Francisco de Asís]] (''Mission Dolores'') and convert to [[Christianity]]. Facing the end of their way of life, the local population had little choice but to seek assistance from the missions and convert to Christianity.{{Citation needed|date=February 2019}} Traditional trade routes and alliances fell apart. The Lamchin were one of the first local peoples to move to the mission. The first Lamchin were baptized at the mission in 1777 and last 1794. A total of 139 Lamchin people appear in the mission's baptismal records.<ref>See Milliken, Table 8</ref>

Afterward, the land was deeded in large "ranchos", or ranches, to prominent and wealthy Spaniards, with no concern for the native populations that lived on them.{{Citation needed|date=February 2019}} The new ranch owners raised cattle on the lands, displacing the native game populations and disrupting the food supply of the indigenous population. As well, the Spanish strongly discouraged the Native Americans from their periodic controlled burns, which helped maintain the grasslands.{{Citation needed|date=February 2019}}

The land now occupied by the city of San Carlos was deeded as a single large rancho to Don [[José Darío Argüello]]. He and his family did not live there, but rather raised cattle and crops for money on "Rancho Cachinetac" (a Spanish derivation of "Cachanihtac"). José's son [[Luis Argüello]] was the first California-born governor of the state, and after his death in 1830 the remaining family moved to the ranch, now known as [[Rancho de las Pulgas]]. The family abode was located at the present-day intersection of Magnolia and Cedar streets.