The Ciurca Eurypterid Collection Sam Ciurca (at left) and Erik Tetlie hold important specimens of Eurypterus remipes lacustris (YPM.207290) from the Late Silurian Williamsville Formation at Bennett Quarry, Buffalo, New York, USA.
San Diego Historic Landmark. Mission Basilica San Diego de AlcalÃ¡ was the first Franciscan mission in The Californias, a province of New Spain. Located in present-day San Diego, California, it was founded on July 16, 1769 by Spanish friar JunÃ­pero Serra in an area long inhabited by the Kumeyaay.
This location had been favored by the PortolÃ¡ expedition in 1769. They had given their campsite the name La Hoya de la Sierra de Santa Lucia. This valley, at the foot of the Santa Lucia Mountains was known by Serra as the Valley of the Oaks (Los Robles). Establishment of Mission San Antonio de Padua was the third mission founded in the 21 mission chain in Alta California. The original founding site lay one and one half miles south of the present church. The original location had to be abandoned in 1773 due to drought, and the new site was chosen on the east bank of year-round Mission Creek.