The first recorded European discovery of San Francisco Bay was on November 4, 1769 when Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portolá, unable to find the port of Monterey, California, continued north close to what is now Pacifica and reached the summit of the Sweeney Ridge, now marked as the place where he first sighted San Francisco Bay. Portolá and his party did not realize what they had discovered, thinking they had arrived at a large arm of what is now called Drakes Bay. At the time, Drakes Bay went by the name "Bahia de San Francisco" and thus both bodies of water became associated with the name. Eventually, the larger, more important body of water fully appropriated the name "San Francisco Bay".