On our first full day of touring, we quickly began learning about the history of the Big Sur. Native Americans first lived along this coast, and the predominant tribe was the Esselen people. Spanish explorers explored this coast in the mid-1500s, notably Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo. Monterey, to the north, became the capital of upper California under Spanish colonial rule. Mexicans ranched part of the Big Sur coast during this time. California declared independence from Mexico in 1846, and the U.S. military took control of the territory shortly thereafter. California was admitted to the Union in 1849. Pioneer settlers began settling and homesteading the Big Sur in the mid-1800s. McWay Falls and Cove are named for one of these settlers -- Christopher McWay, an early settler and farmer from New York state who arrived in the area with his son Christopher Jr. around 1874.