Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo

Welcome to the San Pedro Bay, home of the Port of Los Angeles, first discovered by European explorers in October 1542. At least six Indian Villages flourished near the shore when Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese navigator in the service of Spain, named these waters Bahia de los Fumos, "Bay of Smokes." Juan Cabrillo spotted smoke rising a short distance inland from fires started by the Indians to drive small game into the open. On November 26, 1602, a Spanish exploration party under Sebastian Vizcaino renamed the bay Ensenada de San Andreas, in honor of the feast day of that saint. It was a custom to name a discovery for the saint's day of the Catholic calendar on which it occurred; however, Vizcaino's knowledge of the Catholic calendar left something to be desired. Nov. 26 was not the feast day of San Andreas. The misnomer remained until 1734, when Cabrera Bueno named the bay San Pedro, after the martyred Archbishop of Alexandria.

from san pedro waterfront.com