In 1769, the Spanish Portola expedition came northwest along the beach from the previous night's encampment on the Ventura River. The explorers found a small native village near a watering place at what is now called "Padre Juan Canyon" (which reaches the sea at Pitas Point) and camped nearby on August 15. "Padre Juan" refers to Fray Juan Crespi, a Franciscan missionary travelling with the expedition, who noted that the natives "kept us awake playing all night on some doleful pipes or whistles". Thus the point was named "los pitos" - Spanish for "whistles". Later American coast survey mapping misspelled the name as "Las Pitas", which was the Spanish name for the Agave americana (century plant).