History of California
Encyclopedia
The history of California
can be divided into several periods: the Native American period; European exploration period from 1542 to 1769; the Spanish colonial period, 1769 to 1821; the Mexican period, 1821 to 1848; and United States statehood
, which continues to the present day.
The early history of California is characterized by being surrounded by barriers nearly isolating the state: the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Sierra Nevada mountains backed by the nearly barren Great Basin
in the east, the Mojave Desert
and Sonora Desert areas in the southeast and Redwood–Douglas fir forests to the northwest. The near isolation of the California Indian
tribes led them to develop cultures different than the other Indian cultures in the Americas. California Indians
tribes had essentially no agriculture (with the exception of the Colorado River
Indians) and were hunter-gatherers. The Indians had no crops, advanced cities, accumulated wealth or organized civilizations to exploit. The Spaniards, after initial explorations, left Alta California
alone for over 200 years. Relative isolation continued even after church state Spanish Mission, Presidio
and pueblo
settlements began in 1769. The only easy communication with the rest of New Spain
(Mexico) was by ship as the Quechan
(Yuma) Indians shut down the Anza Trail
in 1781. This trail (discovered 1776) across Arizona
along the Gila
and the Colorado River
crossing (Yuma Crossing
) was the only "easy" way by land from Mexico to California. Essentially the only communication from Mexico to California was via a 30-50 day sailing ship
voyage against the south bound California Current
and the often opposing winds. The sailing ship trip from California to Mexico was much easier but you had to get to California before you could take it. Since California initially had very few settlers and essentially no exports and could afford only a very few imports for its few inhabitants ships to and from California were few. The average number of ships going to Alta California from 1770 to 1821 was 2.5 ship/year with 13 years showing no recorded ships. These few of ships brought even fewer new residents and increases in the Californio
population were nearly all by internal growth of the original settlers.
After Mexico acquired the Province of California in 1821 the Californio
s started developing approximately 500 large (over 18000 acres (72.8 km²) each) Ranchos of California
, most granted on former Mission lands for little or no money to friends and family of the California authorities. The Californios lived mostly on their ranchos or at the five pueblos (towns) in California. These ranchos raised cattle
, sheep, horse
s and other livestock that more or less raised themselves. The Californio
s did little work themselves relying on the former Mission Indians to do the vast majority of all agricultural sowing and harvesting of crops, irrigation, cattle herding, fence building, building construction, laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc. work in town or rancho. Nearly all males rode to where ever they were going at nearly all times making them excellent riders. They indulged in many fiesta
s, fandango
s, rodeo
s and roundup
s as the rancho owners often went from rancho to rancho on a large horse bound party circuit. Wedding
s, christening
s, funeral
s and other church activities were all "celebrated" with large gatherings. California in this period has been described as a large unfenced pasture. The only fences were those required to protect crops from cows or horses eating or trampling them. Starting about 1825 the Mission population started decreasing rapidly as Indian deaths far exceeded births. The Mission Indian population decreased from over 80,000 in 1820 to only a few thousand in 1840. The rancho's hide-and-tallow trade finally gave the Californio
residents something to trade. A few ships a year brought manufactured goods like glass windows, nails, hinges, fancy shawls, boots, elaborate belts, capes etc. from Boston, Massachusetts and Britain to California and exchanged them for their hide-and-tallow "crop". By 1846 the mostly American whaling
industry was being developed in the Pacific Ocean again leading to a few whaling ships stopping in California for fresh water, wood and vegetables they could get in exchange for a few trade goods. Most Pacific whaling ships stopped at the Sandwich Islands
(Hawaii
) which had over 100 whaling vessels temporarily based there by 1845. To avoid the high custom duties (tariffs) of 40-100% imposed by the Californio authorities in Monterey, California
many preferred to first land in the San Francisco Bay
area to get the most for their imported trading goods. Smuggling and bribery were common.
The various acquired diseases and abuse of the Mission
Indian population caused them to decline from over 80,000 in 1820 to only a few thousand by 1846. This process was speeded up when in 1834-1836 the Mexican government, responding to complaints that the Catholic Church owned too much land (over 90% of all settled land in California), secularized (dismantled) the Spanish Missions in California
and essentially turned the Indians loose to survive on their own. Most of the Indians went from doing unpaid labor at the Missions to doing unpaid labor as servants in the Pueblos or workers on the ranchos. Other Indians returned to small Indian settlements in the unsettled Central Valley and Sierra Mountains of California. As the Mission Indians rapidly declined in population and their Missions
were dismantled most of the agriculture, orchards, vineyards, etc. raised by the Mission Indians rapidly declined. By 1850 the Hispanic (Spanish speaking) population had grown to about 9,000 with about 1,500-2,000 adult males. By 1846 there were about 2,000 emigrant non-Hispanics (nearly all adult men) with from 60,000 to 90,000 California Indians
throughout the state. Beginning in about 1844 the California Trail
was established and started bringing new settlers to California as its relative isolation started to break.
The Mexican-American War began in May 1846 and the few marines and bluejacket sailors of the Pacific Squadron
and the California Battalion
of volunteer militia had California under U. S. control by January 1847 as all the Pueblos in California surrendered without firing a shot. In February 1848 the war was over, the 25 years of Mexican misrule with over 40 different Mexican Presidents was over and the boundary disputes with Texas
and the territorial acquisition of what would become several new states was paid for with a $15,000,000 settlement. The California Gold Rush
, beginning in January 1848, increased California’s non Indian, non-Hispanic population to over 100,000 by 1850. This increased population and prosperity eventually led to the Congressional Compromise of 1850
which admitted California in 1850 as a free state—the 31st. One hundred sixty one years of rapid progress began.
See also: Spanish Missions of California, Maritime history of California
, California Trail
, Californio
, California Battalion
, Pacific Squadron
, California Gold Rush
, Women in the California Gold Rush
s have lived in the area which is now California for 13,000 to 15,000 years. Over 100 tribes and bands inhabited the area. Without agriculture, hunter gatherer groups have to be small to get enough food for everyone. Various estimates of the Native American population in California during the pre-European period range from 100,000 to 300,000.
was the name given to a mythical island populated only by beautiful Amazon
warriors, as depicted in Greek myths, using gold tools and weapons in the popular early 16th-century romance novel Las Sergas de Esplandián
(The Adventures of Esplandián) by Spanish author Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo
. This popular Spanish fantasy was printed in several editions with the earliest surviving edition published about 1510. In exploring Baja California
the earliest explorers thought the Baja Peninsula was an island and applied the name California to it. Mapmakers started using the name "California" to label the unexplored territory on the North American west coast.
European explorers flying the flags of Spain and of England explored the Pacific Coast of California beginning in the mid-16th century. Francisco de Ulloa
explored the west coast of present-day Mexico including the Gulf of California
, proving that Baja California
was a peninsula, but in spite of his discoveries the myth persisted in European circles that California was an island
.
Rumors of fabulously wealthy cities located somewhere along the California coast, as well as a possible Northwest passage
that would provide a much shorter route to the Indies
, provided an incentive to explore further.
The first European to explore the California coast was Portuguese
explorer and adventurer João Rodrigues Cabrilho (Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo). Cabrillo was commissioned by the Viceroy of New Spain and in 1542 he sailed into what is now San Diego, California
. He continued north as far as Pt. Reyes California.
On November 23, 1542, the little fleet limped back to "San Salvador" (Santa Catalina Island
) to overwinter and make repairs. There, around Christmas Eve
, Cabrillo stepped out of his boat and splintered his shin when he stumbled on a jagged rock. The injury developed gangrene
and he died on 3 January 1543 and was buried there. His second-in-command brought the remainder of the party back to Barra de Navidad
, where they arrived 14 April 1543. They had found no wealth, no advanced Indian civilization, no agriculture and no Northwest passage. As a result California was of little further interest.
The Indians they encountered were living at a bare subsistence level typically located in small rancheria
s of extended family groups of 100 to 150 people. They had no agriculture, no domesticated animals except dogs, no pottery, and their only tools or weapons were made out of wood, leather, woven baskets and netting, stones and horns. Most lived in rudimentary shelters made of branches and mud with a hole in the center to allow smoke to escape. Some homes were built by digging into the ground two to three feet and then building a brush shelter on top covered with animal skins, Tules and/or mud. Their clothing was minimal in the summer, with animal skins and coarse woven articles of grass clothing used in winter. Some tribes around Santa Barbara, California
and the Channel Islands (California) were using large canoes to fish and trade. It would be found over 200 years later that some Indians in the California delta were using Tule
rafts and some Indians on the Northwest coast were using dugout
canoes. The isolation of the California tribes and the poor conditions for growing food without irrigation explains in part the lack of agriculture. Despite the fact that California now grows almost every food crop, the staple foods then used by other American Indian tribes, corn and/or potatoes, would not grow without irrigation in the typically short three to five month wet season and nine to seven month dry seasons of California (see Mediterranean climate
). Indians survived by catching and eating deer
, Tule elk
, small game, fish, mollusks, grass seed, berries, insects, edible plants and roots, making it possible to sustain a subsistence hunter-gatherer economy without any agriculture. Without agriculture or migratory herds of animals or fish there are no known ways to support villages, towns or cities—small tribes and extended family groups are the typical hunter-gatherer grouping. A dietary staple for most Indian tribes in interior California was acorn
s, which were dried, shelled, ground to flour, roasted and soaked in water to leach out their tannin
. The holes they ground into large rocks over centuries of use are still visible in many rocks today. The ground and leached acorn flour was then usually cooked into a tasteless mush. This was a very labor intensive process nearly always done by the women in the tribe. There are estimates that some Indians might have eaten as much as one ton of acorns in one year. A major advantage of acorns is that they grew wild, could be easily gathered in large quantities, and could be easily stored over a winter for a reliable winter food source. Almost none of these Indian food supplies were in a typical European's diet.
Basket weaving was the highest form of art and utility, and canoes were the peak in man made products. Local trade between Indian tribal groups enabled them to acquire seasonings such as salt, or foodstuffs and other goods that might be rare in certain locales, such as flint for making spear and arrow points. But the high and rugged Sierra Nevada mountains located behind the Great Basin Desert
east of California, extensive forests and deserts on the north, the rugged and harsh Sonoran Desert
and Mojave Desert
in the south and the Pacific Ocean on the west effectively isolated California from any easy trade or tribal interactions with Indians on the rest of the continent. The Indians located in the core of California are much different in culture than any other Indian cultures in North America. Cabillo and his men found that there was essentially nothing for the Spanish to easily exploit in California, and located at the extreme limits of exploration and trade from Spain it would be left essentially unexplored and unsettled for the next 234 years.
In 1565 the Spanish developed a trading route where they took gold and silver from the Americas and traded it for goods and spices from China and other Asian areas. The Spanish centered their trade in the Philippines
at first around Cebu
, which they had recently conquered, and later in Manila
. The trade between the Philippines
and Mexico involved using an annual passage of Manila galleon
(s). These galleons returning to Mexico from the Philippines went north to about 40 degrees Latitude
and then turning East they could use the westerly trade wind
s and currents. These galleons, after crossing most of the Pacific Ocean, would arrive off the California coast from 60 to over 120 days later somewhere near Cape Mendocino
(about 300 miles (482.8 km) north of San Francisco) at about 40 degrees N. latitude. They then could turn right and sail south down the California coast utilizing the available winds and the south flowing (about 1 mi/hr(1.6(km/h)) California Current
. After sailing about 1500 miles (2,414 km) south on they eventually got to their port in Mexico. This highly profitable trade with an almost annual trip by one to two ships (number of ships limited by Spanish Crown) down the California coast was continued for over 200 years. The maps and charts were poor and the coast was often shrouded in fog, so most journeys were well off shore. One of the greatest bays on the west coast—San Francisco Bay
—escaped discovery for centuries till it was finally discovered by land exploration on 4 November 1769.
The English explorer and privateer
Francis Drake
sailed along the coast of California in 1579 after capturing two Spanish treasure ships in the Pacific. It is believed that he landed somewhere on the California coast. There his only surviving ship, the Golden Hind
, underwent extensive repairs, and needed supplies were accumulated for a trip across the Pacific. Leaving California he followed Ferdinand Magellan
on the second recorded circumnavigation
of the world and the first English circumnavigation of the world, being gone from 1577 to 1580. Its believed Drake put ashore somewhere north of San Francisco. The exact location of Drake's landing is still undetermined, but a prominent bay on the California coast, Drakes Bay
, bears his name. He claimed the land for England, calling it Nova Albion. The term "Nova Albion" was often used on many European maps to designate territory north of the Spanish settlements. Spanish maps, explorations etc., of this and later eras were generally not published, being regarded as state secrets. As was typical in this era, there were conflicting claims to the same territory, and the Indians who lived there were never consulted.
In 1602, 60 years after Cabrillo, the Spaniard Sebastián Vizcaíno
explored California's coastline from San Diego as far north as Monterey Bay
. He named San Diego Bay
and held the first Christian church service recorded in California on the shores of San Diego Bay
.[6] He also put ashore in Monterey, California
and made glowing reports of the Monterey bay area as a possible anchorage for ships with land suitable for growing crops. He also provided rudimentary charts of the coastal waters, which were used for nearly 200 years.
and Alta California
as provinces of New Spain
(Mexico). Baja or lower California consisted of the Baja Peninsula and terminated roughly at San Diego, California
where Alta California started. The eastern and northern boundaries of Alta California were very indefinite, as the Spanish claimed essentially everything in the western United States, even though they did not occupy most of it for over 200 years after first claiming it. The first permanent mission
in Baja California, Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó
, was founded on October 15, 1697, by Jesuit Friar Juan Maria Salvatierra, (1648–1717) accompanied by one small boat's crew and six soldiers. After the establishment of Missions in Alta after 1769 the Spanish treated Baja California and Alta California as a single administrative unit, part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, with Monterey, California
, as its capital.
Nearly all the missions in Baja California were established by members of the Jesuit order supported by a few soldiers. After a power dispute between Charles III of Spain
and the Jesuits
, the Jesuits were ordered expelled and their colleges closed at gunpoint from Mexico and South America in 1767 and deported
back to Spain. After the forcible expulsion of the Jesuit order, most of the missions were taken over by Franciscan
s and later Dominican
friars. Both of these groups were under much more direct control of the Spanish monarchy
. Many missions were abandoned in Sonora Mexico and Baja California.
After the conclusion of the Seven Year War
between Britain
and France and their allies (in U. S. called the French and Indian War
) (1754–1763) France was driven out of North America, and Spain and Britain were the only colonial powers left. Britain, as yet, had no North American Pacific colonies. The Bourbon King Charles III of Spain
was driven to establish missions
and other outposts in Alta California
out of fear that the territory would be claimed by the British, who had not only colonies on the East Coast
, but also several islands in the Caribbean Sea
and had recently taken over Canada from the French. One of Spain’s rewards for helping Britain in the Seven Years War was the French Louisiana Territory
. Another potential colonial power already established in the Pacific was Russia, whose Maritime Fur Trade
of mostly sea otter and fur seals were pressing down from Alaska to the Pacific Northwest's
lower reaches. These furs could be traded in China for large profits.
The Spanish settlement of Alta California was the last colonization project to expand Spain's vastly over-extended empire in North America, and they tried to do it with minimal cost and support. Approximately half the cost of settling Alta California was borne by donations and half by funds from the Spanish crown. Massive Indian revolts in New Mexico
's Pueblo Revolt
among the Pueblo Indians of the Rio Grande
valley in the 1680s as well as Pima Indian Revolt
in 1751 and the ongoing Seri conflicts in Sonora Mexico provided the Franciscan
friars with arguments to establish missions with fewer colonial settlers. The remoteness and isolation of California, lack of large organized tribes, lack of agricultural traditions, no domesticated animals larger than a dog, and a main food supply of mostly acorns (unpalatable to most Europeans) meant the missions in California would be very difficult to establish and sustain and made the area unattractive to most potential colonists. A few soldiers and friars financed by the Church and State would form the backbone of the proposed settlement of California.
In 1769, the Spanish Visitor General, José de Gálvez
, proceeded to plan a five part expedition
, Three by sea and two by land to start settling Alta California. Gaspar de Portola
volunteered to command the expedition. The Catholic Church was represented by Franciscan
friar Junipero Serra
and his fellow friars. All five detachments of soldiers, friars and future colonists were to meet at the site of San Diego Bay. The first ship, the San Carlos, sailed from La Paz
on January 10, 1769, and the San Antonio sailed on February 15. The first land party, led by Fernando Rivera y Moncada
, left from the Franciscan Mission San Fernando Velicata
on March 24, 1769. The third vessel, the San José, left New Spain
later that spring but was lost at sea with no survivors. With Rivera was Father Juan Crespi
, famed diarist of the entire expedition. The expedition led by Portolà, which included Father Junípero Serra
, the President of the Missions, along with a combination of missionaries, settlers, and leather-jacket soldiers, including José Raimundo Carrillo
, left Velicata on May 15, 1769 accompanied by about 46 mules, 200 cows and 140 horses—all that could be spared by the poor Baja Missions. Fernando de Rivera
was appointed to command the lead party that would scout out a land route and blaze a trail to San Diego. Food was short, and the Indians accompanying them were expected to forage for most of what they needed. Many Indian neophytes died along the way—even more deserted. On the 15th of May 1769, the day after Rivera and Crespi reached San Diego, California
Portola and Serra set out from Velicata
. The two groups traveling from Lower California on foot had to cross about 300 miles (482.8 km) of the very dry and rugged Baja Peninsula. The overland part of the expedition took about 40–51 days to get to San Diego. All five detachments were to meet at San Diego Bay
.
The contingent coming by sea, encountered the south flowing California Current
and strong head winds and were still straggling in three months after they set sail. After their arduous journeys, most of the men aboard the ships were ill, chiefly from scurvy
, and many had died. Out of a total of about 219 men who had left Baja California, little more than 100 now survived.
July 14, 1769, an expedition was dispatched to find the port of Monterey. Not recognizing the Monterey Bay
from the description written by Sebastián Vizcaíno
almost 200 years prior, the expedition traveled beyond it to what is now the San Francisco, California
area. The exploration party
, led by Don Gaspar de Portolà
arrived on November 2, 1769, at San Francisco Bay
., One of the greatest ports on the west coast of America had finally been discovered by land. The expedition finally returned to San Diego on Jan. 24, 1770.
Without any agricultural crops or experience eating the food the Indians subsisted on, the shortage of food at San Diego became extremely critical during the first few months of 1770. They subsisted on some of their cattle, wild geese, fish, and other food exchanged with the Indians for clothing, but the ravages of scurvy continued for there was no understanding of the cause or cure of scurvy
then. A small quantity of corn they had planted grew well—only to be eaten by birds. Portolá sent Captain Rivera and a small detachment of about 40 men to the Baja California missions in February to obtain more cattle and a pack-train of supplies. This temporarily eased the drain on San Diego's scant provisions, but within weeks, acute hunger and increased sickness again threatened to force abandonment of the port. Portolá resolved that if no relief ship arrived by March 19, 1770 they would leave the next morning "because there were not enough provisions to wait longer and the men had not come to perish from hunger." At three o'clock in the afternoon on March 19, 1770, as if by a miracle, the sails of the San Antonio loaded with relief supplies were discernible on the horizon. The settlement of Alta California would continue.
The survivors established Mission San Diego de Alcalá
and the Presidio of San Diego
(fort) in the San Diego area long inhabited by about 3,000 Kumeyaay
Indians. As the first of the presidios and Spanish missions in California, it was the base of operations for the Spanish colonization of California.
Juan Bautista de Anza
leading an exploratory expedition on January 8, 1774, with 3 padres, 20 soldiers, 11 servants, 35 mules, 65 cattle, and 140 horses set forth from Tubac
south of present day Tucson, Arizona
. They went to across the Sonoran desert to California from Mexico by swinging south of the Gila River
to avoid Apache
attacks till they hit the Colorado River
at the Yuma Crossing
—about the only way across the Colorado River. The friendly Quechan
(Yuma) Indians (2-3,000) he encountered there were growing most of their food, using irrigation systems and had already imported pottery, horses, wheat and a few other crops from New Mexico
. After crossing the Colorado to avoid the impassible Algodones Dunes
(clearly visible with Google map satellite view) west of Yuma, Arizona
they followed the river about 50 miles (80.5 km) south (to about the Arizona’s southwest corner on the Colorado River) before turning northwest to about today’s Mexicali, Mexico and then turning north through today’s Imperial Valley
and then northwest again before reaching Mission San Gabriel Arcángel
near the future city of Los Angeles, California
. It took Anza about 74 days to do this initial reconnaissance trip to establish a land route into California. On his return trip he went down the Gila River
till hitting the Santa Cruz River (Arizona) and continuing on to Tubac. The return trip only took 23 days and he encountered several peaceful and populous agricultural tribes with irrigation system located along the Gila River.
In Anza’s second trip (1775–1776) he returned to California with 240 Friars, soldiers and colonists with their families. They took 695 horses and mules, 385 Texas Longhorn
bulls and cows with them. The approximately 200 surviving cattle and an unknown number of horses (many of each were lost or ate along the way) started the cattle and horse raising industry in California. In California the cattle and horses had few enemies and plentiful grass in all but drought years and essentially grew and multiplied as feral animals—doubling roughly every two years. They started from Tubac Arizona on October 22, 1775 and arrived at San Francisco Bay
on March 28, 1776. There they established the Presidio of San Francisco
, followed by a mission
, Mission San Francisco de Asís
(Mission Dolores) --the future city of San Francisco, California
In 1780 the Spanish established two combination missions and pueblos at the Yuma Crossing: Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer
and Mission Puerto de Purísima Concepción
. Both these pueblos and missions were on the California side of the Colorado River but were administered by the Arizona authorities. On 17–19 July 1781 the Yuma (Quechan
) Indians, in a dispute with the Spanish destroyed both missions and pueblos—killing 103 soldiers, colonists and Friars and capturing about 80 mostly women and children. In four well supported punitive expeditions in 1782 and 1783 against the Quechans the Spanish managed to gather their dead and ransom nearly all the prisoners; but failed to re-open the Anza Trail. The Yuma Crossing
was closed for Spanish traffic and it would stay closed till about 1846. California was nearly isolated again from land based travel. About the only way into California from Mexico would now be a 40-60 day voyage by sea.
Eventually 21 California Missions were established along the California coast from San Diego to San Francisco—about 500 miles (804.7 km) up the coast. The missions were nearly all located within 30 miles (48.3 km) of the coast and almost no exploration or settlements were made in the Central Valley (California) or the Sierra Nevada (California). The only expeditions anywhere close to the Central Valley and Sierras were the rare forays by soldiers undertaken to recover runaway Indians who had escaped from the Missions. The "settled" territory of about 15,000 square miles (40,000 km2) was about 10% of California's eventual 156,000 square miles (400,000 km2)territory.
In 1786 Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse
led a group of scientists and artists who compiled an account of the Californian mission system, the land and the people. Traders, whalers and scientific missions followed in the next decades.
The California Missions, after they were all established, were located about one day's horseback ride apart for easier communication and linked by the El Camino Real trail
. These Missions were typically manned by two-three friars and three to ten soldiers. Virtually all the physical work was done by Indians coerced into joining the missions. The padres provided instructions for making adobe bricks, building mission buildings, planting fields, digging irrigation ditches, growing new grains and vegetables, herding cattle and horses, singing, speaking Spanish, and understanding the Catholic
faith—all that was thought to be necessary to bring the Indians up to be able to support themselves and their new church. The soldiers supervised the construction of the Presidios (forts) and were responsible for keeping order and preventing and/or capturing runaway Indians that tried to leave the missions. Nearly all of the Indians adjoining the missions were induced to join the various missions built in California. Once the Indians had joined the mission, if they tried to leave, soldiers were sent out to retrieve them. Some have compared their Peon
status as only slightly better than slaves.
The missions eventually claimed about 1/6 of the available land in California or roughly 1000000 acres (4,047 km²) of land per mission. The rest of the land was considered the property of the Spanish monarchy
. To encouraged settlement of the territory, large land grants were given to retired soldiers and colonists. Most grants were virtually free and typically went to friends and relatives in the California government. A few foreign colonists were accepted if they accepted Spanish citizenship and joined the Catholic Faith. The Mexican Inquisition
was still in nearly full force and forbid Protestants living in Mexican controlled territory. In the Spanish colonial period many of these grants were later turned into Ranchos
. Spain made about 30 of these large grants nearly all several square leagues (1 Spanish league = 2.6 miles (4.2 km)) each in size. The total land granted to settlers in the Spanish colonial era was about 800000 acres (3,237 km²) or about 35000 acres (142 km²) each. The few owners of these large ranchos patterned themselves after the landed gentry in Spain and were devoted to keeping themselves living in a grand style. The rest of the population they expected to support them. Their mostly unpaid workers were nearly all Spanish trained Indians or Peons that had learned how to ride horses and raise some crops. The majority of the ranch hands were paid with room and board, rough clothing and housed in rough housing, no salary. The main product of these ranchos were cattle, horses and sheep—most of whom lived virtually wild. The cattle were mostly killed for fresh meat, hides and tallow (fat) which could be traded or sold for money or goods. As the cattle
herds increased there came a time when nearly everything that could be made of leather was—doors, window coverings, stools, chaps
, leggings, vests lariats (riata)s, saddle
s, boots etc. Since there was no refrigeration then often a cow was killed for the day's fresh meat and the hide and tallow salvaged for sale later. After taking the cattle's hide and tallow most of their carcasses were left to rot or feed the California Grizzly bear
s who roamed wild in California at that time or feed the packs of dogs that typically lived at each rancho.
A series of four presidios, or "royal forts," manned by 10 to 100 men, were built by Spain in Alta California. California installations can be founded in San Diego (El Presidio Real de San Diego
) founded in 1769, in San Francisco (El Presidio Real de San Francisco
) founded in 1776, and in Santa Barbara
(El Presidio Real de Santa Bárbara
) founded in 1782. After the Spanish colonial era the Presidio of Sonoma
in Sonoma, California
was founded in 1834. To support the presidios and the missions about four towns called pueblos were established in California. The pueblos of Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara
, Villa de Branciforte (later abandoned before later becoming Santa Cruz, California
) and the pueblo of San Jose, California
were all established to support the Missions and presidios in California. These were the only towns (pueblos) in California.
north of the Rio Grande, along with Texas
and New Mexico
. The Franciscan
s Missionaries and soldiers in Alta California had not been paid in about seven years in 1821. The capital of the Mexican government in Alta California was Monterey, California
(originally called San Carlos de Monterrey). Mexico, after independence, continued to be unstable with about 40 changes of government, in the 27 years prior to 1848—an average government duration was 7.9 months. In Alta California
Mexico inherited a large, sparsely settled, poor, back water province paying little or no net tax revenue to the Mexican State. In addition, Alta California
had a rapidly declining Mission system as the Mission Indian population in Alta California continued to rapidly decrease. The number of Alta California settlers, always a small minority of total population, slowly increased mostly by more births than deaths in the Californio
population in California. After the closure of the de Anza Trail
across the Colorado River
in 1781 immigration from Mexico was nearly all by ships. California continued to be a small, nearly isolated province.
Even before Mexico gained control of Alta California
the onerous Spanish rules against trading with foreigners began to break down as the declining Spanish fleet couldn’t enforce their no trading policies. The Californios, with essentially no industries or manufacturing capabilities, were eager to trade for new commodities, finished goods, luxury goods and other merchandise. The Mexican government abolished the no trade with foreign ships policy and soon regular trading trips were being made. The Californios’ hides and tallow provided the necessary trade articles for a mutually beneficial trade. The first United States, English and Russian trading ships
began showing up in California in about 1816. The classic book “Two Years Before the Mast
” by Richard Henry Dana, Jr.
provides a good first hand account of this trade. From 1825 to 1848 the average number of ships traveling to California increased to about 25 ships per year—a large increase from the average of 2.5 ships per year from 1769 to 1824. The port of entry for trading purposes was Monterey, California
where custom duties (also called tariffs) of about 100% were applied. These high duties gave rise to much bribery and smuggling, as avoiding the tariffs made more money for the ship owners and made the goods less costly to the customers. Essentially all the cost of the California government (what little there was) was paid for by these tariffs. In this they were much like the United States in 1850, where about 89% of the revenue of its federal government came from import tariffs, although at an average rate of about 20%.
So many Mission Indians died from exposure to harsh conditions and diseases like measles, diphtheria, smallpox, syphilis etc. that at times raids were undertaken to new villages in the interior to supplement the supply of Indian women. This increase in deaths was accompanied by a very low live birth rate among the surviving Indian population. As reported by Krell, as of December 31, 1832, the mission Franciscan
padres had performed a combined total of 87,787 baptisms and 24,529 marriages, and recorded 63,789 deaths. If Krell’s numbers are to be believed (others have slightly different numbers) the Mission Indian population had declined from a peak of about 87,000 in about 1800 to about 14,000 in 1832 and continued to decline. The Missions were becoming ever more strained as the number of Indian converts drastically declined and the deaths greatly exceeded the births. The ratio of Indian births to deaths is believed to have been less than 0.5 Indian births per death.
The Missions, as originally envisioned, were to last only about 10 years before being converted to regular parishes. When the California Missions were abolished in 1834 some missions
had existed over 66 years but the Mission
Indians were still not self sufficient, proficient in Spanish or wholly Catholic. Taking people from a hunter-gatherer type existence to an educated, agricultural based existence was much more difficult than the missionaries had originally thought. The severe and continuing decline in Mission Indian populations exacerbated this problem. In 1834 Mexico, in response to demands that the Catholic Church give up much of the Mission property, started the process of secularizing the Franciscan
run missions
. Mission San Juan Capistrano
was the very first to feel the effects of this legislation the following year when, on August 9, 1834 Governor Figueroa issued his "Decree of Confiscation." Nine other Missions quickly followed, with six more in 1835; San Buenaventura
and San Francisco de Asís were among the last to succumb, in June and December 1836, respectively. The Franciscan
s soon thereafter abandoned most of the missions, taking with them almost everything of value they could, after which the locals typically plundered the mission buildings for construction materials, furniture etc. or the Mission buildings were sold off to serve other uses.
In spite of this neglect, the Indian towns at San Juan Capistrano
, San Dieguito, and Las Flores did continue on for some time under a provision in Governor Echeandía's 1826 Proclamation that allowed for the partial conversion of missions to new pueblos. After the secularizing of the Missions many of the surviving Mission Indians switched from being unpaid workers for the missions to unpaid laborers and vaqueros (cowboys) of the about 500 large Californio owned ranchos
.
Before Alta California became a part of the Mexican state, about 30 Spanish land grants had already been deeded in all of Alta California
to a few friends and family of the Alta California Governors. The 1824 Mexican Colony Law established rules for petitioning for land grants in California; and by 1828, the rules for establishing land grants were codified in the Mexican Reglamento (Regulation). The Acts sought to break the monopoly of the Catholic Franciscan missions while paving the way for additional settlers to California by making land grants easier to obtain. When the Missions were secularized the Mission property and cattle were supposed to be mostly allocated to the Missions Indians. In practice nearly all Mission property and livestock were taken over by the about 455 large ranchos
of Californios granted by the Californio governors—mostly to friends and family at low or no cost. The rancho owners claimed about 8600000 acres (34,803 km²) averaging about 18900 acres (76.5 km²) each. This land was nearly all distributed on former mission land within about 30 miles (48.3 km) of the coast. The Mexican land grants were provisional until settled and worked on for five years and often had very indefinite boundaries and sometimes conflicting ownership claims. The boundaries of each rancho were almost never surveyed and marked and often depended on local landmarks that often changed over time. Since the government depended on import tariffs for its income there was virtually no property tax—the property tax when introduced with U.S. statehood was a big shock. The grantee could not subdivide or rent out the land without approval. The rancho owners tried to live in a grand manner and expected the rest of the population to support them in their lifestyle. For these few rancho owners and families this was the Californio’s Golden Age; for the vast majority it was not golden. Much of the agriculture, vineyards and orchards established by the Missions were allowed to deteriorate as the rapidly declining Mission Indian population required less food and the Missionaries and soldiers supporting the Missions disappeared. The new Ranchos and slowly increasing Pueblos mostly only grew enough food to eat and to trade with the occasional trading ship or whaler that put in to a California port to trade, get fresh water, replenish their firewood and obtain fresh vegetable
s.
The main products of these ranchos were cow hides
(called California greenbacks) and tallow
(rendered fat for making candles and soap) that were traded for other finished goods and merchandise. This hide-and-tallow trade was mainly carried on by Boston based ships that traveled 14000 miles (22,530.8 km) to 18000 miles (28,968.1 km) around Cape Horn
to bring finished goods and merchandise to trade with the Californio Ranchos for their hides and tallow. The cattle and horses that provided the hides and tallow essentially grew wild.
By 1845, the province of Alta California had a non-native population of about 1,500 Californio adult men along with about 6,500 women and children, who lived mostly in the southern half of the state around Los Angeles. Most immigrants (nearly all of whom were adult males) lived in the northern half of California.
A large non-coastal land grant was given to John Sutter
who in 1839 settled a large land grant close to the future city of Sacramento, California
which he called "New Helvetia
" (New Switzerland). There he built an extensive fort equipped with much of the armament from Fort Ross--bought from the Russians on credit when they abandoned that fort. Sutter's Fort
was the first non-Native American
community in the California Central Valley. Sutter’s Fort from 1839 to about 1848 was a major agricultural and trade colony in California
often welcoming and assisting California Trail
travelers to California. Most of the settlers at or near Sutter's Fort were new immigrants from the United States.
Hostilities between U.S. and Mexican troops commenced in April 1846 with Mexican troops killing and capturing a number of U.S. Army troops in the future state of Texas
. The Battle of Palo Alto
, the first major battle of the Mexican-American War, was fought on May 8, 1846, a few miles from the modern-day city of Brownsville, Texas
. A force of some 3,400 Mexican troops (a portion of the Army of The North) led by Mexican General Mariano Arista
engaged a force of 2,400 United States troops under General Zachary Taylor
. Taylor's forces drove the Mexicans from the field. The United States Congress responded to these hostilities by issuing a Declaration of War
against Mexico on May 13, 1846—the Mexican-American War had began.
The main forces available to the United States in California were the bluejacket sailors and U.S. Marines
on board the ships of the Pacific Squadron
. Speculating that war with Mexico over Texas and other land was very possible, the U.S. Navy had sent several additional naval vessels to the Pacific in 1845 to protect U.S. interests there. It took about 200 days, on average, for ships to travel the greater than 12000 miles (19,312.1 km) trip from the East coast around Cape Horn
to California. Initially as the war with Mexico started there were five vessels in the U.S. Navy's Pacific Squadron
near California. In 1846 and 1847 this was increased to 13 Navy vessels—over half the U.S. Navy's available ships. The only other U.S. military force then in California was the about 30 military topographers etc. and 30 mountain men, guides, hunters, etc. in Captain John C. Fremont
’s United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers
exploratory force. They were exiting California on their way to Oregon
when they got word in early June 1846 that war was imminent and a revolt had already started in Sonoma, California
. On hearing this, Fremont and his exploratory force returned to California.
The former fleet surgeon William M. Wood and John Parrot, the American Consul of Mazatlan
, arrived in Guadalajara
Mexico on 10 May 1846. There they heard word of the on-going hostilities between the U.S. and Mexico forces and sent a message by special courier back to Commodore Sloat then visiting Mazatlan. On 17 May 1846 this courier's messages informed Commodore Sloat that hostilities between the U.S. and Mexico had commenced. Commodore (Rear Admiral
) John D. Sloat
, commander of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Squadron
and his fleet of four vessels were then at anchor in the harbor of Mazatlan
Mexico. On hearing the news Commodore Sloat dispatched his flagship, the Frigate USS Savannah
, and the Sloop
USS Levant
to Monterey
harbor where they arrived on 2 July 1846. They joined the Sloop
USS Cyane
which was already there. There were U.S. fears that the British might try to annex California to satisfy British creditors. The British Pacific Station
's ships off California were stronger in ships, guns and men.
Hearing rumors of possible Mexican military action against the newly arrived settlers in California (this had already happened in 1840), some settlers decided to neutralize the small Californio
garrison at Sonoma, California
. On June 15, 1846, some thirty settlers, mostly former American citizens, staged a revolt and seized the small Californio
garrison in Sonoma without firing a shot. Initially there was little resistance from anyone in California as they replaced the dysfunctional and ineffective Mexican government—which already had 40 Presidents in the first 24 years of its existence. Most settlers and Californio
s were neutral or actively supported the revolt. John A. Sutter and his men and supplies at Sutter’s Fort joined the revolt. They raised the "Bear Flag" of the California Republic
over Sonoma. The republic was in existence scarcely more than a week before Frémont returned and took over on June 23 from William B. Ide
the leader of the Bear Flag Revolt. The California state flag of today is based on this original Bear Flag and still contains the words "California Republic".
In 1846 the U.S. Navy was under orders to take over all California ports in the event of war. There were about 400–500 U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy bluejacket sailor
s available for possible land action on the Pacific Squadron
’s ships. Hearing word of the Bear Flag Revolt in Sonoma, California
and the arrival of the large British 2,600 ton, 600 man, man-of-war HMS Collingwood (1841)
, flagship under Sir George S. Seymour, outside Monterey Harbor, Commodore Sloat was finally stirred to action. On 7 July 1846—seven weeks after war had been declared, Commodore John D. Sloat
instructed the Captains of the ships:USS Savannah
and Sloops: USS Cyane
and USS Levant
of the Pacific Squadron
in Monterey Bay
to occupy Monterey, California
—the Alta California capital. Fifty American marines and about 100 bluejacket sailors landed and captured the city without incident--the few Californio troops formerly there having already evacuated the city. They raised the flag of the United States
without firing a shot. The only shots fired were a 21 gun salute to the new U.S. Flag fired by each of the U.S. Navy ships in the harbor. The British ships observed but took no action.
The abandoned Presidio
and Mission San Francisco de Asís
(Mission Dolores) at San Francisco, then called Yerba Buena
, was occupied without firing a shot on 9 July 1846 by U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy sailors from the Sloop
USS Portsmouth (1843). Militia Captain Thomas Fallon
led a small force of about 22 men from Santa Cruz, California
and captured the small town of Pueblo de San Jose
without bloodshed on 11 July 1846. Fallon received an American flag from Commodore John D. Sloat, and raised it over the pueblo on July 14. On 15 July 1846, Commodore (Rear Admiral
) John D. Sloat
transferred his command of the Pacific Squadron
to Commodore Robert F. Stockton
when Stockton's ship, the Frigate
USS Congress (1841)
, arrived from the Sandwich Islands
(Hawaii). Stockton, a much more aggressive leader, asked Fremont to form a joint force of Fremont’s soldiers, scouts, guides etc. and a volunteer militia--many former Bear Flag Revolters. This unit called the California Battalion
was mustered into U.S. service and were paid regular army wages. On July 19, Frémont's newly formed "California Battalion
" swelled to about 160 men. These men included Fremont's 30 topographical men and their 30 scouts and hunters, U.S. Marine Lieutenant Archibald H. Gillespie
, a U.S. Navy officer to handle their two cannon
s, a company of Indians trained by Sutter and many other permanent California settlers from several different countries as well as American settlers. The California Battalion members were used mainly to garrison and keep order in the rapidly surrendering California towns. The Navy went down the coast from San Francisco, occupying ports without resistance as they went. The small pueblo (town) of San Diego surrendered 29 July 1846 without a shot being fired. The small pueblo (town) of Santa Barbara surrendered without a shot being fired in August 1846. On 13 August 1846 a joint force of U.S. Marines, bluejacket sailors and parts of Fremont’s California Battalion carried by the USS Cyane (1837)
entered Los Angeles, California with flags flying and band playing. Captain Archibald H. Gillespie
, (Fremont's second in command), with a inadequate force of 40 to 50 men were left to occupy and keep order in the largest town (about 3,500) in Alta California
—Los Angeles.
A minor Californio revolt broke out in Los Angeles and the United States force there of 40–50 men evacuated the city for a time. Later, U.S.forces fought minor scrimmages in the Battle of San Pasqual
, the Battle of Dominguez Rancho
, and the Battle of Rio San Gabriel
. After the Los Angeles revolt started the California Battalion was expanded to a force of about 400 men. In early January 1847 a 600 man joint force of U.S. Marine, U.S. Navy bluejacket sailors, General Stephen W. Kearny
's 80 U.S. Army dragoons (cavalrymen) and about two companies of Fremont's California Battalion
re-occupied Los Angeles after some minor skirmishes—after four months the same U.S. Flag again flew over Los Angeles. The minor armed resistance in California ceased when the Californios signed the Treaty of Cahuenga
on January 13, 1847. About 150 Californios who were worried about possible punishment from the Americans rounded up about 300 horses and retreated into Sonora Mexico over the Yuma Crossing
Gila River
trail. The Californios who had wrested control of California from Mexico in 1845 now had a new government.
After the Treaty of Cahuenga
was signed, the Pacific Squadron
then went on to capture all Baja California
cities and harbors and sink or capture all the Mexican Pacific Navy they could find. Baja California was returned to Mexico in subsequent Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
negotiations. After hostilities had ceased, on January 22, 1947 Commodore Stockton's replacement Commodore William B. Shubrick showed up in Monterey in the Razee
USS Independence (1814)
with 54 guns and ~500 crew. On January 27, 1847 the transport Lexington showed up in Monterey, California with a regular army artillery
company of 113 men under Captain Christopher Tompkins. More reinforcements of about 320 soldiers (and a few women) of the Mormon Battalion
arrived at San Diego, California
on 28 January 1847—after hostilities had ceased. They had been recruited from the Mormon
camps on the Missouri River
—about 2000 miles (3,218.7 km) away. These troops were recruited with the understanding they would be discharged in California with their weapons. Most were discharged before July 1847. More reinforcements in the form of Colonel Jonathan D. Stevenson
's 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers
of about 648 men showed up in March–April 1847—again after hostilities had ceased. After desertions and deaths in transit, four ships brought Stevenson's 648 men to California. Initially they took over all of the Pacific Squadron's on-shore military and garrison duties and the Mormon Battalion and California Battalion's garrison duties. The New York Volunteer companies were deployed from San Francisco in Alta California to La Paz, Mexico in Baja California. The ship Isabella sailed from Philadelphia on 16 August 1847, with a detachment of one hundred soldiers, and arrived in California on 18 February 1848, the following year, at about the same time that the ship Sweden arrived with another detachment of soldiers. These soldiers were added to the existing companies of Stevenson's 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers
. Stevenson's troops were recruited with the understanding they would discharged in California. When gold was discovered in late January 1848, many of Stevenson's troops deserted.
The exclusive land ownership in California by the approximate 9,000 Californios in California would soon end. After some minor skirmishes, California was under U.S. control by January 1847 and formally annexed and paid for by the U.S. in 1848. Twenty-seven years of ineffective Mexican rule ended as 163 years (as of 2011) of rapid and continued advancement under U.S. Federal, State and local government and private development proceeded. After 1847 California was controlled (with much difficulty due to desertions) by a U.S. Army appointed military governor and an inadequate force of a little over 600 troops. Due to the California gold rush
, by 1850 California had grown to have a non Indian, non-Californio population of over 100,000 Despite a major conflict in the U.S. Congress on the number of slave versus non-slave states the large, rapid and continuing California population gains and the large amount of gold being exported east gave California enough clout to choose its own boundaries, select its representatives, write its Constitution and be admitted to the Union as a free state in 1850 without going through territorial status as required for most other states.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
formally ended the Mexican-American War in February 1848. For $15,000,000 and the assumption of U.S. debt claims against Mexico, the new state of Texas
's boundary claims were settled and New Mexico
, California, and the unsettled territory of several future states of the American Southwest were added to U.S. control.
in office from March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849, tried to get the 1848 Congress to make California a territory with a territorial government and again in 1849 but was unsuccessful in getting Congress to agree on the specifics of how this was to be done—the number of free states vs. slave state problem. General
Bennett C. Riley who had fought in the Siege of Veracruz
and Chapultepec
during the Mexican-American War and considered an able military commander was the last military governor of California in 1849-1850. In response to popular demand for a better more representative government, General Riley issued an official proclamation dated June 3, 1849 calling for a Constitutional Convention
and an election of representatives on August 1, 1849.
Convention delegates were chosen by secret ballot but lacking any census data as to California’s population and where they lived its representatives only roughly approximated the rapidly changing state population as later shown in the 1850 U.S. California Census taken a year later. The 48 delegates chosen were mostly pre-1846 American settlers; eight were native born Californios who had to use interpreters. The new miners in El Dorado County were grossly under represented as they had no representatives at the convention despite being the most populated county in California then. After the election the California Constitution Convention met in the small town and former Californio
Capital of Monterey, California
on September 1849 to write a state constitution.
Like all U.S. State's constitutions the California constitution adhered closely to the format and government roles set up in the original 1789 U.S. Constitution--differing mainly in details. The Constitutional Convention met for 43 days debating and writing the first California Constitution. The 1849 constitution copied (with revisions) a lot out of the Ohio
and New York constitutions but had parts that were originally several different state constitutions as well as original material.
The twenty one Declaration of Rights in the California Constitution
(Article I: Sec.1 to Sec.-21) was broader than the original U.S. Constitution's ten Bill of Rights
. There were four other significant differences from the U.S. Constitution. The convention
chose the boundaries for the state—unlike most other territories whose boundaries were set by Congress (Article XII). Article IX encouraged statewide education and provided for a system of common schools partially funded by the state and provided for the establishment of a University (University of California). They unanimously outlawed slavery except as punishment (Article I Sec. 18) and dueling (Article XI Sec.2). They gave women and wives the right to own and control their own property (Article XI Sec. 14).
The debt limit for the state was set at $300,000 (Article VIII). Like all other states they guaranteed the rights of citizens to sue in Civil court to uphold the rights of contracts and property (Article I Sec. 16). They created a court system with a supreme court with judges who had to be confirmed every 12 years.(Article VI) They set up the states original 29 counties (Article I Sec. 4), created a legislature of two houses, set up polling places to vote, set up uniform taxation rules. The 1849 Constitution guaranteed the right to vote to "Every citizen of California, declared a legal voter by this Constitution, and every citizen of the United States, a resident of this State on the day of election, shall be entitled to vote at the first general election under this Constitution, and on the question of the adoption thereof (Article XII Sec. 5)". The California Constitution was ratified by popular vote at an election held on a rainy November 13, 1849 (as specified in Article 12 Sec. 8). The small town of Pueblo de San Jose
was chosen as the first state capitol (Article XI Sec. 1). Soon after the election they set up a provisional state government that set up the counties, elected a governor, senators and representatives and operated for 10 months setting up a state government before California was given official statehood by Congress on September 9, 1850 as part of the Compromise of 1850
. Thirty eight days later the Pacific Mail Steamship
SS Oregon brought word to San Francisco on October 18, 1850 that California was now the 31st state—there was a bang up celebration that lasted for weeks. The state capital was variously at San Jose
(1850–1851), Vallejo
(1852–1853) and Benicia
(1853–1854) until Sacramento
was finally selected in 1854. The constitution of 1849 was only judged a partial success as a founding document and was superseded by the current constitution, which was first ratified on May 7, 1879.
The first to hear confirmed information of the California Gold Rush
were the people in Oregon
, the Sandwich Islands
(Hawaii), Mexico, Peru
and Chile
and they were the first to start flocking to the state in late 1848. By the end of 1848, some 6,000 Argonauts had come to California. Americans and foreigners of many different countries, statuses, classes, and races rushed to California for gold. Almost all (~96%) were young men. Women in the California Gold Rush
were few and had many opportunities to do new things and take on new tasks in women poor California. Argonaut
s, as they were often called, walked over the California Trail
or came by sea. About 80,000 Argonauts arrived in 1849 alone—about 40,000 over the California trail and 40,000 by sea.
San Francisco was designated the official Port of entry
for all California ports where U.S. customs (also called tariffs and Ad valorem tax
s) (averaging about 25%) were collected by the Collector of customs from all ships bearing foreign goods. The first Collector of customs was Edward H. Harrison appointed by General Kearny. Shipping boomed from the average of about 25 vessels from 1825 to 1847 to about 793 ships in 1849 and 803 ships in 1850. All ships were inspected for what goods they carried. Passengers disembarking in San Francisco had one of the easier accesses to the gold country since they could from there take another ship to get to Sacramento and several other towns.
San Francisco shipping boomed and wharves and piers had to be developed to handle the onslaught of cargo--Long Wharf was probably the most prominent. To meet the demands of the Gold Rush, ships bearing food, liquors of many types, tools, hardware, clothing, complete houses, lumber, building materials, etc. as well as farmers, business men, prospective miners, gamblers, entertainers and prostitutes
, etc. from around the world came to San Francisco. Initially the large supplies of food needed were imported from close ports in Hawaii, Mexico, Chile
, Peru
and the future state of Oregon
. The Californio
s initially prospered as there was a sudden increase in the demand for livestock. These food shipments changed mainly to shipments from Oregon and internal shipments in California as agriculture was developed in both states.
Starting in 1849 many of the ship crews jumped ship and headed for the gold fields when they reached port. Soon San Francisco Bay
had many hundreds of abandoned ships anchored off shore. The better ships were re-crewed and put back in the shipping and passenger business. Others were bought cheap and hauled up on the mud flats and used as store ships, saloons, temporary stores, floating warehouses, homes and a number of other uses. Many of these re-purposed ships were partially destroyed in one of San Francisco's many fires and ended up as landfill to expand the available land. The population of San Francisco exploded from about 200 in 1846 to 36,000 in the 1852 California Census.
In San Francisco initially many people were housed in wooden houses, ships hauled up on the mud flats to serve as homes or businesses, wood framed canvas tents used for saloons, hotels and boarding houses as well as other flammable structures. All these canvas and wood structures combined with a lot of drunken gamblers and miners led almost inevitably to many fires. Most of San Francisco burned down six times in six Great Fires between 1849 and 1852.
Californio
s who lived in California who had finally had enough of the Mexican government and seized control of the territory of Alta California
in 1846. At the time gold was discovered in 1848 California had about 9,000 former Californio
s and about 3,000 United States citizens including members of Colonel Jonathan D. Stevenson
's 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers
and discharged members of the California Battalion
and Mormon Battalion
s. The Pacific Squadron
secured San Francisco Bay
. The state was formally under the military governor Colonel
Richard Barnes Mason
who only had about 600 troops to govern California—many of these troops deserted to go to the gold fields. Before the Gold Rush almost no infrastructure existed in California except a few small Pueblos (towns), secularized and abandoned Missions and about 500 large (averaging over 18000 acres (72.8 km²)) ranchos
owned the Californio
s who had mostly taken over the Missions land and livestock. The largest town in California prior to the Gold Rush was the Pueblo de Los Angeles
with about 3,500 residents.
The sudden massive influx into a remote area overwhelmed the state infrastructure which in most places didn't even exist. Miners lived in tents, wood shanties, wagons, or deck cabins removed from abandoned ships. Wherever gold was discovered, hundreds of miners would collaborate to put up a camp and stake their claims. With names like Rough and Ready and Hangtown (Placerville, California
), each camp often had its own saloon, dance hall and gambling house.
Some of the first Argonauts
, as they were also known, traveled by the all sea route around Cape Horn
. Ships could take this route year round and the first ships started leaving East Coast ports as early as November 1848. From the East Coast, a sailing voyage around the southern tip of South America would typically take five to eight months—averaging about 200 days by standard sailing ship
. This trip could easily cover over 18,000 nautical mile
s (33,000 km
) depending on the route chosen—some even went by way of the Sandwich Islands
(Hawaii
). When Clipper Ships began to be used starting in early 1849 they could complete this journey in an average of only 120 days; but they typically carried few passengers. They specialized in high value freight.
Starting in 1848 Congress had subsidized the Pacific Mail Steamship Company
to set up regular packet ship
, mail, passenger and cargo routes in the Pacific Ocean. This was to be regular route from Panama
, Nicaragua
and Mexico to and from San Francisco and Oregon
. The Atlantic Ocean mail contract from East Coast cities and New Orleans, Louisiana
to and from the Chagres River
in Panama
was won by the United States Mail Steamship Company
whose first steamship, the SS Falcon (1848') was dispatched on December 1, 1848. The SS California (1848)
, the first Pacific Mail Steamship Company
steamship, showed up in San Francisco on February 28, 1849 on its first trip from Panama and Mexico after steaming around Cape Horn
from New York
. Other steamships soon followed and by late 1849 paddle wheel steamships like the SS Mckim (1848) were carrying miners the 125 miles (201.2 km) trip from San Francisco up the Sacramento River
to Sacramento
and Marysville, California
. Steam powered tug boats started working in the San Francisco Bay
soon after this.
Agriculture and irrigation expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of the settlers. At the beginning of the Gold Rush, there was no law regarding property rights in the goldfields and a system of "staking claims" was developed. The Gold Rush also had negative effects: Native Americans
were pushed off traditional lands and gold mining
caused environmental harm.
In the early years of the California Gold Rush, placer mining
methods were used, from panning to "cradles" and "rockers" or "long-toms", to diverting the water from an entire river into a sluice
alongside the river, and then dig for gold in the newly-exposed river bottom. This placer gold had been freed by the slow disintegration, over geological time, that freed the gold from its ore. This free gold was typical found in the cracks in the rocks found at the bottom of rivers or creeks as the gold typically worked down through the gravel or collected in stream bends. Some 12-million ounces (370 t) of gold were removed in the first five years of the Gold Rush. This gold greatly increased the available money in the United States which was on the gold standard
at that time—the more gold you had the richer you were.
As the easier gold was recovered the mining became much more capital and labor intensive as the hard rock quartz mining, 'hydraulic" and dredging mining evolved. By the mid-1880s it is estimated that 11-million ounces (340 t) of gold (worth approximately US$6.6 billion at November 2006 prices) had been recovered via "hydraulicking," a style of hydraulic mining
that later spread around the world despite its drastic environmental consequences. By the late 1890s dredging technology had become economical, and it is estimated that more than 20 million ounces (620 t) were recovered by dredging (worth approximately US$12 billion at November 2006 prices). Both during the Gold Rush and in the decades that followed, hard-rock mining wound up being the single largest source of gold produced in the Gold Country
.
By 1850 the U.S. Navy started making plans for a west coast navy base at Mare Island Naval Shipyard
. The greatly increased population along with the new wealth of gold caused: roads, bridges, farms, mines, steamship lines, businesses, saloons, gambling houses, boarding houses, churches, schools, towns mercury mines, and other components of a rich modern (1850) I.S. culture to be built. The sudden growth in population caused many more towns to be built throughout Northern and later Southern California and the few existing towns to be greatly expanded. The first cities started showing up as San Francisco and Sacramento exploded in population.
is a term used to describe significant past events connected to the ships and boats in the Pacific Ocean
in what became the U.S. state of California
. These include Native American dugouts, tule canoes and sewn canoes (Tomol
s); early European explorers; Colonial Spanish and Mexican California maritime history; Russians and Aleut Eskimo
kayak
s in the Maritime Fur Trade
. U.S. Naval Activity including: Pacific Squadron
, Mexican-American War. California Gold Rush shipping
includes paddle steamers, Clipper
s, sailing ship
s, passage via Panama
, Nicaragua
, Mexico
and Cape Horn
and the growth of the Port of San Francisco
. Also included are sections on California naval installations, California Shipbuilding
, California shipwrecks, and California lighthouses.
(1848–1855). Some returned east with enough gold to purchase their relatives. The California Constitution of 1849 outlawed any form of slavery in the state, and later the Compromise of 1850
allowed California to be admitted into the Union, undivided, as a free state.
.
California
's involvement in the American Civil War
included sending gold east, recruiting or funding a limited number of combat units, maintaining numerous fortifications and sending troops east, some of whom became famous. Following the split in the Democratic Party in 1860, Republican
supporters of Lincoln took control of the state in 1861, minimizing the influence of the large southern population. Their great success was in obtaining a Pacific railroad land grant and authorization to build the Central Pacific
as the western half of the transcontinental railroad.
California was settled primarily by Midwestern
and Southern
farmers, miners and businessmen. Though the southerners and some Californio
s tended to favor the Confederacy, the state did not have slavery, and they were generally powerless during the war itself. They were prevented from organizing and their newspapers were closed down by denying them the use of the mail. Former Sen. William M. Gwin
, a Confederate sympathizer, was arrested and fled to Europe.
Nearly all the men who volunteered as Union soldiers stayed in the West, within the Department of the Pacific
to guard forts and other facilities, occupy secessionist regions, and fight Indians in the state and the western territories. Some 2,350 men in the California Column
marched east across Arizona in 1862 to expel the Confederates from Arizona and New Mexico. The California Column then spent most of the remainder of the war fighting hostile Indians in the area.
Steamboats (which needed fresh water and wood every day) plied the Bay Area and the rivers that flowed from the goldfields, moving passengers and supplies. With few roads, pack trains brought supplies to the miners. Soon a system of wagon roads, bridges, and ferries was set up. Large freight wagons replaced pack trains, and crude roads made it easier to get to the mining camps, enabling express companies to deliver mail and packages to the miners. Stagecoach lines eventually created routes connecting Missouri to California.
Before the 1870s, stagecoaches provided the primary form of local transportation between inland towns, with sailing ships connecting port cities. Even when railroads arrived, stages were essential to link more remote areas to the railheads. Top of the line in quality, with least discomfort was the nine-passenger Concord, but the cheaper, rougher “mud wagons” were also in general use. The Wells Fargo company contracted with independent lines to deliver its express packages and transport gold bullion and coins. Stagecoach travel was usually uncomfortable as passengers shared limited space. Drivers were famous for their skill in driving six horses down winding roads at top speed, rarely overturning. Competition reduced fares to as little a two cents per mile on some routes. Bandits found robbing coaches a profitable if risky venture. U.S. government mail subsidies provided essential base income, but running a stage line was a financially unstable business enterprise.
When the Central Pacific (built east from San Francisco using Chinese laborers) reached Utah in 1869, it linked with the Union Pacific Railroad, built west from Omaha using Irish labor. The transcontinental route meant it was no longer necessary to travel for six or more months by ship or on foot to reach the golden state; travel from Chicago to San Francisco took less than six days. The plunge in the cost and time of travel ended the state's isolation, and brought in cheap manufactured goods, along with more migrants. The establishment of America's transcontinental rail lines in 1869 securely linked California to the rest of the country, and the far-reaching transportation systems that grew out of them during the century that followed contributed to the state’s social, political and economic development. In recent years, passenger railroad building has picked up steam, with the introduction of services such as Metrolink
, Caltrain
, Amtrak California
, and others. This is expected to continue, thanks to the passing of various rail-construction measures on November 4, 2008, including Proposition 1a
.
History of locations in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
can be divided into several periods: the Native American period; European exploration period from 1542 to 1769; the Spanish colonial period, 1769 to 1821; the Mexican period, 1821 to 1848; and United States statehood
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, which continues to the present day.
The early history of California is characterized by being surrounded by barriers nearly isolating the state: the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Sierra Nevada mountains backed by the nearly barren Great Basin
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...
in the east, the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
and Sonora Desert areas in the southeast and Redwood–Douglas fir forests to the northwest. The near isolation of the California Indian
Indigenous peoples of California
The Indigenous peoples of California are the indigenous inhabitants who have lived or currently live in the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and after the arrival of Europeans. With over one hundred federally recognized tribes, California has the largest Native...
tribes led them to develop cultures different than the other Indian cultures in the Americas. California Indians
Indigenous peoples of California
The Indigenous peoples of California are the indigenous inhabitants who have lived or currently live in the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and after the arrival of Europeans. With over one hundred federally recognized tribes, California has the largest Native...
tribes had essentially no agriculture (with the exception of the Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
Indians) and were hunter-gatherers. The Indians had no crops, advanced cities, accumulated wealth or organized civilizations to exploit. The Spaniards, after initial explorations, left Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
alone for over 200 years. Relative isolation continued even after church state Spanish Mission, Presidio
Presidio
A presidio is a fortified base established by the Spanish in North America between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. The fortresses were built to protect against pirates, hostile native Americans and enemy colonists. Other presidios were held by Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth...
and pueblo
Pueblo
Pueblo is a term used to describe modern communities of Native Americans in the Southwestern United States of America. The first Spanish explorers of the Southwest used this term to describe the communities housed in apartment-like structures built of stone, adobe mud, and other local material...
settlements began in 1769. The only easy communication with the rest of New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
(Mexico) was by ship as the Quechan
Quechan
The Quechan are a Native American tribe who live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California just north of the border with Mexico...
(Yuma) Indians shut down the Anza Trail
Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
thumb|325px|MAP: [[Juan Bautista de Anza]] National Historic Trail routes in [[Arizona]] and [[California]].The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail is a National Park Service unit in the United States National Historic Trail and National Millennium Trail programs...
in 1781. This trail (discovered 1776) across Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
along the Gila
Gila River
The Gila River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 650 miles long, in the southwestern states of New Mexico and Arizona.-Description:...
and the Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
crossing (Yuma Crossing
Yuma Crossing
Yuma Crossing is a site in Arizona and California that is significant for its association with transportation and communication across the Colorado River. It connected New Spain and Las Californias in the Spanish Colonial period in and also during the Western expansion of the United States. ...
) was the only "easy" way by land from Mexico to California. Essentially the only communication from Mexico to California was via a 30-50 day sailing ship
Sailing ship
The term sailing ship is now used to refer to any large wind-powered vessel. In technical terms, a ship was a sailing vessel with a specific rig of at least three masts, square rigged on all of them, making the sailing adjective redundant. In popular usage "ship" became associated with all large...
voyage against the south bound California Current
California Current
The California Current is a Pacific Ocean current that moves south along the western coast of North America, beginning off southern British Columbia, and ending off southern Baja California. There are five major coastal currents affiliated with upwelling zones...
and the often opposing winds. The sailing ship trip from California to Mexico was much easier but you had to get to California before you could take it. Since California initially had very few settlers and essentially no exports and could afford only a very few imports for its few inhabitants ships to and from California were few. The average number of ships going to Alta California from 1770 to 1821 was 2.5 ship/year with 13 years showing no recorded ships. These few of ships brought even fewer new residents and increases in the Californio
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
population were nearly all by internal growth of the original settlers.
After Mexico acquired the Province of California in 1821 the Californio
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
s started developing approximately 500 large (over 18000 acres (72.8 km²) each) Ranchos of California
Ranchos of California
The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...
, most granted on former Mission lands for little or no money to friends and family of the California authorities. The Californios lived mostly on their ranchos or at the five pueblos (towns) in California. These ranchos raised cattle
Texas longhorn (cattle)
The Texas Longhorn is a breed of cattle known for its characteristic horns, which can extend to tip to tip for steers and exceptional cows, and tip to tip for bulls. Horns can have a slight upward turn at their tips or even triple twist. Texas Longhorns are known for their diverse coloring...
, sheep, horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s and other livestock that more or less raised themselves. The Californio
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
s did little work themselves relying on the former Mission Indians to do the vast majority of all agricultural sowing and harvesting of crops, irrigation, cattle herding, fence building, building construction, laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc. work in town or rancho. Nearly all males rode to where ever they were going at nearly all times making them excellent riders. They indulged in many fiesta
Fiesta
Fiesta, a Spanish word that means "party", "feast" or "festival", may refer to:-Film:*Fiesta , a 1941 American film directed by LeRoy Prinz*Fiesta , a 1947 MGM film starring Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalbán-Music:...
s, fandango
Fandango
Fandango is a lively couple's dance, usually in triple metre, traditionally accompanied by guitars and castanets or hand-clapping . Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has an instrumental introduction followed by "variaciones"...
s, rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
s and roundup
Roundup
Roundup is the brand name of a systemic, broad-spectrum herbicide produced by the U.S. company Monsanto, and contains the active ingredient glyphosate. Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the USA, and Roundup has been the number one selling herbicide worldwide since at least 1980...
s as the rancho owners often went from rancho to rancho on a large horse bound party circuit. Wedding
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
s, christening
Christening
Christening is a naming ceremony associated with:*Baptism*Infant baptism*Ship naming and launching...
s, funeral
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
s and other church activities were all "celebrated" with large gatherings. California in this period has been described as a large unfenced pasture. The only fences were those required to protect crops from cows or horses eating or trampling them. Starting about 1825 the Mission population started decreasing rapidly as Indian deaths far exceeded births. The Mission Indian population decreased from over 80,000 in 1820 to only a few thousand in 1840. The rancho's hide-and-tallow trade finally gave the Californio
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
residents something to trade. A few ships a year brought manufactured goods like glass windows, nails, hinges, fancy shawls, boots, elaborate belts, capes etc. from Boston, Massachusetts and Britain to California and exchanged them for their hide-and-tallow "crop". By 1846 the mostly American whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
industry was being developed in the Pacific Ocean again leading to a few whaling ships stopping in California for fresh water, wood and vegetables they could get in exchange for a few trade goods. Most Pacific whaling ships stopped at the Sandwich Islands
Sandwich Islands
Sandwich Islands was the name given to the Hawaiian Islands by James Cook on one of his voyages in the 1770s. James Cook named the islands after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, a supporter of Cook's voyages...
(Hawaii
History of Hawaii
The human history of Hawaii includes phases of early Polynesian settlement, British arrival, unification, Euro-American and Asian immigrators, the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, a brief period as the Republic of Hawaii, and admission to the United States as Hawaii Territory and then as the...
) which had over 100 whaling vessels temporarily based there by 1845. To avoid the high custom duties (tariffs) of 40-100% imposed by the Californio authorities in Monterey, California
Monterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
many preferred to first land in the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
area to get the most for their imported trading goods. Smuggling and bribery were common.
The various acquired diseases and abuse of the Mission
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...
Indian population caused them to decline from over 80,000 in 1820 to only a few thousand by 1846. This process was speeded up when in 1834-1836 the Mexican government, responding to complaints that the Catholic Church owned too much land (over 90% of all settled land in California), secularized (dismantled) the Spanish Missions in California
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...
and essentially turned the Indians loose to survive on their own. Most of the Indians went from doing unpaid labor at the Missions to doing unpaid labor as servants in the Pueblos or workers on the ranchos. Other Indians returned to small Indian settlements in the unsettled Central Valley and Sierra Mountains of California. As the Mission Indians rapidly declined in population and their Missions
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...
were dismantled most of the agriculture, orchards, vineyards, etc. raised by the Mission Indians rapidly declined. By 1850 the Hispanic (Spanish speaking) population had grown to about 9,000 with about 1,500-2,000 adult males. By 1846 there were about 2,000 emigrant non-Hispanics (nearly all adult men) with from 60,000 to 90,000 California Indians
Indigenous peoples of California
The Indigenous peoples of California are the indigenous inhabitants who have lived or currently live in the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and after the arrival of Europeans. With over one hundred federally recognized tribes, California has the largest Native...
throughout the state. Beginning in about 1844 the California Trail
California Trail
The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California...
was established and started bringing new settlers to California as its relative isolation started to break.
The Mexican-American War began in May 1846 and the few marines and bluejacket sailors of the Pacific Squadron
Pacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
and the California Battalion
California Battalion
The first California Volunteer Militia was commonly called the California Battalion was organized by John C. Fremont during the Mexican-American War in Alta California, present day California, United States.-Formation:...
of volunteer militia had California under U. S. control by January 1847 as all the Pueblos in California surrendered without firing a shot. In February 1848 the war was over, the 25 years of Mexican misrule with over 40 different Mexican Presidents was over and the boundary disputes with Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and the territorial acquisition of what would become several new states was paid for with a $15,000,000 settlement. The California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
, beginning in January 1848, increased California’s non Indian, non-Hispanic population to over 100,000 by 1850. This increased population and prosperity eventually led to the Congressional Compromise of 1850
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War...
which admitted California in 1850 as a free state—the 31st. One hundred sixty one years of rapid progress began.
See also: Spanish Missions of California, Maritime history of California
Maritime history of California
Maritime history of California is a term used to describe significant ships and uses of the Pacific Ocean near the California coast. This Maritime history includes the historical use of water craft such as: dugouts, canoes, sailing ships, steamships, fisheries, shipbuilding, Gold Rush shipping,...
, California Trail
California Trail
The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California...
, Californio
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
, California Battalion
California Battalion
The first California Volunteer Militia was commonly called the California Battalion was organized by John C. Fremont during the Mexican-American War in Alta California, present day California, United States.-Formation:...
, Pacific Squadron
Pacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
, California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
, Women in the California Gold Rush
Women in the California Gold Rush
Women in California Gold Rush were scarce but played an important role. Some of the first people in the mining fields were wives and families who were already in California. A few women and children worked right alongside the men but most men left their wives and families home...
Pre-contact period
Different tribes of California IndianIndigenous peoples of California
The Indigenous peoples of California are the indigenous inhabitants who have lived or currently live in the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and after the arrival of Europeans. With over one hundred federally recognized tribes, California has the largest Native...
s have lived in the area which is now California for 13,000 to 15,000 years. Over 100 tribes and bands inhabited the area. Without agriculture, hunter gatherer groups have to be small to get enough food for everyone. Various estimates of the Native American population in California during the pre-European period range from 100,000 to 300,000.
European exploration
CaliforniaOrigin of the name California
California is a place name used by three North American states: in the United States by the state of California, and in Mexico by the states of Baja California and Baja California Sur. Collectively, these three areas constitute the region formerly referred to as Las Californias...
was the name given to a mythical island populated only by beautiful Amazon
Amazons
The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
warriors, as depicted in Greek myths, using gold tools and weapons in the popular early 16th-century romance novel Las Sergas de Esplandián
Las sergas de Esplandián
Las Sergas de Esplandián is the fifth book in a series of Spanish chivalric romance novels by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, which began with Amadís de Gaula. The first known edition of this work was published in Seville in July 1510...
(The Adventures of Esplandián) by Spanish author Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo
Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo
Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo was a Spanish author who arranged the modern version of the chivalric romance Amadis of Gaul, written in three books in the 14th century by an unknown author...
. This popular Spanish fantasy was printed in several editions with the earliest surviving edition published about 1510. In exploring Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
the earliest explorers thought the Baja Peninsula was an island and applied the name California to it. Mapmakers started using the name "California" to label the unexplored territory on the North American west coast.
Francisco de Ulloa
Francisco de Ulloa was a Spanish explorer who explored the west coast of present-day Mexico under the commission of Hernán Cortés...
explored the west coast of present-day Mexico including the Gulf of California
Gulf of California
The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland...
, proving that Baja California
Baja California Peninsula
The Baja California peninsula , is a peninsula in northwestern Mexico. Its land mass separates the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California. The Peninsula extends from Mexicali, Baja California in the north to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur in the south.The total area of the Baja California...
was a peninsula, but in spite of his discoveries the myth persisted in European circles that California was an island
Island of California
The Island of California refers to a long-held European misconception, dating from the 16th century, that California was not part of mainland North America but rather a large island separated from the continent by a strait now known instead as the Gulf of California.One of the most famous...
.
Rumors of fabulously wealthy cities located somewhere along the California coast, as well as a possible Northwest passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
that would provide a much shorter route to the Indies
Indies
The Indies is a term that has been used to describe the lands of South and Southeast Asia, occupying all of the present India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and also Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines, East Timor, Malaysia and...
, provided an incentive to explore further.
The first European to explore the California coast was Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
explorer and adventurer João Rodrigues Cabrilho (Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo). Cabrillo was commissioned by the Viceroy of New Spain and in 1542 he sailed into what is now San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
. He continued north as far as Pt. Reyes California.
On November 23, 1542, the little fleet limped back to "San Salvador" (Santa Catalina Island
Santa Catalina Island, California
Santa Catalina Island, often called Catalina Island, or just Catalina, is a rocky island off the coast of the U.S. state of California. The island is long and across at its greatest width. The island is located about south-southwest of Los Angeles, California. The highest point on the island is...
) to overwinter and make repairs. There, around Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, Cabrillo stepped out of his boat and splintered his shin when he stumbled on a jagged rock. The injury developed gangrene
Gangrene
Gangrene is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies . This may occur after an injury or infection, or in people suffering from any chronic health problem affecting blood circulation. The primary cause of gangrene is reduced blood...
and he died on 3 January 1543 and was buried there. His second-in-command brought the remainder of the party back to Barra de Navidad
Barra de Navidad
Barra de Navidad is a small town located on the western coast-line of the Mexican state of Jalisco.The town of Barra de Navidad with a population of 7000+ is a small farming and fishing community located on the east end of the Bahía de Navidad, 60 km north of Manzanillo...
, where they arrived 14 April 1543. They had found no wealth, no advanced Indian civilization, no agriculture and no Northwest passage. As a result California was of little further interest.
The Indians they encountered were living at a bare subsistence level typically located in small rancheria
Ranchería
The Spanish word ranchería, or rancherío, refers to a small, rural settlement. In the Americas the term was applied to native villages and to the workers' quarters of a ranch. English adopted the term with both these meanings, usually to designate the residential area of a rancho in the American...
s of extended family groups of 100 to 150 people. They had no agriculture, no domesticated animals except dogs, no pottery, and their only tools or weapons were made out of wood, leather, woven baskets and netting, stones and horns. Most lived in rudimentary shelters made of branches and mud with a hole in the center to allow smoke to escape. Some homes were built by digging into the ground two to three feet and then building a brush shelter on top covered with animal skins, Tules and/or mud. Their clothing was minimal in the summer, with animal skins and coarse woven articles of grass clothing used in winter. Some tribes around Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
and the Channel Islands (California) were using large canoes to fish and trade. It would be found over 200 years later that some Indians in the California delta were using Tule
Tule
Schoenoplectus acutus , called tule , common tule, hardstem tule, tule rush, hardstem bulrush, or viscid bulrush, is a giant species of sedge in the plant family Cyperaceae, native to freshwater marshes all over North America...
rafts and some Indians on the Northwest coast were using dugout
Dugout (boat)
A dugout or dugout canoe is a boat made from a hollowed tree trunk. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. Monoxylon is Greek -- mono- + ξύλον xylon -- and is mostly used in classic Greek texts. In Germany they are called einbaum )...
canoes. The isolation of the California tribes and the poor conditions for growing food without irrigation explains in part the lack of agriculture. Despite the fact that California now grows almost every food crop, the staple foods then used by other American Indian tribes, corn and/or potatoes, would not grow without irrigation in the typically short three to five month wet season and nine to seven month dry seasons of California (see Mediterranean climate
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
). Indians survived by catching and eating deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
, Tule elk
Tule Elk
The tule elk is a subspecies of elk found only in California, ranging from the grasslands and marshlands of the Central Valley to the grassy hills on the coast. The subspecies name derives from the tule that it feeds off of, which grows in the marshlands...
, small game, fish, mollusks, grass seed, berries, insects, edible plants and roots, making it possible to sustain a subsistence hunter-gatherer economy without any agriculture. Without agriculture or migratory herds of animals or fish there are no known ways to support villages, towns or cities—small tribes and extended family groups are the typical hunter-gatherer grouping. A dietary staple for most Indian tribes in interior California was acorn
Acorn
The acorn, or oak nut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives . It usually contains a single seed , enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. Acorns vary from 1–6 cm long and 0.8–4 cm broad...
s, which were dried, shelled, ground to flour, roasted and soaked in water to leach out their tannin
Tannin
A tannin is an astringent, bitter plant polyphenolic compound that binds to and precipitates proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.The term tannin refers to the use of...
. The holes they ground into large rocks over centuries of use are still visible in many rocks today. The ground and leached acorn flour was then usually cooked into a tasteless mush. This was a very labor intensive process nearly always done by the women in the tribe. There are estimates that some Indians might have eaten as much as one ton of acorns in one year. A major advantage of acorns is that they grew wild, could be easily gathered in large quantities, and could be easily stored over a winter for a reliable winter food source. Almost none of these Indian food supplies were in a typical European's diet.
Basket weaving was the highest form of art and utility, and canoes were the peak in man made products. Local trade between Indian tribal groups enabled them to acquire seasonings such as salt, or foodstuffs and other goods that might be rare in certain locales, such as flint for making spear and arrow points. But the high and rugged Sierra Nevada mountains located behind the Great Basin Desert
Great Basin Desert
The Great Basin Desert is an area of nearctic high deserts across parts of Nevada, California, and Utah that extends into the Colorado River watershed , but which is mostly a portion of the central Nevada desert basins of the Great Basin.It along with the Escalante Desert, Mohave Desert, the...
east of California, extensive forests and deserts on the north, the rugged and harsh Sonoran Desert
Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which straddles part of the United States-Mexico border and covers large parts of the U.S. states of Arizona and California and the northwest Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. It is one of the largest and hottest...
and Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
in the south and the Pacific Ocean on the west effectively isolated California from any easy trade or tribal interactions with Indians on the rest of the continent. The Indians located in the core of California are much different in culture than any other Indian cultures in North America. Cabillo and his men found that there was essentially nothing for the Spanish to easily exploit in California, and located at the extreme limits of exploration and trade from Spain it would be left essentially unexplored and unsettled for the next 234 years.
In 1565 the Spanish developed a trading route where they took gold and silver from the Americas and traded it for goods and spices from China and other Asian areas. The Spanish centered their trade in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
at first around Cebu
Cebu
Cebu is a province in the Philippines, consisting of Cebu Island and 167 surrounding islands. It is located to the east of Negros, to the west of Leyte and Bohol islands...
, which they had recently conquered, and later in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
. The trade between the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and Mexico involved using an annual passage of Manila galleon
Manila Galleon
The Manila galleons or Manila-Acapulco galleons were Spanish trading ships that sailed once or twice per year across the Pacific Ocean between Manila in the Philippines, and Acapulco, New Spain . The name changed reflecting the city that the ship was sailing from...
(s). These galleons returning to Mexico from the Philippines went north to about 40 degrees Latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
and then turning East they could use the westerly trade wind
Wind
Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...
s and currents. These galleons, after crossing most of the Pacific Ocean, would arrive off the California coast from 60 to over 120 days later somewhere near Cape Mendocino
Cape Mendocino
Cape Mendocino located on the Lost Coast entirely within Humboldt County, California, USA, is the westernmost point on the coast of California. It has been a landmark since the 16th century when the Manila Galleons would reach the coast here following the prevailing westerlies all the way across...
(about 300 miles (482.8 km) north of San Francisco) at about 40 degrees N. latitude. They then could turn right and sail south down the California coast utilizing the available winds and the south flowing (about 1 mi/hr(1.6(km/h)) California Current
California Current
The California Current is a Pacific Ocean current that moves south along the western coast of North America, beginning off southern British Columbia, and ending off southern Baja California. There are five major coastal currents affiliated with upwelling zones...
. After sailing about 1500 miles (2,414 km) south on they eventually got to their port in Mexico. This highly profitable trade with an almost annual trip by one to two ships (number of ships limited by Spanish Crown) down the California coast was continued for over 200 years. The maps and charts were poor and the coast was often shrouded in fog, so most journeys were well off shore. One of the greatest bays on the west coast—San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
—escaped discovery for centuries till it was finally discovered by land exploration on 4 November 1769.
The English explorer and privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
Francis Drake
Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
sailed along the coast of California in 1579 after capturing two Spanish treasure ships in the Pacific. It is believed that he landed somewhere on the California coast. There his only surviving ship, the Golden Hind
Golden Hind
The Golden Hind was an English galleon best known for its circumnavigation of the globe between 1577 and 1580, captained by Sir Francis Drake...
, underwent extensive repairs, and needed supplies were accumulated for a trip across the Pacific. Leaving California he followed Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" ....
on the second recorded circumnavigation
Circumnavigation
Circumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...
of the world and the first English circumnavigation of the world, being gone from 1577 to 1580. Its believed Drake put ashore somewhere north of San Francisco. The exact location of Drake's landing is still undetermined, but a prominent bay on the California coast, Drakes Bay
Drakes Bay
Drakes Bay is a small bay on the coast of northern California in the United States, approximately 30 miles northwest of San Francisco at approximately 38 degrees north latitude. The bay is approximately 8 miles wide...
, bears his name. He claimed the land for England, calling it Nova Albion. The term "Nova Albion" was often used on many European maps to designate territory north of the Spanish settlements. Spanish maps, explorations etc., of this and later eras were generally not published, being regarded as state secrets. As was typical in this era, there were conflicting claims to the same territory, and the Indians who lived there were never consulted.
In 1602, 60 years after Cabrillo, the Spaniard Sebastián Vizcaíno
Sebastián Vizcaíno
Sebastián Vizcaíno was a Spanish soldier, entrepreneur, explorer, and diplomat whose varied roles took him to New Spain, the Philippines, the Baja California peninsula, the California coast and Japan.-Early career:...
explored California's coastline from San Diego as far north as Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean, along the central coast of California. The bay is south of San Francisco and San Jose, between the cities of Santa Cruz and Monterey....
. He named San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port adjacent to San Diego, California. It is 12 mi/19 km long, 1 mi/1.6 km–3 mi/4.8 km wide...
and held the first Christian church service recorded in California on the shores of San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port adjacent to San Diego, California. It is 12 mi/19 km long, 1 mi/1.6 km–3 mi/4.8 km wide...
.[6] He also put ashore in Monterey, California
Monterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
and made glowing reports of the Monterey bay area as a possible anchorage for ships with land suitable for growing crops. He also provided rudimentary charts of the coastal waters, which were used for nearly 200 years.
Spanish colonial period
The Spanish divided California into two parts, Baja CaliforniaBaja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
and Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
as provinces of New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
(Mexico). Baja or lower California consisted of the Baja Peninsula and terminated roughly at San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
where Alta California started. The eastern and northern boundaries of Alta California were very indefinite, as the Spanish claimed essentially everything in the western United States, even though they did not occupy most of it for over 200 years after first claiming it. The first permanent mission
Spanish missions in Baja California
The Spanish Missions in Baja California comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholic religious orders, the Jesuits, the Franciscans and the Dominicans, between 1683 and 1834 to spread the Christian doctrine among the local natives...
in Baja California, Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó, or Mission Loreto, was founded on October 25, 1697 at the Monqui settlement of Conchó in the present city of Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico...
, was founded on October 15, 1697, by Jesuit Friar Juan Maria Salvatierra, (1648–1717) accompanied by one small boat's crew and six soldiers. After the establishment of Missions in Alta after 1769 the Spanish treated Baja California and Alta California as a single administrative unit, part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, with Monterey, California
Monterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
, as its capital.
Nearly all the missions in Baja California were established by members of the Jesuit order supported by a few soldiers. After a power dispute between Charles III of Spain
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
and the Jesuits
Suppression of the Jesuits
The Suppression of the Jesuits in the Portuguese Empire, France, the Two Sicilies, Parma and the Spanish Empire by 1767 was a result of a series of political moves rather than a theological controversy. By the brief Dominus ac Redemptor Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Society of Jesus...
, the Jesuits were ordered expelled and their colleges closed at gunpoint from Mexico and South America in 1767 and deported
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
back to Spain. After the forcible expulsion of the Jesuit order, most of the missions were taken over by Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
s and later Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
friars. Both of these groups were under much more direct control of the Spanish monarchy
Spanish monarchy
The Monarchy of Spain, constitutionally referred to as The Crown and commonly referred to as the Spanish monarchy or Hispanic Monarchy, is a constitutional institution and an historic office of Spain...
. Many missions were abandoned in Sonora Mexico and Baja California.
After the conclusion of the Seven Year War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
between Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and France and their allies (in U. S. called the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
) (1754–1763) France was driven out of North America, and Spain and Britain were the only colonial powers left. Britain, as yet, had no North American Pacific colonies. The Bourbon King Charles III of Spain
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
was driven to establish missions
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...
and other outposts in Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
out of fear that the territory would be claimed by the British, who had not only colonies on the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
, but also several islands in the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
and had recently taken over Canada from the French. One of Spain’s rewards for helping Britain in the Seven Years War was the French Louisiana Territory
Louisiana Territory
The Territory of Louisiana or Louisiana Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1805 until June 4, 1812, when it was renamed to Missouri Territory...
. Another potential colonial power already established in the Pacific was Russia, whose Maritime Fur Trade
Maritime Fur Trade
The Maritime Fur Trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain, and other Chinese...
of mostly sea otter and fur seals were pressing down from Alaska to the Pacific Northwest's
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
lower reaches. These furs could be traded in China for large profits.
The Spanish settlement of Alta California was the last colonization project to expand Spain's vastly over-extended empire in North America, and they tried to do it with minimal cost and support. Approximately half the cost of settling Alta California was borne by donations and half by funds from the Spanish crown. Massive Indian revolts in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
's Pueblo Revolt
Pueblo Revolt
The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, or Popé's Rebellion, was an uprising of several pueblos of the Pueblo people against Spanish colonization of the Americas in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.-Background:...
among the Pueblo Indians of the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
valley in the 1680s as well as Pima Indian Revolt
Pima Indian Revolt
The Pima Revolt, or the O'odh am Uprising and the Pima Outbreak, was a revolt of Pima native Americans in 1751 against colonial forces in Spanish Arizona and one of the major northern frontier conflicts in early New Spain.- Background :...
in 1751 and the ongoing Seri conflicts in Sonora Mexico provided the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
friars with arguments to establish missions with fewer colonial settlers. The remoteness and isolation of California, lack of large organized tribes, lack of agricultural traditions, no domesticated animals larger than a dog, and a main food supply of mostly acorns (unpalatable to most Europeans) meant the missions in California would be very difficult to establish and sustain and made the area unattractive to most potential colonists. A few soldiers and friars financed by the Church and State would form the backbone of the proposed settlement of California.
José de Gálvez
José de Gálvez y Gallardo, marqués de Sonora was a Spanish lawyer, a colonial official in New Spain and ultimately Minister of the Indies . He was one of the prime figures behind the Bourbon Reforms...
, proceeded to plan a five part expedition
Portola expedition
250px|right|Point of San Francisco Bay DiscoveryThe Portolá Expedition was led by Gaspar de Portolá from July 14, 1769 to January 24, 1770. It was the first recorded Spanish land entry and exploration of present day California, United States...
, Three by sea and two by land to start settling Alta California. Gaspar de Portola
Gaspar de Portolà
Gaspar de Portolà i Rovira was a soldier, governor of Baja and Alta California , explorer and founder of San Diego and Monterey. He was born in Os de Balaguer, province of Lleida, in Catalonia, Spain, of Catalan nobility. Don Gaspar served as a soldier in the Spanish army in Italy and Portugal...
volunteered to command the expedition. The Catholic Church was represented by Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
friar Junipero Serra
Junípero Serra
Blessed Junípero Serra, O.F.M., , known as Fra Juníper Serra in Catalan, his mother tongue was a Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California of the Las Californias Province in New Spain—present day California, United States. Fr...
and his fellow friars. All five detachments of soldiers, friars and future colonists were to meet at the site of San Diego Bay. The first ship, the San Carlos, sailed from La Paz
La Paz, Baja California Sur
La Paz is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur and an important regional commercial center. The city had a 2010 census population of 215,178 persons, but its metropolitan population is somewhat larger because of surrounding towns like el Centenario, el Zacatal and San Pedro...
on January 10, 1769, and the San Antonio sailed on February 15. The first land party, led by Fernando Rivera y Moncada
Fernando Rivera y Moncada
Fernando Javier Rivera y Moncada was a soldier from New Spain who served in the Baja California peninsula and upper Las Californias, participating in several early overland explorations. Fernando Rivera y Moncada served as a Spanish Miilitary Governor from 1774-1777. -Biography:Rivera was born...
, left from the Franciscan Mission San Fernando Velicata
Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá
Located in Baja California, Mexico about 200 miles south of Ensenada, Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá was the only mission founded by Franciscans in Baja California....
on March 24, 1769. The third vessel, the San José, left New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
later that spring but was lost at sea with no survivors. With Rivera was Father Juan Crespi
Juan Crespi
Father Juan Crespí was a Majorcan missionary and explorer of Las Californias. He entered the Franciscan order at the age of seventeen. He came to America in 1749, and accompanied explorers Francisco Palóu and Junípero Serra. In 1767 he went to the Baja Peninsula and was placed in charge of the...
, famed diarist of the entire expedition. The expedition led by Portolà, which included Father Junípero Serra
Junípero Serra
Blessed Junípero Serra, O.F.M., , known as Fra Juníper Serra in Catalan, his mother tongue was a Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California of the Las Californias Province in New Spain—present day California, United States. Fr...
, the President of the Missions, along with a combination of missionaries, settlers, and leather-jacket soldiers, including José Raimundo Carrillo
José Raimundo Carrillo
Captain José Raimundo Carrillo was an early Spanish settler of San Diego, California and founder of the Carrillo family in Spanish California.-Biography:Carrillo was born in 1749 in New Spain at Loreto, Baja California...
, left Velicata on May 15, 1769 accompanied by about 46 mules, 200 cows and 140 horses—all that could be spared by the poor Baja Missions. Fernando de Rivera
Fernando Rivera y Moncada
Fernando Javier Rivera y Moncada was a soldier from New Spain who served in the Baja California peninsula and upper Las Californias, participating in several early overland explorations. Fernando Rivera y Moncada served as a Spanish Miilitary Governor from 1774-1777. -Biography:Rivera was born...
was appointed to command the lead party that would scout out a land route and blaze a trail to San Diego. Food was short, and the Indians accompanying them were expected to forage for most of what they needed. Many Indian neophytes died along the way—even more deserted. On the 15th of May 1769, the day after Rivera and Crespi reached San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
Portola and Serra set out from Velicata
Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá
Located in Baja California, Mexico about 200 miles south of Ensenada, Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá was the only mission founded by Franciscans in Baja California....
. The two groups traveling from Lower California on foot had to cross about 300 miles (482.8 km) of the very dry and rugged Baja Peninsula. The overland part of the expedition took about 40–51 days to get to San Diego. All five detachments were to meet at San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port adjacent to San Diego, California. It is 12 mi/19 km long, 1 mi/1.6 km–3 mi/4.8 km wide...
.
The contingent coming by sea, encountered the south flowing California Current
California Current
The California Current is a Pacific Ocean current that moves south along the western coast of North America, beginning off southern British Columbia, and ending off southern Baja California. There are five major coastal currents affiliated with upwelling zones...
and strong head winds and were still straggling in three months after they set sail. After their arduous journeys, most of the men aboard the ships were ill, chiefly from scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
, and many had died. Out of a total of about 219 men who had left Baja California, little more than 100 now survived.
July 14, 1769, an expedition was dispatched to find the port of Monterey. Not recognizing the Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean, along the central coast of California. The bay is south of San Francisco and San Jose, between the cities of Santa Cruz and Monterey....
from the description written by Sebastián Vizcaíno
Sebastián Vizcaíno
Sebastián Vizcaíno was a Spanish soldier, entrepreneur, explorer, and diplomat whose varied roles took him to New Spain, the Philippines, the Baja California peninsula, the California coast and Japan.-Early career:...
almost 200 years prior, the expedition traveled beyond it to what is now the San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
area. The exploration party
Spanish colonization of the Americas
Colonial expansion under the Spanish Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions...
, led by Don Gaspar de Portolà
Gaspar de Portolà
Gaspar de Portolà i Rovira was a soldier, governor of Baja and Alta California , explorer and founder of San Diego and Monterey. He was born in Os de Balaguer, province of Lleida, in Catalonia, Spain, of Catalan nobility. Don Gaspar served as a soldier in the Spanish army in Italy and Portugal...
arrived on November 2, 1769, at San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
., One of the greatest ports on the west coast of America had finally been discovered by land. The expedition finally returned to San Diego on Jan. 24, 1770.
Without any agricultural crops or experience eating the food the Indians subsisted on, the shortage of food at San Diego became extremely critical during the first few months of 1770. They subsisted on some of their cattle, wild geese, fish, and other food exchanged with the Indians for clothing, but the ravages of scurvy continued for there was no understanding of the cause or cure of scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
then. A small quantity of corn they had planted grew well—only to be eaten by birds. Portolá sent Captain Rivera and a small detachment of about 40 men to the Baja California missions in February to obtain more cattle and a pack-train of supplies. This temporarily eased the drain on San Diego's scant provisions, but within weeks, acute hunger and increased sickness again threatened to force abandonment of the port. Portolá resolved that if no relief ship arrived by March 19, 1770 they would leave the next morning "because there were not enough provisions to wait longer and the men had not come to perish from hunger." At three o'clock in the afternoon on March 19, 1770, as if by a miracle, the sails of the San Antonio loaded with relief supplies were discernible on the horizon. The settlement of Alta California would continue.
The survivors established Mission San Diego de Alcalá
Mission San Diego de Alcalá
Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá, in San Diego, California, was the first Franciscan mission in the Las Californias Province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was founded in 1769 by Spanish friar Junípero Serra in an area long inhabited by the Kumeyaay Indians...
and the Presidio of San Diego
Presidio of San Diego
El Presidio Reál de San Diego is an historical fort established on May 14, 1769, by Commandant Pedro Fages for Spain. It was the first permanent European settlement on the Pacific Coast of the United States. As the first of the presidios and Spanish missions in California, it was the base of...
(fort) in the San Diego area long inhabited by about 3,000 Kumeyaay
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai, Kamia, or formerly Diegueño, are Native American people of the extreme southwestern United States and northwest Mexico. They live in the states of California in the US and Baja California in Mexico. In Spanish, the name is commonly spelled...
Indians. As the first of the presidios and Spanish missions in California, it was the base of operations for the Spanish colonization of California.
Juan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto was a Novo-Spanish explorer and Governor of New Mexico for the Spanish Empire.-Early life:...
leading an exploratory expedition on January 8, 1774, with 3 padres, 20 soldiers, 11 servants, 35 mules, 65 cattle, and 140 horses set forth from Tubac
Tubac, Arizona
Tubac is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 949 at the 2000 census. The place name Tubac is an English borrowing from a Hispanicized form of the O'odham name, which translates into English as "rotten". The original O'odham name is written...
south of present day Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
. They went to across the Sonoran desert to California from Mexico by swinging south of the Gila River
Gila River
The Gila River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 650 miles long, in the southwestern states of New Mexico and Arizona.-Description:...
to avoid Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
attacks till they hit the Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
at the Yuma Crossing
Yuma Crossing
Yuma Crossing is a site in Arizona and California that is significant for its association with transportation and communication across the Colorado River. It connected New Spain and Las Californias in the Spanish Colonial period in and also during the Western expansion of the United States. ...
—about the only way across the Colorado River. The friendly Quechan
Quechan
The Quechan are a Native American tribe who live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California just north of the border with Mexico...
(Yuma) Indians (2-3,000) he encountered there were growing most of their food, using irrigation systems and had already imported pottery, horses, wheat and a few other crops from New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. After crossing the Colorado to avoid the impassible Algodones Dunes
Algodones Dunes
The Algodones Dunes is a large erg located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of California, near the border with Arizona and the Mexican state of Baja California. The field is approximately 45 miles long by 6 miles wide and extends along a northwest-southeast line that correlates to...
(clearly visible with Google map satellite view) west of Yuma, Arizona
Yuma, Arizona
Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....
they followed the river about 50 miles (80.5 km) south (to about the Arizona’s southwest corner on the Colorado River) before turning northwest to about today’s Mexicali, Mexico and then turning north through today’s Imperial Valley
Imperial Valley
The Imperial Valley is an agricultural area of Southern California's Imperial County. It is located in southeastern Southern California, centered around the city of El Centro. Locally, the terms "Imperial Valley" and "Imperial County" are used synonymously. The Valley is bordered between the...
and then northwest again before reaching Mission San Gabriel Arcángel
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel
The Mission San Gabriel Arcángel is a fully functioning Roman Catholic mission and a historic landmark in San Gabriel, California. The settlement was founded by Spaniards of the Franciscan order on "The Feast of the Birth of Mary," September 8, 1771, as the fourth of what would become 21 Spanish...
near the future city of Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. It took Anza about 74 days to do this initial reconnaissance trip to establish a land route into California. On his return trip he went down the Gila River
Gila River
The Gila River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 650 miles long, in the southwestern states of New Mexico and Arizona.-Description:...
till hitting the Santa Cruz River (Arizona) and continuing on to Tubac. The return trip only took 23 days and he encountered several peaceful and populous agricultural tribes with irrigation system located along the Gila River.
In Anza’s second trip (1775–1776) he returned to California with 240 Friars, soldiers and colonists with their families. They took 695 horses and mules, 385 Texas Longhorn
Texas longhorn (cattle)
The Texas Longhorn is a breed of cattle known for its characteristic horns, which can extend to tip to tip for steers and exceptional cows, and tip to tip for bulls. Horns can have a slight upward turn at their tips or even triple twist. Texas Longhorns are known for their diverse coloring...
bulls and cows with them. The approximately 200 surviving cattle and an unknown number of horses (many of each were lost or ate along the way) started the cattle and horse raising industry in California. In California the cattle and horses had few enemies and plentiful grass in all but drought years and essentially grew and multiplied as feral animals—doubling roughly every two years. They started from Tubac Arizona on October 22, 1775 and arrived at San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
on March 28, 1776. There they established the Presidio of San Francisco
Presidio of San Francisco
The Presidio of San Francisco is a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area...
, followed by a mission
Mission (station)
A religious mission or mission station is a location for missionary work.While primarily a Christian term, the concept of the religious "mission" is also used prominently by the Church of Scientology and their Scientology Missions International....
, Mission San Francisco de Asís
Mission San Francisco de Asís
Mission San Francisco de Asís, or Mission Dolores, is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco and the sixth religious settlement established as part of the California chain of missions...
(Mission Dolores) --the future city of San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
In 1780 the Spanish established two combination missions and pueblos at the Yuma Crossing: Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer
Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer
Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer was founded on January 7, 1781 by Father Francisco Garcés to protect the Anza Trail where it forded the Colorado River....
and Mission Puerto de Purísima Concepción
Mission Puerto de Purísima Concepción
Mission Puerto de Purísima Concepción was founded in October, 1780, by Father Francisco Garcés. The settlement was not part of the California mission chain, but was administered as a part of the Arizona missions...
. Both these pueblos and missions were on the California side of the Colorado River but were administered by the Arizona authorities. On 17–19 July 1781 the Yuma (Quechan
Quechan
The Quechan are a Native American tribe who live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California just north of the border with Mexico...
) Indians, in a dispute with the Spanish destroyed both missions and pueblos—killing 103 soldiers, colonists and Friars and capturing about 80 mostly women and children. In four well supported punitive expeditions in 1782 and 1783 against the Quechans the Spanish managed to gather their dead and ransom nearly all the prisoners; but failed to re-open the Anza Trail. The Yuma Crossing
Yuma Crossing
Yuma Crossing is a site in Arizona and California that is significant for its association with transportation and communication across the Colorado River. It connected New Spain and Las Californias in the Spanish Colonial period in and also during the Western expansion of the United States. ...
was closed for Spanish traffic and it would stay closed till about 1846. California was nearly isolated again from land based travel. About the only way into California from Mexico would now be a 40-60 day voyage by sea.
Eventually 21 California Missions were established along the California coast from San Diego to San Francisco—about 500 miles (804.7 km) up the coast. The missions were nearly all located within 30 miles (48.3 km) of the coast and almost no exploration or settlements were made in the Central Valley (California) or the Sierra Nevada (California). The only expeditions anywhere close to the Central Valley and Sierras were the rare forays by soldiers undertaken to recover runaway Indians who had escaped from the Missions. The "settled" territory of about 15,000 square miles (40,000 km2) was about 10% of California's eventual 156,000 square miles (400,000 km2)territory.
In 1786 Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse
Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse
Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse was a French Navy officer and explorer whose expedition vanished in Oceania.-Early career:...
led a group of scientists and artists who compiled an account of the Californian mission system, the land and the people. Traders, whalers and scientific missions followed in the next decades.
The California Missions, after they were all established, were located about one day's horseback ride apart for easier communication and linked by the El Camino Real trail
El Camino Real (California)
El Camino Real and sometimes associated with Calle Real usually refers to the 600-mile California Mission Trail, connecting the former Alta California's 21 missions , 4 presidios, and several pueblos, stretching from Mission San Diego de Alcalá in San Diego...
. These Missions were typically manned by two-three friars and three to ten soldiers. Virtually all the physical work was done by Indians coerced into joining the missions. The padres provided instructions for making adobe bricks, building mission buildings, planting fields, digging irrigation ditches, growing new grains and vegetables, herding cattle and horses, singing, speaking Spanish, and understanding the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
faith—all that was thought to be necessary to bring the Indians up to be able to support themselves and their new church. The soldiers supervised the construction of the Presidios (forts) and were responsible for keeping order and preventing and/or capturing runaway Indians that tried to leave the missions. Nearly all of the Indians adjoining the missions were induced to join the various missions built in California. Once the Indians had joined the mission, if they tried to leave, soldiers were sent out to retrieve them. Some have compared their Peon
Peon
The words peon and peonage are derived from the Spanish peón . It has a range of meanings but its primary usage is to describe laborers with little control over their employment conditions.-English usage:...
status as only slightly better than slaves.
The missions eventually claimed about 1/6 of the available land in California or roughly 1000000 acres (4,047 km²) of land per mission. The rest of the land was considered the property of the Spanish monarchy
Spanish monarchy
The Monarchy of Spain, constitutionally referred to as The Crown and commonly referred to as the Spanish monarchy or Hispanic Monarchy, is a constitutional institution and an historic office of Spain...
. To encouraged settlement of the territory, large land grants were given to retired soldiers and colonists. Most grants were virtually free and typically went to friends and relatives in the California government. A few foreign colonists were accepted if they accepted Spanish citizenship and joined the Catholic Faith. The Mexican Inquisition
Mexican Inquisition
The Mexican Inquisition was an extension of the Spanish Inquisition into the New World. The Spanish Conquest of Mexico was not only a political event for the Spanish, but a religious event as well. In the early 16th century, the Reformation, the Counter-Reformation and the Inquisition were in full...
was still in nearly full force and forbid Protestants living in Mexican controlled territory. In the Spanish colonial period many of these grants were later turned into Ranchos
Ranchos of California
The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...
. Spain made about 30 of these large grants nearly all several square leagues (1 Spanish league = 2.6 miles (4.2 km)) each in size. The total land granted to settlers in the Spanish colonial era was about 800000 acres (3,237 km²) or about 35000 acres (142 km²) each. The few owners of these large ranchos patterned themselves after the landed gentry in Spain and were devoted to keeping themselves living in a grand style. The rest of the population they expected to support them. Their mostly unpaid workers were nearly all Spanish trained Indians or Peons that had learned how to ride horses and raise some crops. The majority of the ranch hands were paid with room and board, rough clothing and housed in rough housing, no salary. The main product of these ranchos were cattle, horses and sheep—most of whom lived virtually wild. The cattle were mostly killed for fresh meat, hides and tallow (fat) which could be traded or sold for money or goods. As the cattle
Texas longhorn (cattle)
The Texas Longhorn is a breed of cattle known for its characteristic horns, which can extend to tip to tip for steers and exceptional cows, and tip to tip for bulls. Horns can have a slight upward turn at their tips or even triple twist. Texas Longhorns are known for their diverse coloring...
herds increased there came a time when nearly everything that could be made of leather was—doors, window coverings, stools, chaps
Chaps
Chaps are sturdy coverings for the legs consisting of leggings and a belt. They are buckled on over trousers with the chaps' integrated belt, but unlike trousers they have no seat and are not joined at the crotch. They are designed to provide protection for the legs and are usually made of leather...
, leggings, vests lariats (riata)s, saddle
Saddle
A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider or other load, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is the equestrian saddle designed for a horse, but specialized saddles have been created for camels and other creatures...
s, boots etc. Since there was no refrigeration then often a cow was killed for the day's fresh meat and the hide and tallow salvaged for sale later. After taking the cattle's hide and tallow most of their carcasses were left to rot or feed the California Grizzly bear
Grizzly Bear
The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...
s who roamed wild in California at that time or feed the packs of dogs that typically lived at each rancho.
A series of four presidios, or "royal forts," manned by 10 to 100 men, were built by Spain in Alta California. California installations can be founded in San Diego (El Presidio Real de San Diego
Presidio of San Diego
El Presidio Reál de San Diego is an historical fort established on May 14, 1769, by Commandant Pedro Fages for Spain. It was the first permanent European settlement on the Pacific Coast of the United States. As the first of the presidios and Spanish missions in California, it was the base of...
) founded in 1769, in San Francisco (El Presidio Real de San Francisco
Presidio of San Francisco
The Presidio of San Francisco is a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area...
) founded in 1776, and in Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
(El Presidio Real de Santa Bárbara
Presidio of Santa Barbara
The El Presidio Real de Santa Bárbara, also known as the Royal Presidio of Santa Barbara, was a military installation in Santa Barbara, California. It was built by Spain in 1782, with the mission of defending the Second Military District in California...
) founded in 1782. After the Spanish colonial era the Presidio of Sonoma
Presidio of Sonoma
El Presidio de Sonoma, or Sonoma Barracks, was a military outpost established in Alta California in 1836. It was built to house troops under General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, the Commandant of the Northern Frontier, as part of Mexico's strategy to subdue the Native Americans of the Sonoma Valley...
in Sonoma, California
Sonoma, California
Sonoma is a historically significant city in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, USA, surrounding its historic town plaza, a remnant of the town's Mexican colonial past. It was the capital of the short-lived California Republic...
was founded in 1834. To support the presidios and the missions about four towns called pueblos were established in California. The pueblos of Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara
History of Santa Barbara, California
The history of Santa Barbara, California, begins approximately 13,000 years ago with the arrival of the first Native Americans. The Spanish came in the 18th century to occupy and Christianize the area, which became part of Mexico following the Mexican War of Independence...
, Villa de Branciforte (later abandoned before later becoming Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
) and the pueblo of San Jose, California
History of San Jose, California
-Site chosen by De Anza:For thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers, the area now known as San Jose was inhabited by several groups of Ohlone Native Americans...
were all established to support the Missions and presidios in California. These were the only towns (pueblos) in California.
Mexican period
In 1821, Mexico gained its independence from Spain, and Alta California became one of the three interior provinces in the First Mexican EmpireFirst Mexican Empire
The Mexican Empire was the official name of independent Mexico under a monarchical regime from 1821 to 1823. The territory of the Mexican Empire included the continental intendencies and provinces of New Spain proper...
north of the Rio Grande, along with Texas
History of Texas
European conquistadors first arrived in the region now known as Texas in 1519, finding the region populated by various Native American tribes...
and New Mexico
History of New Mexico
Evidence from archaeologists conveys the existence of natives back to approximately 9200 BC. However, the history of New Mexico was not officially recorded until the arriving of the Conquistadors, who encountered Native American Pueblos when they explored the area in the 16th century...
. The Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
s Missionaries and soldiers in Alta California had not been paid in about seven years in 1821. The capital of the Mexican government in Alta California was Monterey, California
Presidio of Monterey, California
The Presidio of Monterey, located in Monterey, California, is an active US Army installation with historic ties to the Spanish colonial era. Currently it is the home of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center .-Spanish fort:...
(originally called San Carlos de Monterrey). Mexico, after independence, continued to be unstable with about 40 changes of government, in the 27 years prior to 1848—an average government duration was 7.9 months. In Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
Mexico inherited a large, sparsely settled, poor, back water province paying little or no net tax revenue to the Mexican State. In addition, Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
had a rapidly declining Mission system as the Mission Indian population in Alta California continued to rapidly decrease. The number of Alta California settlers, always a small minority of total population, slowly increased mostly by more births than deaths in the Californio
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
population in California. After the closure of the de Anza Trail
Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
thumb|325px|MAP: [[Juan Bautista de Anza]] National Historic Trail routes in [[Arizona]] and [[California]].The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail is a National Park Service unit in the United States National Historic Trail and National Millennium Trail programs...
across the Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
in 1781 immigration from Mexico was nearly all by ships. California continued to be a small, nearly isolated province.
Even before Mexico gained control of Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
the onerous Spanish rules against trading with foreigners began to break down as the declining Spanish fleet couldn’t enforce their no trading policies. The Californios, with essentially no industries or manufacturing capabilities, were eager to trade for new commodities, finished goods, luxury goods and other merchandise. The Mexican government abolished the no trade with foreign ships policy and soon regular trading trips were being made. The Californios’ hides and tallow provided the necessary trade articles for a mutually beneficial trade. The first United States, English and Russian trading ships
Sailing ship
The term sailing ship is now used to refer to any large wind-powered vessel. In technical terms, a ship was a sailing vessel with a specific rig of at least three masts, square rigged on all of them, making the sailing adjective redundant. In popular usage "ship" became associated with all large...
began showing up in California in about 1816. The classic book “Two Years Before the Mast
Two Years Before the Mast
Two Years Before the Mast is a book by the American author Richard Henry Dana, Jr., published in 1840, having been written after a two-year sea voyage starting in 1834. A film adaptation under the same name was released in 1946.- Background :...
” by Richard Henry Dana, Jr.
Richard Henry Dana, Jr.
Richard Henry Dana Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, a descendant of an eminent colonial family who gained renown as the author of the American classic, the memoir Two Years Before the Mast...
provides a good first hand account of this trade. From 1825 to 1848 the average number of ships traveling to California increased to about 25 ships per year—a large increase from the average of 2.5 ships per year from 1769 to 1824. The port of entry for trading purposes was Monterey, California
Monterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
where custom duties (also called tariffs) of about 100% were applied. These high duties gave rise to much bribery and smuggling, as avoiding the tariffs made more money for the ship owners and made the goods less costly to the customers. Essentially all the cost of the California government (what little there was) was paid for by these tariffs. In this they were much like the United States in 1850, where about 89% of the revenue of its federal government came from import tariffs, although at an average rate of about 20%.
So many Mission Indians died from exposure to harsh conditions and diseases like measles, diphtheria, smallpox, syphilis etc. that at times raids were undertaken to new villages in the interior to supplement the supply of Indian women. This increase in deaths was accompanied by a very low live birth rate among the surviving Indian population. As reported by Krell, as of December 31, 1832, the mission Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
padres had performed a combined total of 87,787 baptisms and 24,529 marriages, and recorded 63,789 deaths. If Krell’s numbers are to be believed (others have slightly different numbers) the Mission Indian population had declined from a peak of about 87,000 in about 1800 to about 14,000 in 1832 and continued to decline. The Missions were becoming ever more strained as the number of Indian converts drastically declined and the deaths greatly exceeded the births. The ratio of Indian births to deaths is believed to have been less than 0.5 Indian births per death.
The Missions, as originally envisioned, were to last only about 10 years before being converted to regular parishes. When the California Missions were abolished in 1834 some missions
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...
had existed over 66 years but the Mission
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...
Indians were still not self sufficient, proficient in Spanish or wholly Catholic. Taking people from a hunter-gatherer type existence to an educated, agricultural based existence was much more difficult than the missionaries had originally thought. The severe and continuing decline in Mission Indian populations exacerbated this problem. In 1834 Mexico, in response to demands that the Catholic Church give up much of the Mission property, started the process of secularizing the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
run missions
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...
. Mission San Juan Capistrano
Mission San Juan Capistrano
Mission San Juan Capistrano was a Spanish mission in Southern California, located in present-day San Juan Capistrano. It was founded on All Saints Day November 1, 1776, by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order...
was the very first to feel the effects of this legislation the following year when, on August 9, 1834 Governor Figueroa issued his "Decree of Confiscation." Nine other Missions quickly followed, with six more in 1835; San Buenaventura
San Buenaventura
San Buenaventura is a town and seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila.It is located at , in the state's central region .There were 19,986 inhabitants in 2000.-External links:*...
and San Francisco de Asís were among the last to succumb, in June and December 1836, respectively. The Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
s soon thereafter abandoned most of the missions, taking with them almost everything of value they could, after which the locals typically plundered the mission buildings for construction materials, furniture etc. or the Mission buildings were sold off to serve other uses.
In spite of this neglect, the Indian towns at San Juan Capistrano
Mission San Juan Capistrano
Mission San Juan Capistrano was a Spanish mission in Southern California, located in present-day San Juan Capistrano. It was founded on All Saints Day November 1, 1776, by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order...
, San Dieguito, and Las Flores did continue on for some time under a provision in Governor Echeandía's 1826 Proclamation that allowed for the partial conversion of missions to new pueblos. After the secularizing of the Missions many of the surviving Mission Indians switched from being unpaid workers for the missions to unpaid laborers and vaqueros (cowboys) of the about 500 large Californio owned ranchos
Ranchos of California
The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...
.
Before Alta California became a part of the Mexican state, about 30 Spanish land grants had already been deeded in all of Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
to a few friends and family of the Alta California Governors. The 1824 Mexican Colony Law established rules for petitioning for land grants in California; and by 1828, the rules for establishing land grants were codified in the Mexican Reglamento (Regulation). The Acts sought to break the monopoly of the Catholic Franciscan missions while paving the way for additional settlers to California by making land grants easier to obtain. When the Missions were secularized the Mission property and cattle were supposed to be mostly allocated to the Missions Indians. In practice nearly all Mission property and livestock were taken over by the about 455 large ranchos
Ranchos of California
The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...
of Californios granted by the Californio governors—mostly to friends and family at low or no cost. The rancho owners claimed about 8600000 acres (34,803 km²) averaging about 18900 acres (76.5 km²) each. This land was nearly all distributed on former mission land within about 30 miles (48.3 km) of the coast. The Mexican land grants were provisional until settled and worked on for five years and often had very indefinite boundaries and sometimes conflicting ownership claims. The boundaries of each rancho were almost never surveyed and marked and often depended on local landmarks that often changed over time. Since the government depended on import tariffs for its income there was virtually no property tax—the property tax when introduced with U.S. statehood was a big shock. The grantee could not subdivide or rent out the land without approval. The rancho owners tried to live in a grand manner and expected the rest of the population to support them in their lifestyle. For these few rancho owners and families this was the Californio’s Golden Age; for the vast majority it was not golden. Much of the agriculture, vineyards and orchards established by the Missions were allowed to deteriorate as the rapidly declining Mission Indian population required less food and the Missionaries and soldiers supporting the Missions disappeared. The new Ranchos and slowly increasing Pueblos mostly only grew enough food to eat and to trade with the occasional trading ship or whaler that put in to a California port to trade, get fresh water, replenish their firewood and obtain fresh vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
s.
The main products of these ranchos were cow hides
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
(called California greenbacks) and tallow
Tallow
Tallow is a rendered form of beef or mutton fat, processed from suet. It is solid at room temperature. Unlike suet, tallow can be stored for extended periods without the need for refrigeration to prevent decomposition, provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation.In industry,...
(rendered fat for making candles and soap) that were traded for other finished goods and merchandise. This hide-and-tallow trade was mainly carried on by Boston based ships that traveled 14000 miles (22,530.8 km) to 18000 miles (28,968.1 km) around Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
to bring finished goods and merchandise to trade with the Californio Ranchos for their hides and tallow. The cattle and horses that provided the hides and tallow essentially grew wild.
By 1845, the province of Alta California had a non-native population of about 1,500 Californio adult men along with about 6,500 women and children, who lived mostly in the southern half of the state around Los Angeles. Most immigrants (nearly all of whom were adult males) lived in the northern half of California.
A large non-coastal land grant was given to John Sutter
John Sutter
Johann Augus Sutter was a Swiss pioneer of California known for his association with the California Gold Rush by the discovery of gold by James W. Marshall and the mill making team at Sutter's Mill, and for establishing Sutter's Fort in the area that would eventually become Sacramento, the...
who in 1839 settled a large land grant close to the future city of Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
which he called "New Helvetia
New Helvetia
New Helvetia , meaning "New Switzerland", was a Mexican-era California settlement.The Swiss pioneer John Sutter arrived in Mexican Alta California with other settlers in August 1839. He established the agricultural and trading colony and stockade Sutter's Fort as "Nueva Helvetia" in 1840...
" (New Switzerland). There he built an extensive fort equipped with much of the armament from Fort Ross--bought from the Russians on credit when they abandoned that fort. Sutter's Fort
Sutter's Fort
Sutter's Fort State Historic Park is a state-protected park in Sacramento, California which includes Sutter's Fort and the California State Indian Museum. Begun in 1839 and originally called "New Helvetia" by its builder, John Sutter, the fort was a 19th century agricultural and trade colony in...
was the first non-Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
community in the California Central Valley. Sutter’s Fort from 1839 to about 1848 was a major agricultural and trade colony in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
often welcoming and assisting California Trail
California Trail
The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California...
travelers to California. Most of the settlers at or near Sutter's Fort were new immigrants from the United States.
Annexation of California
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. The Battle of Palo Alto
Battle of Palo Alto
The Battle of Palo Alto was the first major battle of the Mexican-American War and was fought on May 8, 1846, on disputed ground five miles from the modern-day city of Brownsville, Texas...
, the first major battle of the Mexican-American War, was fought on May 8, 1846, a few miles from the modern-day city of Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...
. A force of some 3,400 Mexican troops (a portion of the Army of The North) led by Mexican General Mariano Arista
Mariano Arista
Mariano Arista was a noted veteran of many of Mexico's nineteenth century wars who served as president of Mexico from 15 January 1851 to 6 January 1853....
engaged a force of 2,400 United States troops under General Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and an American military leader. Initially uninterested in politics, Taylor nonetheless ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election, defeating Lewis Cass...
. Taylor's forces drove the Mexicans from the field. The United States Congress responded to these hostilities by issuing a Declaration of War
Declaration of war
A declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more states.The legality of who is competent to declare war varies...
against Mexico on May 13, 1846—the Mexican-American War had began.
The main forces available to the United States in California were the bluejacket sailors and U.S. Marines
History of the United States Marine Corps
The history of the United States Marine Corps began with the founding of the Continental Marines on November 10, 1775 to conduct ship-to-ship fighting, provide shipboard security and discipline enforcement, and assist in landing forces. Its mission evolved with changing military doctrine and...
on board the ships of the Pacific Squadron
Pacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
. Speculating that war with Mexico over Texas and other land was very possible, the U.S. Navy had sent several additional naval vessels to the Pacific in 1845 to protect U.S. interests there. It took about 200 days, on average, for ships to travel the greater than 12000 miles (19,312.1 km) trip from the East coast around Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
to California. Initially as the war with Mexico started there were five vessels in the U.S. Navy's Pacific Squadron
Pacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
near California. In 1846 and 1847 this was increased to 13 Navy vessels—over half the U.S. Navy's available ships. The only other U.S. military force then in California was the about 30 military topographers etc. and 30 mountain men, guides, hunters, etc. in Captain John C. Fremont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
’s United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers
Corps of Topographical Engineers
The U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, was separately authorized on 4 July 1838, consisted only of officers, and was used for mapping and the design and construction of federal civil works such as lighthouses and other coastal fortifications and navigational routes. It included such...
exploratory force. They were exiting California on their way to Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
when they got word in early June 1846 that war was imminent and a revolt had already started in Sonoma, California
Sonoma, California
Sonoma is a historically significant city in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, USA, surrounding its historic town plaza, a remnant of the town's Mexican colonial past. It was the capital of the short-lived California Republic...
. On hearing this, Fremont and his exploratory force returned to California.
The former fleet surgeon William M. Wood and John Parrot, the American Consul of Mazatlan
Mazatlán
Mazatlán is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa; the surrounding municipio for which the city serves as the municipal seat is Mazatlán Municipality. It is located at on the Pacific coast, across from the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula.Mazatlán is a Nahuatl word meaning...
, arrived in Guadalajara
Guadalajara
Guadalajara may refer to:In Mexico:*Guadalajara, Jalisco, the capital of the state of Jalisco and second largest city in Mexico**Guadalajara Metropolitan Area*University of Guadalajara, a public university in Guadalajara, Jalisco...
Mexico on 10 May 1846. There they heard word of the on-going hostilities between the U.S. and Mexico forces and sent a message by special courier back to Commodore Sloat then visiting Mazatlan. On 17 May 1846 this courier's messages informed Commodore Sloat that hostilities between the U.S. and Mexico had commenced. Commodore (Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
) John D. Sloat
John D. Sloat
John Drake Sloat was a commodore in the United States Navy who, in 1846, claimed California for the United States.-Life:...
, commander of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Squadron
Pacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
and his fleet of four vessels were then at anchor in the harbor of Mazatlan
Mazatlán
Mazatlán is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa; the surrounding municipio for which the city serves as the municipal seat is Mazatlán Municipality. It is located at on the Pacific coast, across from the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula.Mazatlán is a Nahuatl word meaning...
Mexico. On hearing the news Commodore Sloat dispatched his flagship, the Frigate USS Savannah
USS Savannah (1842)
The second USS Savannah was a frigate in the United States Navy. She was named after the city of Savannah, Georgia.Savannah was begun in 1820 at the New York Navy Yard, but she remained on the stocks until 5 May 1842, when she was launched...
, and the Sloop
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...
USS Levant
USS Levant (1837)
The first USS Levant was a second-class sloop-of-war in the United States Navy.Levant was launched on 28 December 1837 by New York Navy Yard; and commissioned on 17 March 1838, with Commander Hiram Paulding in command....
to Monterey
Monterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
harbor where they arrived on 2 July 1846. They joined the Sloop
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...
USS Cyane
USS Cyane (1837)
The second USS Cyane was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the Mexican-American War.Cyane was launched 2 December 1837 by Boston Navy Yard. She was commissioned in May 1838, Commander John Percival in command....
which was already there. There were U.S. fears that the British might try to annex California to satisfy British creditors. The British Pacific Station
Pacific Station
The Pacific Station, often referred to as the Pacific Squadron, was one of the geographical divisions into which the Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities...
's ships off California were stronger in ships, guns and men.
Hearing rumors of possible Mexican military action against the newly arrived settlers in California (this had already happened in 1840), some settlers decided to neutralize the small Californio
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
garrison at Sonoma, California
Sonoma, California
Sonoma is a historically significant city in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, USA, surrounding its historic town plaza, a remnant of the town's Mexican colonial past. It was the capital of the short-lived California Republic...
. On June 15, 1846, some thirty settlers, mostly former American citizens, staged a revolt and seized the small Californio
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
garrison in Sonoma without firing a shot. Initially there was little resistance from anyone in California as they replaced the dysfunctional and ineffective Mexican government—which already had 40 Presidents in the first 24 years of its existence. Most settlers and Californio
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
s were neutral or actively supported the revolt. John A. Sutter and his men and supplies at Sutter’s Fort joined the revolt. They raised the "Bear Flag" of the California Republic
California Republic
The California Republic, also called the Bear Flag Republic, is the name used for a period of revolt against Mexico initially proclaimed by a handful of American settlers in Mexican California on June 14, 1846, in Sonoma. This was shortly before news of the Mexican–American War had reached the area...
over Sonoma. The republic was in existence scarcely more than a week before Frémont returned and took over on June 23 from William B. Ide
William B. Ide
William Brown Ide was a California pioneer and Commander of the short-lived California Republic.-Life:...
the leader of the Bear Flag Revolt. The California state flag of today is based on this original Bear Flag and still contains the words "California Republic".
In 1846 the U.S. Navy was under orders to take over all California ports in the event of war. There were about 400–500 U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy bluejacket sailor
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
s available for possible land action on the Pacific Squadron
Pacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
’s ships. Hearing word of the Bear Flag Revolt in Sonoma, California
Sonoma, California
Sonoma is a historically significant city in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, USA, surrounding its historic town plaza, a remnant of the town's Mexican colonial past. It was the capital of the short-lived California Republic...
and the arrival of the large British 2,600 ton, 600 man, man-of-war HMS Collingwood (1841)
HMS Collingwood (1841)
HMS Collingwood was an 80-gun two-deck second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 17 August 1841 at Pembroke Dockyard.She was fitted with screw propulsion in 1861, and sold out of the navy in 1867.-References:...
, flagship under Sir George S. Seymour, outside Monterey Harbor, Commodore Sloat was finally stirred to action. On 7 July 1846—seven weeks after war had been declared, Commodore John D. Sloat
John D. Sloat
John Drake Sloat was a commodore in the United States Navy who, in 1846, claimed California for the United States.-Life:...
instructed the Captains of the ships:USS Savannah
USS Savannah (1842)
The second USS Savannah was a frigate in the United States Navy. She was named after the city of Savannah, Georgia.Savannah was begun in 1820 at the New York Navy Yard, but she remained on the stocks until 5 May 1842, when she was launched...
and Sloops: USS Cyane
USS Cyane (1837)
The second USS Cyane was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the Mexican-American War.Cyane was launched 2 December 1837 by Boston Navy Yard. She was commissioned in May 1838, Commander John Percival in command....
and USS Levant
USS Levant (1837)
The first USS Levant was a second-class sloop-of-war in the United States Navy.Levant was launched on 28 December 1837 by New York Navy Yard; and commissioned on 17 March 1838, with Commander Hiram Paulding in command....
of the Pacific Squadron
Pacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
in Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean, along the central coast of California. The bay is south of San Francisco and San Jose, between the cities of Santa Cruz and Monterey....
to occupy Monterey, California
Battle of Monterey
-Preliminaries:Prior to the Mexican-American War the Californio forces had already driven the Mexican appointed Governor Manuel Micheltorena and most of his soldiers from Alta California...
—the Alta California capital. Fifty American marines and about 100 bluejacket sailors landed and captured the city without incident--the few Californio troops formerly there having already evacuated the city. They raised the flag of the United States
Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...
without firing a shot. The only shots fired were a 21 gun salute to the new U.S. Flag fired by each of the U.S. Navy ships in the harbor. The British ships observed but took no action.
The abandoned Presidio
Presidio
A presidio is a fortified base established by the Spanish in North America between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. The fortresses were built to protect against pirates, hostile native Americans and enemy colonists. Other presidios were held by Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth...
and Mission San Francisco de Asís
Mission San Francisco de Asís
Mission San Francisco de Asís, or Mission Dolores, is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco and the sixth religious settlement established as part of the California chain of missions...
(Mission Dolores) at San Francisco, then called Yerba Buena
Yerba Buena
Yerba buena is a rambling aromatic herb of western and northwestern North America, ranging from maritime Alaska southwards to Baja California Sur...
, was occupied without firing a shot on 9 July 1846 by U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy sailors from the Sloop
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...
USS Portsmouth (1843). Militia Captain Thomas Fallon
Thomas Fallon
Thomas Fallon was an Irish-born, Canadian-raised American capitalist and politician, the tenth Mayor of San Jose, California.-Biography:...
led a small force of about 22 men from Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
and captured the small town of Pueblo de San Jose
History of San Jose, California
-Site chosen by De Anza:For thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers, the area now known as San Jose was inhabited by several groups of Ohlone Native Americans...
without bloodshed on 11 July 1846. Fallon received an American flag from Commodore John D. Sloat, and raised it over the pueblo on July 14. On 15 July 1846, Commodore (Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
) John D. Sloat
John D. Sloat
John Drake Sloat was a commodore in the United States Navy who, in 1846, claimed California for the United States.-Life:...
transferred his command of the Pacific Squadron
Pacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
to Commodore Robert F. Stockton
Robert F. Stockton
Robert Field Stockton was a United States naval commodore, notable in the capture of California during the Mexican-American War. He was a naval innovator and an early advocate for a propeller-driven, steam-powered navy. Stockton was from a notable political family and also served as a U.S...
when Stockton's ship, the Frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
USS Congress (1841)
USS Congress (1841)
USS Congress — the fourth United States Navy ship to carry that name — was a sailing frigate, like her predecessor, .Congress served with distinction in the Mediterranean, South Atlantic Ocean, and in the Pacific Ocean...
, arrived from the Sandwich Islands
Sandwich Islands
Sandwich Islands was the name given to the Hawaiian Islands by James Cook on one of his voyages in the 1770s. James Cook named the islands after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, a supporter of Cook's voyages...
(Hawaii). Stockton, a much more aggressive leader, asked Fremont to form a joint force of Fremont’s soldiers, scouts, guides etc. and a volunteer militia--many former Bear Flag Revolters. This unit called the California Battalion
California Battalion
The first California Volunteer Militia was commonly called the California Battalion was organized by John C. Fremont during the Mexican-American War in Alta California, present day California, United States.-Formation:...
was mustered into U.S. service and were paid regular army wages. On July 19, Frémont's newly formed "California Battalion
California Battalion
The first California Volunteer Militia was commonly called the California Battalion was organized by John C. Fremont during the Mexican-American War in Alta California, present day California, United States.-Formation:...
" swelled to about 160 men. These men included Fremont's 30 topographical men and their 30 scouts and hunters, U.S. Marine Lieutenant Archibald H. Gillespie
Archibald H. Gillespie
Major Archibald H. Gillespie was an officer in the United States Marine Corps during the Mexican-American War....
, a U.S. Navy officer to handle their two cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
s, a company of Indians trained by Sutter and many other permanent California settlers from several different countries as well as American settlers. The California Battalion members were used mainly to garrison and keep order in the rapidly surrendering California towns. The Navy went down the coast from San Francisco, occupying ports without resistance as they went. The small pueblo (town) of San Diego surrendered 29 July 1846 without a shot being fired. The small pueblo (town) of Santa Barbara surrendered without a shot being fired in August 1846. On 13 August 1846 a joint force of U.S. Marines, bluejacket sailors and parts of Fremont’s California Battalion carried by the USS Cyane (1837)
USS Cyane (1837)
The second USS Cyane was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy during the Mexican-American War.Cyane was launched 2 December 1837 by Boston Navy Yard. She was commissioned in May 1838, Commander John Percival in command....
entered Los Angeles, California with flags flying and band playing. Captain Archibald H. Gillespie
Archibald H. Gillespie
Major Archibald H. Gillespie was an officer in the United States Marine Corps during the Mexican-American War....
, (Fremont's second in command), with a inadequate force of 40 to 50 men were left to occupy and keep order in the largest town (about 3,500) in Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
—Los Angeles.
A minor Californio revolt broke out in Los Angeles and the United States force there of 40–50 men evacuated the city for a time. Later, U.S.forces fought minor scrimmages in the Battle of San Pasqual
Battle of San Pasqual
The Battle of San Pasqual, also spelled San Pascual, was a military encounter that occurred during the Mexican-American War in what is now the San Pasqual Valley community of the city of San Diego, California. On December 6 and December 7, 1846, General Stephen W...
, the Battle of Dominguez Rancho
Battle of Dominguez Rancho
The Battle of Dominguez Rancho or The Battle of the Old Woman's Gun was a military engagement of the Mexican-American War...
, and the Battle of Rio San Gabriel
Battle of Rio San Gabriel
The Battle of Rio San Gabriel fought on January 8, 1847 was a decisive action of the California campaign of the Mexican-American War and occurred at a ford of the San Gabriel River, at what are today parts of the cities of Whittier, Pico Rivera and Montebello, about ten miles south-east of downtown...
. After the Los Angeles revolt started the California Battalion was expanded to a force of about 400 men. In early January 1847 a 600 man joint force of U.S. Marine, U.S. Navy bluejacket sailors, General Stephen W. Kearny
Stephen W. Kearny
Stephen Watts Kearny surname also appears as Kearney in some historic sources; August 30, 1794 October 31, 1848), was one of the foremost antebellum frontier officers of the United States Army. He is remembered for his significant contributions in the Mexican-American War, especially the conquest...
's 80 U.S. Army dragoons (cavalrymen) and about two companies of Fremont's California Battalion
California Battalion
The first California Volunteer Militia was commonly called the California Battalion was organized by John C. Fremont during the Mexican-American War in Alta California, present day California, United States.-Formation:...
re-occupied Los Angeles after some minor skirmishes—after four months the same U.S. Flag again flew over Los Angeles. The minor armed resistance in California ceased when the Californios signed the Treaty of Cahuenga
Treaty of Cahuenga
The Treaty of Cahuenga, also called the "Capitulation of Cahuenga," ended the fighting of the Mexican-American War in Alta California in 1847. It was not a formal treaty between nations but an informal agreement between rival military forces in which the Californios gave up fighting...
on January 13, 1847. About 150 Californios who were worried about possible punishment from the Americans rounded up about 300 horses and retreated into Sonora Mexico over the Yuma Crossing
Yuma Crossing
Yuma Crossing is a site in Arizona and California that is significant for its association with transportation and communication across the Colorado River. It connected New Spain and Las Californias in the Spanish Colonial period in and also during the Western expansion of the United States. ...
Gila River
Gila River
The Gila River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 650 miles long, in the southwestern states of New Mexico and Arizona.-Description:...
trail. The Californios who had wrested control of California from Mexico in 1845 now had a new government.
After the Treaty of Cahuenga
Treaty of Cahuenga
The Treaty of Cahuenga, also called the "Capitulation of Cahuenga," ended the fighting of the Mexican-American War in Alta California in 1847. It was not a formal treaty between nations but an informal agreement between rival military forces in which the Californios gave up fighting...
was signed, the Pacific Squadron
Pacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
then went on to capture all Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
cities and harbors and sink or capture all the Mexican Pacific Navy they could find. Baja California was returned to Mexico in subsequent Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...
negotiations. After hostilities had ceased, on January 22, 1947 Commodore Stockton's replacement Commodore William B. Shubrick showed up in Monterey in the Razee
Razee
A razee or razée is a sailing ship that has been cut down to reduce the number of decks. The word is derived from the French vaisseau rasé, meaning a razed ship.-Sixteenth century:...
USS Independence (1814)
USS Independence (1814)
The third USS Independence was a wooden-hulled, three-masted ship, originally a ship of the line and the the first to be commissioned by the United States Navy...
with 54 guns and ~500 crew. On January 27, 1847 the transport Lexington showed up in Monterey, California with a regular army artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
company of 113 men under Captain Christopher Tompkins. More reinforcements of about 320 soldiers (and a few women) of the Mormon Battalion
Mormon Battalion
The Mormon Battalion was the only religiously based unit in United States military history, and it served from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican-American War. The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 534 and 559 Latter-day Saints men led by Mormon company officers, commanded by regular...
arrived at San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
on 28 January 1847—after hostilities had ceased. They had been recruited from the Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
camps on the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
—about 2000 miles (3,218.7 km) away. These troops were recruited with the understanding they would be discharged in California with their weapons. Most were discharged before July 1847. More reinforcements in the form of Colonel Jonathan D. Stevenson
Jonathan D. Stevenson
Jonathan Drake Stevenson was born in New York; won a seat in the New York State Assembly ; was the commanding officer of the First Regiment of New York Volunteers during the Mexican-American War in California; entered California mining and real estate businesses; and died in San Francisco on...
's 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers
1st Regiment of New York Volunteers
1st Regiment of New York Volunteers, for service in California and during the war with Mexico, was raised in 1846 during the Mexican American War by Jonathan D. Stevenson. Accepted by the United States Army on August 1846 the 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers was transported around Cape Horn to...
of about 648 men showed up in March–April 1847—again after hostilities had ceased. After desertions and deaths in transit, four ships brought Stevenson's 648 men to California. Initially they took over all of the Pacific Squadron's on-shore military and garrison duties and the Mormon Battalion and California Battalion's garrison duties. The New York Volunteer companies were deployed from San Francisco in Alta California to La Paz, Mexico in Baja California. The ship Isabella sailed from Philadelphia on 16 August 1847, with a detachment of one hundred soldiers, and arrived in California on 18 February 1848, the following year, at about the same time that the ship Sweden arrived with another detachment of soldiers. These soldiers were added to the existing companies of Stevenson's 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers
1st Regiment of New York Volunteers
1st Regiment of New York Volunteers, for service in California and during the war with Mexico, was raised in 1846 during the Mexican American War by Jonathan D. Stevenson. Accepted by the United States Army on August 1846 the 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers was transported around Cape Horn to...
. Stevenson's troops were recruited with the understanding they would discharged in California. When gold was discovered in late January 1848, many of Stevenson's troops deserted.
The exclusive land ownership in California by the approximate 9,000 Californios in California would soon end. After some minor skirmishes, California was under U.S. control by January 1847 and formally annexed and paid for by the U.S. in 1848. Twenty-seven years of ineffective Mexican rule ended as 163 years (as of 2011) of rapid and continued advancement under U.S. Federal, State and local government and private development proceeded. After 1847 California was controlled (with much difficulty due to desertions) by a U.S. Army appointed military governor and an inadequate force of a little over 600 troops. Due to the California gold rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
, by 1850 California had grown to have a non Indian, non-Californio population of over 100,000 Despite a major conflict in the U.S. Congress on the number of slave versus non-slave states the large, rapid and continuing California population gains and the large amount of gold being exported east gave California enough clout to choose its own boundaries, select its representatives, write its Constitution and be admitted to the Union as a free state in 1850 without going through territorial status as required for most other states.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...
formally ended the Mexican-American War in February 1848. For $15,000,000 and the assumption of U.S. debt claims against Mexico, the new state of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
's boundary claims were settled and New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, California, and the unsettled territory of several future states of the American Southwest were added to U.S. control.
California Statehood
From 1847 to 1850 California had military governors appointed by the senior military commander in California. This arrangement was distinctly unsettling to the military as they had no inclination, precedent or training for setting up and running a government. President James K. PolkJames K. Polk
James Knox Polk was the 11th President of the United States . Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 17th Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 12th Governor of Tennessee...
in office from March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849, tried to get the 1848 Congress to make California a territory with a territorial government and again in 1849 but was unsuccessful in getting Congress to agree on the specifics of how this was to be done—the number of free states vs. slave state problem. General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Bennett C. Riley who had fought in the Siege of Veracruz
Siege of Veracruz
The Battle of Veracruz was a 20-day siege of the key Mexican beachhead seaport of Veracruz, during the Mexican-American War. Lasting from 9-29 March 1847, it began with the first large-scale amphibious assault conducted by United States military forces, and ended with the surrender and occupation...
and Chapultepec
Chapultepec
Chapultepec Park, more commonly called the "Bosque de Chapultepec" in Mexico City, is the largest city park in Latin America, measuring in total just over 686 hectares. Centered on a rock formation called Chapultepec Hill, one of the park's main functions is to be an ecological space in the vast...
during the Mexican-American War and considered an able military commander was the last military governor of California in 1849-1850. In response to popular demand for a better more representative government, General Riley issued an official proclamation dated June 3, 1849 calling for a Constitutional Convention
Constitutional convention (political meeting)
A constitutional convention is now a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution...
and an election of representatives on August 1, 1849.
Convention delegates were chosen by secret ballot but lacking any census data as to California’s population and where they lived its representatives only roughly approximated the rapidly changing state population as later shown in the 1850 U.S. California Census taken a year later. The 48 delegates chosen were mostly pre-1846 American settlers; eight were native born Californios who had to use interpreters. The new miners in El Dorado County were grossly under represented as they had no representatives at the convention despite being the most populated county in California then. After the election the California Constitution Convention met in the small town and former Californio
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
Capital of Monterey, California
Monterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
on September 1849 to write a state constitution.
Like all U.S. State's constitutions the California constitution adhered closely to the format and government roles set up in the original 1789 U.S. Constitution--differing mainly in details. The Constitutional Convention met for 43 days debating and writing the first California Constitution. The 1849 constitution copied (with revisions) a lot out of the Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and New York constitutions but had parts that were originally several different state constitutions as well as original material.
The twenty one Declaration of Rights in the California Constitution
California Constitution
The document that establishes and describes the duties, powers, structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of California. The original constitution, adopted in November 1849 in advance of California attaining U.S. statehood in 1850, was superseded by the current constitution, which...
(Article I: Sec.1 to Sec.-21) was broader than the original U.S. Constitution's ten Bill of Rights
Bill of rights
A bill of rights is a list of the most important rights of the citizens of a country. The purpose of these bills is to protect those rights against infringement. The term "bill of rights" originates from England, where it referred to the Bill of Rights 1689. Bills of rights may be entrenched or...
. There were four other significant differences from the U.S. Constitution. The convention
California Constitution
The document that establishes and describes the duties, powers, structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of California. The original constitution, adopted in November 1849 in advance of California attaining U.S. statehood in 1850, was superseded by the current constitution, which...
chose the boundaries for the state—unlike most other territories whose boundaries were set by Congress (Article XII). Article IX encouraged statewide education and provided for a system of common schools partially funded by the state and provided for the establishment of a University (University of California). They unanimously outlawed slavery except as punishment (Article I Sec. 18) and dueling (Article XI Sec.2). They gave women and wives the right to own and control their own property (Article XI Sec. 14).
The debt limit for the state was set at $300,000 (Article VIII). Like all other states they guaranteed the rights of citizens to sue in Civil court to uphold the rights of contracts and property (Article I Sec. 16). They created a court system with a supreme court with judges who had to be confirmed every 12 years.(Article VI) They set up the states original 29 counties (Article I Sec. 4), created a legislature of two houses, set up polling places to vote, set up uniform taxation rules. The 1849 Constitution guaranteed the right to vote to "Every citizen of California, declared a legal voter by this Constitution, and every citizen of the United States, a resident of this State on the day of election, shall be entitled to vote at the first general election under this Constitution, and on the question of the adoption thereof (Article XII Sec. 5)". The California Constitution was ratified by popular vote at an election held on a rainy November 13, 1849 (as specified in Article 12 Sec. 8). The small town of Pueblo de San Jose
History of San Jose, California
-Site chosen by De Anza:For thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers, the area now known as San Jose was inhabited by several groups of Ohlone Native Americans...
was chosen as the first state capitol (Article XI Sec. 1). Soon after the election they set up a provisional state government that set up the counties, elected a governor, senators and representatives and operated for 10 months setting up a state government before California was given official statehood by Congress on September 9, 1850 as part of the Compromise of 1850
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War...
. Thirty eight days later the Pacific Mail Steamship
Pacific Mail Steamship Company
The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848 as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants, William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett, Henry Chauncey, Mr. Alsop, G.G. Howland and S.S. Howland...
SS Oregon brought word to San Francisco on October 18, 1850 that California was now the 31st state—there was a bang up celebration that lasted for weeks. The state capital was variously at San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
(1850–1851), Vallejo
Vallejo, California
Vallejo is the largest city in Solano County, California, United States. The population was 115,942 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area on the northeastern shore of San Pablo Bay...
(1852–1853) and Benicia
Benicia, California
Benicia is a waterside city in Solano County, California, United States. It was the first city in California to be founded by Anglo-Americans, and served as the state capital for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at the 2010 census. The city is located in the San...
(1853–1854) until Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
was finally selected in 1854. The constitution of 1849 was only judged a partial success as a founding document and was superseded by the current constitution, which was first ratified on May 7, 1879.
California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
were the people in Oregon
History of Oregon
The history of Oregon, a U.S. state, may be considered in five eras: geologic history, inhabitation by native peoples, early exploration by Europeans , settlement by pioneers, and modern development....
, the Sandwich Islands
Sandwich Islands
Sandwich Islands was the name given to the Hawaiian Islands by James Cook on one of his voyages in the 1770s. James Cook named the islands after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, a supporter of Cook's voyages...
(Hawaii), Mexico, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and they were the first to start flocking to the state in late 1848. By the end of 1848, some 6,000 Argonauts had come to California. Americans and foreigners of many different countries, statuses, classes, and races rushed to California for gold. Almost all (~96%) were young men. Women in the California Gold Rush
Women in the California Gold Rush
Women in California Gold Rush were scarce but played an important role. Some of the first people in the mining fields were wives and families who were already in California. A few women and children worked right alongside the men but most men left their wives and families home...
were few and had many opportunities to do new things and take on new tasks in women poor California. Argonaut
Argonaut
Argonaut may refer to:* Argonaut , a kind of octopus in the genus Argonauta* Jason and the Argonauts, sailors in Greek mythology* Argonauts of Saint Nicholas, a military order in Naples...
s, as they were often called, walked over the California Trail
California Trail
The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California...
or came by sea. About 80,000 Argonauts arrived in 1849 alone—about 40,000 over the California trail and 40,000 by sea.
San Francisco was designated the official Port of entry
Port of entry
In general, a port of entry is a place where one may lawfully enter a country. It typically has a staff of people who check passports and visas and inspect luggage to assure that contraband is not imported. International airports are usually ports of entry, as are road and rail crossings on a...
for all California ports where U.S. customs (also called tariffs and Ad valorem tax
Ad valorem tax
An ad valorem tax is a tax based on the value of real estate or personal property. It is more common than a specific duty, a tax based on the quantity of an item, such as cents per kilogram, regardless of price....
s) (averaging about 25%) were collected by the Collector of customs from all ships bearing foreign goods. The first Collector of customs was Edward H. Harrison appointed by General Kearny. Shipping boomed from the average of about 25 vessels from 1825 to 1847 to about 793 ships in 1849 and 803 ships in 1850. All ships were inspected for what goods they carried. Passengers disembarking in San Francisco had one of the easier accesses to the gold country since they could from there take another ship to get to Sacramento and several other towns.
San Francisco shipping boomed and wharves and piers had to be developed to handle the onslaught of cargo--Long Wharf was probably the most prominent. To meet the demands of the Gold Rush, ships bearing food, liquors of many types, tools, hardware, clothing, complete houses, lumber, building materials, etc. as well as farmers, business men, prospective miners, gamblers, entertainers and prostitutes
Women in the California Gold Rush
Women in California Gold Rush were scarce but played an important role. Some of the first people in the mining fields were wives and families who were already in California. A few women and children worked right alongside the men but most men left their wives and families home...
, etc. from around the world came to San Francisco. Initially the large supplies of food needed were imported from close ports in Hawaii, Mexico, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and the future state of Oregon
History of Oregon
The history of Oregon, a U.S. state, may be considered in five eras: geologic history, inhabitation by native peoples, early exploration by Europeans , settlement by pioneers, and modern development....
. The Californio
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
s initially prospered as there was a sudden increase in the demand for livestock. These food shipments changed mainly to shipments from Oregon and internal shipments in California as agriculture was developed in both states.
Starting in 1849 many of the ship crews jumped ship and headed for the gold fields when they reached port. Soon San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
had many hundreds of abandoned ships anchored off shore. The better ships were re-crewed and put back in the shipping and passenger business. Others were bought cheap and hauled up on the mud flats and used as store ships, saloons, temporary stores, floating warehouses, homes and a number of other uses. Many of these re-purposed ships were partially destroyed in one of San Francisco's many fires and ended up as landfill to expand the available land. The population of San Francisco exploded from about 200 in 1846 to 36,000 in the 1852 California Census.
In San Francisco initially many people were housed in wooden houses, ships hauled up on the mud flats to serve as homes or businesses, wood framed canvas tents used for saloons, hotels and boarding houses as well as other flammable structures. All these canvas and wood structures combined with a lot of drunken gamblers and miners led almost inevitably to many fires. Most of San Francisco burned down six times in six Great Fires between 1849 and 1852.
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
s who lived in California who had finally had enough of the Mexican government and seized control of the territory of Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
in 1846. At the time gold was discovered in 1848 California had about 9,000 former Californio
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
s and about 3,000 United States citizens including members of Colonel Jonathan D. Stevenson
Jonathan D. Stevenson
Jonathan Drake Stevenson was born in New York; won a seat in the New York State Assembly ; was the commanding officer of the First Regiment of New York Volunteers during the Mexican-American War in California; entered California mining and real estate businesses; and died in San Francisco on...
's 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers
1st Regiment of New York Volunteers
1st Regiment of New York Volunteers, for service in California and during the war with Mexico, was raised in 1846 during the Mexican American War by Jonathan D. Stevenson. Accepted by the United States Army on August 1846 the 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers was transported around Cape Horn to...
and discharged members of the California Battalion
California Battalion
The first California Volunteer Militia was commonly called the California Battalion was organized by John C. Fremont during the Mexican-American War in Alta California, present day California, United States.-Formation:...
and Mormon Battalion
Mormon Battalion
The Mormon Battalion was the only religiously based unit in United States military history, and it served from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican-American War. The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 534 and 559 Latter-day Saints men led by Mormon company officers, commanded by regular...
s. The Pacific Squadron
Pacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
secured San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
. The state was formally under the military governor Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Richard Barnes Mason
Richard Barnes Mason
Richard Barnes Mason was a career general officer in the United States Army and the fifth military governor of California before it became a U.S. state.-Early life:...
who only had about 600 troops to govern California—many of these troops deserted to go to the gold fields. Before the Gold Rush almost no infrastructure existed in California except a few small Pueblos (towns), secularized and abandoned Missions and about 500 large (averaging over 18000 acres (72.8 km²)) ranchos
Ranchos of California
The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...
owned the Californio
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
s who had mostly taken over the Missions land and livestock. The largest town in California prior to the Gold Rush was the Pueblo de Los Angeles
Pueblo de Los Angeles
El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles was the Spanish civilian pueblo founded in 1781, which by the 20th century became the American metropolis of Los Angeles....
with about 3,500 residents.
The sudden massive influx into a remote area overwhelmed the state infrastructure which in most places didn't even exist. Miners lived in tents, wood shanties, wagons, or deck cabins removed from abandoned ships. Wherever gold was discovered, hundreds of miners would collaborate to put up a camp and stake their claims. With names like Rough and Ready and Hangtown (Placerville, California
Placerville, California
Placerville is the county seat of El Dorado County, California. The population was 10,389 at the 2010 census, up from 9,610 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
), each camp often had its own saloon, dance hall and gambling house.
Some of the first Argonauts
Argonauts
The Argonauts ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, the Argo, which was named after its builder, Argus. "Argonauts", therefore, literally means...
, as they were also known, traveled by the all sea route around Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
. Ships could take this route year round and the first ships started leaving East Coast ports as early as November 1848. From the East Coast, a sailing voyage around the southern tip of South America would typically take five to eight months—averaging about 200 days by standard sailing ship
Sailing ship
The term sailing ship is now used to refer to any large wind-powered vessel. In technical terms, a ship was a sailing vessel with a specific rig of at least three masts, square rigged on all of them, making the sailing adjective redundant. In popular usage "ship" became associated with all large...
. This trip could easily cover over 18,000 nautical mile
Nautical mile
The nautical mile is a unit of length that is about one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian, but is approximately one minute of arc of longitude only at the equator...
s (33,000 km
Kilometre
The kilometre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand metres and is therefore exactly equal to the distance travelled by light in free space in of a second...
) depending on the route chosen—some even went by way of the Sandwich Islands
Sandwich Islands
Sandwich Islands was the name given to the Hawaiian Islands by James Cook on one of his voyages in the 1770s. James Cook named the islands after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, a supporter of Cook's voyages...
(Hawaii
History of Hawaii
The human history of Hawaii includes phases of early Polynesian settlement, British arrival, unification, Euro-American and Asian immigrators, the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, a brief period as the Republic of Hawaii, and admission to the United States as Hawaii Territory and then as the...
). When Clipper Ships began to be used starting in early 1849 they could complete this journey in an average of only 120 days; but they typically carried few passengers. They specialized in high value freight.
Starting in 1848 Congress had subsidized the Pacific Mail Steamship Company
Pacific Mail Steamship Company
The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848 as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants, William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett, Henry Chauncey, Mr. Alsop, G.G. Howland and S.S. Howland...
to set up regular packet ship
Packet ship
A "packet ship" was originally a vessel employed to carry post office mail packets to and from British embassies, colonies and outposts. In sea transport, a packet service is a regular, scheduled service, carrying freight and passengers...
, mail, passenger and cargo routes in the Pacific Ocean. This was to be regular route from Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
and Mexico to and from San Francisco and Oregon
History of Oregon
The history of Oregon, a U.S. state, may be considered in five eras: geologic history, inhabitation by native peoples, early exploration by Europeans , settlement by pioneers, and modern development....
. The Atlantic Ocean mail contract from East Coast cities and New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
to and from the Chagres River
Chagres River
The Chagres River is a river in central Panama. The central part of the river is dammed by the Gatun Dam and forms Gatun Lake, an artificial lake that constitutes part of the Panama Canal. Upstream lies the Madden Dam, creating the Alajuala Lake that is also part of the Canal water system...
in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
was won by the United States Mail Steamship Company
United States Mail Steamship Company
The United States Mail Steamship Company – also called the United States Mail Line, or the U.S. Mail Line – was a passenger steamship line formed in 1920 by the United States Shipping Board to run the USSB's fleet of ex-German ocean liners that had been seized by the United States during World War...
whose first steamship, the SS Falcon (1848') was dispatched on December 1, 1848. The SS California (1848)
SS California (1848)
The SS California was one of the first steamships, to steam in the Pacific Ocean and the first steamship to travel from Central America to North America. She was built for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company which was founded April 18, 1848 as a joint stock company in the State of New York by a...
, the first Pacific Mail Steamship Company
Pacific Mail Steamship Company
The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was founded April 18, 1848 as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants, William H. Aspinwall, Edwin Bartlett, Henry Chauncey, Mr. Alsop, G.G. Howland and S.S. Howland...
steamship, showed up in San Francisco on February 28, 1849 on its first trip from Panama and Mexico after steaming around Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
from New York
History of New York
The history of New York begins around 10,000 BCE, when the first Native Americans arrived. By 1100 CE, New York's main tribes, the Iroquoian and Algonquian cultures, had developed. New York was discovered by the French in 1524 and first claimed in 1609 by the Dutch...
. Other steamships soon followed and by late 1849 paddle wheel steamships like the SS Mckim (1848) were carrying miners the 125 miles (201.2 km) trip from San Francisco up the Sacramento River
Sacramento River
The Sacramento River is an important watercourse of Northern and Central California in the United States. The largest river in California, it rises on the eastern slopes of the Klamath Mountains, and after a journey south of over , empties into Suisun Bay, an arm of the San Francisco Bay, and...
to Sacramento
History of Sacramento, California
The history of Sacramento, California, began with its founding by Samuel Brannan and John Augustus Sutter, Jr. in 1848 around an embarcadero that his father, John Sutter, Senior constructed at the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers a few years prior.Before the arrival of Europeans,...
and Marysville, California
Marysville, California
Marysville is the county seat of Yuba County, California, United States. The population was 12,072 at the 2010 census, down from 12,268 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical Area, often referred to as the Yuba-Sutter Area after the two counties, Yuba and...
. Steam powered tug boats started working in the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
soon after this.
Agriculture and irrigation expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of the settlers. At the beginning of the Gold Rush, there was no law regarding property rights in the goldfields and a system of "staking claims" was developed. The Gold Rush also had negative effects: Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
were pushed off traditional lands and gold mining
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
caused environmental harm.
In the early years of the California Gold Rush, placer mining
Placer mining
Placer mining is the mining of alluvial deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment....
methods were used, from panning to "cradles" and "rockers" or "long-toms", to diverting the water from an entire river into a sluice
Sluice
A sluice is a water channel that is controlled at its head by a gate . For example, a millrace is a sluice that channels water toward a water mill...
alongside the river, and then dig for gold in the newly-exposed river bottom. This placer gold had been freed by the slow disintegration, over geological time, that freed the gold from its ore. This free gold was typical found in the cracks in the rocks found at the bottom of rivers or creeks as the gold typically worked down through the gravel or collected in stream bends. Some 12-million ounces (370 t) of gold were removed in the first five years of the Gold Rush. This gold greatly increased the available money in the United States which was on the gold standard
Gold standard
The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed mass of gold. There are distinct kinds of gold standard...
at that time—the more gold you had the richer you were.
As the easier gold was recovered the mining became much more capital and labor intensive as the hard rock quartz mining, 'hydraulic" and dredging mining evolved. By the mid-1880s it is estimated that 11-million ounces (340 t) of gold (worth approximately US$6.6 billion at November 2006 prices) had been recovered via "hydraulicking," a style of hydraulic mining
Hydraulic mining
Hydraulic mining, or hydraulicking, is a form of mining that uses high-pressure jets of water to dislodge rock material or move sediment. In the placer mining of gold or tin, the resulting water-sediment slurry is directed through sluice boxes to remove the gold.-Precursor - ground...
that later spread around the world despite its drastic environmental consequences. By the late 1890s dredging technology had become economical, and it is estimated that more than 20 million ounces (620 t) were recovered by dredging (worth approximately US$12 billion at November 2006 prices). Both during the Gold Rush and in the decades that followed, hard-rock mining wound up being the single largest source of gold produced in the Gold Country
Gold Country
Gold Country is a region in the central and northeastern part of California, United States. It is famed for the mineral deposits and gold mines that attracted waves of immigrants, known as the 49ers, during the 1849 California Gold Rush.-Geography:State Route 49 was built through the Gold Country,...
.
By 1850 the U.S. Navy started making plans for a west coast navy base at Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Mare Island Naval Shipyard
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...
. The greatly increased population along with the new wealth of gold caused: roads, bridges, farms, mines, steamship lines, businesses, saloons, gambling houses, boarding houses, churches, schools, towns mercury mines, and other components of a rich modern (1850) I.S. culture to be built. The sudden growth in population caused many more towns to be built throughout Northern and later Southern California and the few existing towns to be greatly expanded. The first cities started showing up as San Francisco and Sacramento exploded in population.
Maritime history of California
Maritime history of CaliforniaMaritime history of California
Maritime history of California is a term used to describe significant ships and uses of the Pacific Ocean near the California coast. This Maritime history includes the historical use of water craft such as: dugouts, canoes, sailing ships, steamships, fisheries, shipbuilding, Gold Rush shipping,...
is a term used to describe significant past events connected to the ships and boats in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
in what became the U.S. state of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. These include Native American dugouts, tule canoes and sewn canoes (Tomol
Tomol
Tomols are plank-built boats, historically and currently used by the Chumash and Tongva Native Americans in the Santa Barbara and Los Angeles area. They were also called tii'at by the Tongva. Tomols are long. They were especially important as both tribes relied on the sea for...
s); early European explorers; Colonial Spanish and Mexican California maritime history; Russians and Aleut Eskimo
Eskimo
Eskimos or Inuit–Yupik peoples are indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the circumpolar region from eastern Siberia , across Alaska , Canada, and Greenland....
kayak
Kayak
A kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...
s in the Maritime Fur Trade
Maritime Fur Trade
The Maritime Fur Trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain, and other Chinese...
. U.S. Naval Activity including: Pacific Squadron
Pacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval supplies and purchased food and obtained water from local...
, Mexican-American War. California Gold Rush shipping
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
includes paddle steamers, Clipper
Clipper
A clipper was a very fast sailing ship of the 19th century that had three or more masts and a square rig. They were generally narrow for their length, could carry limited bulk freight, small by later 19th century standards, and had a large total sail area...
s, sailing ship
Sailing ship
The term sailing ship is now used to refer to any large wind-powered vessel. In technical terms, a ship was a sailing vessel with a specific rig of at least three masts, square rigged on all of them, making the sailing adjective redundant. In popular usage "ship" became associated with all large...
s, passage via Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
and the growth of the Port of San Francisco
Port of San Francisco
The Port of San Francisco lies on the western edge of the San Francisco Bay near the Golden Gate. It has been called one of the three great natural harbors in the world, but it took two long centuries for navigators from Spain and England to find the anchorage originally called Yerba Buena...
. Also included are sections on California naval installations, California Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
, California shipwrecks, and California lighthouses.
Slavery
Tribes in northwest California practiced slavery long before the arrival of Europeans. There were never black slaves owned by Europeans, and many free men of African ancestry joined the California Gold RushCalifornia Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
(1848–1855). Some returned east with enough gold to purchase their relatives. The California Constitution of 1849 outlawed any form of slavery in the state, and later the Compromise of 1850
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War...
allowed California to be admitted into the Union, undivided, as a free state.
California in the American Civil War
The possibility of splitting off Southern California as a territory or a state was rejected by the national government, and the idea was dead by 1861 when patriotic fervor swept California after the attack on Fort SumterFort Sumter
Fort Sumter is a Third System masonry coastal fortification located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The fort is best known as the site upon which the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter.- Construction :...
.
California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
's involvement in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
included sending gold east, recruiting or funding a limited number of combat units, maintaining numerous fortifications and sending troops east, some of whom became famous. Following the split in the Democratic Party in 1860, Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
supporters of Lincoln took control of the state in 1861, minimizing the influence of the large southern population. Their great success was in obtaining a Pacific railroad land grant and authorization to build the Central Pacific
Central Pacific Railroad
The Central Pacific Railroad is the former name of the railroad network built between California and Utah, USA that formed part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America. It is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Many 19th century national proposals to build a transcontinental...
as the western half of the transcontinental railroad.
California was settled primarily by Midwestern
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
and Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
farmers, miners and businessmen. Though the southerners and some Californio
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
s tended to favor the Confederacy, the state did not have slavery, and they were generally powerless during the war itself. They were prevented from organizing and their newspapers were closed down by denying them the use of the mail. Former Sen. William M. Gwin
William M. Gwin
William McKendree Gwin was an American medical doctor and politician.Born near Gallatin, Tennessee, his father, the Reverend James Gwin, was a pioneer Methodist minister under the Rev. William McKendree, his son's namesake. Rev. James Gwin also served as a soldier on the frontier under General...
, a Confederate sympathizer, was arrested and fled to Europe.
Nearly all the men who volunteered as Union soldiers stayed in the West, within the Department of the Pacific
Department of the Pacific
The Department of the Pacific was a major command of the United States Army during the 19th century.-Formation:The Department of the Pacific was first organized on October 31, 1853, at San Francisco, California, taking over from the previous Pacific Division. The department reported directly to...
to guard forts and other facilities, occupy secessionist regions, and fight Indians in the state and the western territories. Some 2,350 men in the California Column
California Column
The California Column, a force of Union volunteers, marched from April to August 1862 over 900 miles from California, across the southern New Mexico Territory to the Rio Grande and then into western Texas during the American Civil War. At the time, this was the longest trek through desert terrain...
marched east across Arizona in 1862 to expel the Confederates from Arizona and New Mexico. The California Column then spent most of the remainder of the war fighting hostile Indians in the area.
Transportation
Ships provided easy, cheap, slow links among the coastal towns within California and on routes leading there. The Panama route provided a shortcut for getting from the East Coast to California and a brisk maritime trade developed, featuring fast clipper ships.Steamboats (which needed fresh water and wood every day) plied the Bay Area and the rivers that flowed from the goldfields, moving passengers and supplies. With few roads, pack trains brought supplies to the miners. Soon a system of wagon roads, bridges, and ferries was set up. Large freight wagons replaced pack trains, and crude roads made it easier to get to the mining camps, enabling express companies to deliver mail and packages to the miners. Stagecoach lines eventually created routes connecting Missouri to California.
Before the 1870s, stagecoaches provided the primary form of local transportation between inland towns, with sailing ships connecting port cities. Even when railroads arrived, stages were essential to link more remote areas to the railheads. Top of the line in quality, with least discomfort was the nine-passenger Concord, but the cheaper, rougher “mud wagons” were also in general use. The Wells Fargo company contracted with independent lines to deliver its express packages and transport gold bullion and coins. Stagecoach travel was usually uncomfortable as passengers shared limited space. Drivers were famous for their skill in driving six horses down winding roads at top speed, rarely overturning. Competition reduced fares to as little a two cents per mile on some routes. Bandits found robbing coaches a profitable if risky venture. U.S. government mail subsidies provided essential base income, but running a stage line was a financially unstable business enterprise.
California and the railroads
Prior to the railroad, travel between California and the East Coast usually involved a hazardous, six-month-long sea voyage or overland journey from the East. Most 49ers joined groups that walked overland across the plains, deserts and mountains; 17,000 to 25,000 took the southern route from Texas through Arizona, and 25,000 to 30,000 walked the better-known northern route from Kansas.When the Central Pacific (built east from San Francisco using Chinese laborers) reached Utah in 1869, it linked with the Union Pacific Railroad, built west from Omaha using Irish labor. The transcontinental route meant it was no longer necessary to travel for six or more months by ship or on foot to reach the golden state; travel from Chicago to San Francisco took less than six days. The plunge in the cost and time of travel ended the state's isolation, and brought in cheap manufactured goods, along with more migrants. The establishment of America's transcontinental rail lines in 1869 securely linked California to the rest of the country, and the far-reaching transportation systems that grew out of them during the century that followed contributed to the state’s social, political and economic development. In recent years, passenger railroad building has picked up steam, with the introduction of services such as Metrolink
Metrolink (Southern California)
Metrolink is a commuter rail system serving Los Angeles and the surrounding area of Southern California; it currently consists of six lines and 55 stations using of track....
, Caltrain
Caltrain
Caltrain is a California commuter rail line on the San Francisco Peninsula and in the Santa Clara Valley in the United States. The northern terminus of the rail line is in San Francisco, at 4th and King streets; its southern terminus is in Gilroy...
, Amtrak California
Amtrak California
Amtrak California is a brand name used by the Caltrans Division of Rail for all state-supported Amtrak rail routes within the U.S. State of California...
, and others. This is expected to continue, thanks to the passing of various rail-construction measures on November 4, 2008, including Proposition 1a
California Proposition 1A (2008)
Proposition 1A is a law that was approved by California voters in the November, 2008 state elections. It was a ballot proposition and bond measure, that allocated funds for the California High-Speed Rail Authority...
.
See also
- California DreamCalifornia DreamCalifornia Dream is the psychological motivation to gain fast wealth or fame in a new land. As a result of the California Gold Rush after 1849, California's name became indelibly connected with the Gold Rush, and fast success in a new world became known as the "California Dream." California was...
- Outline of California history
- Territorial evolution of California
History of locations in California
- History of Chico, CaliforniaHistory of Chico, CaliforniaThe history of Chico, California, begins with the original inhabitants, the Mechoopda Maidu.The city of Chico was founded in 1860 by General John Bidwell, a member of one of the first wagon trains to reach California in 1841. The city became incorporated January 8, 1872.Historian W.H. "Old Hutch"...
- History of Los Angeles, CaliforniaHistory of Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles changed rapidly after 1848, when California was transferred to the United States as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican-American War...
- History of Piedmont, CaliforniaHistory of Piedmont, CaliforniaThe history of Piedmont, California, covers the history of the area in California's San Francisco Bay Area that is now known as Piedmont, up to and beyond the legal establishment of a city.-Pre-hotel:...
- History of Riverside, CaliforniaHistory of Riverside, CaliforniaRiverside, California, was founded in 1870, and named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It became the county seat when Riverside County, California, was established in 1893.- Precolonial period :...
- History of Sacramento, CaliforniaHistory of Sacramento, CaliforniaThe history of Sacramento, California, began with its founding by Samuel Brannan and John Augustus Sutter, Jr. in 1848 around an embarcadero that his father, John Sutter, Senior constructed at the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers a few years prior.Before the arrival of Europeans,...
- History of San Bernardino, CaliforniaHistory of San Bernardino, CaliforniaSan Bernardino, California, was named in 1810. This article relates to the present-day city of San Bernardino and its surrounding areas.- Earliest inhabitants :...
- History of San Diego, CaliforniaHistory of San Diego, CaliforniaThe recorded history of the San Diego, California, region goes back to the Spanish penetration of California in the 16th century.-Pre-colonial and colonial period:left|thumb|240px|Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego...
- History of San Francisco, CaliforniaHistory of San Francisco, CaliforniaThe history of the city of San Francisco, California, and its development as a center of maritime trade, have been greatly influenced by its location at the entrance to one of the world's best natural harbors...
- History of San Jose, CaliforniaHistory of San Jose, California-Site chosen by De Anza:For thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers, the area now known as San Jose was inhabited by several groups of Ohlone Native Americans...
- History of Santa Barbara, CaliforniaHistory of Santa Barbara, CaliforniaThe history of Santa Barbara, California, begins approximately 13,000 years ago with the arrival of the first Native Americans. The Spanish came in the 18th century to occupy and Christianize the area, which became part of Mexico following the Mexican War of Independence...
- History of Santa Monica, CaliforniaHistory of Santa Monica, CaliforniaThe history of Santa Monica, California, covers the significant events and movements in Santa Monica's past.-Population by decade:* 1880 - 417* 1890 - 1,580* 1900 - 3,057* 1910 - 7,847* 1920 - 15,252* 1930 - 37,146* 1940 - 53,500* 1950 - 71,595...
- History of the San Fernando Valley to 1915History of the San Fernando Valley to 1915The history of the San Fernando Valley from its exploration by the 1769 Portola expedition to the annexation of much of it by the City of Los Angeles in 1915 is a story of booms and busts, as cattle ranching, sheep ranching, large-scale wheat farming, and fruit orchards flourished and faded...
External links
- An Act for the Admission of the State of California into the Union, 31st Cong., Sess. I, Ch. 50, September 9, 1850
- California State Guide, from the Library of Congress
Further reading
- Aron, Stephen. "Convergence, California and the Newest Western History," California History Volume: 86#4 September 2009. pp 4+ historiography.
- Bakken, Gordon Morris. California History: A Topical Approach (2003), college textbook
- Hubert Howe Bancroft. The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, vol 18-24, History of California to 1890; complete text online; famous, highly detailed narrative written in 1880s
- Brands, H.W. The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream (2003) excerpt and text search
- Burns, John F. and Richard J. Orsi, eds; Taming the Elephant: Politics, Government, and Law in Pioneer California (2003) online edition
- Cherny, Robert W., Richard Griswold del Castillo, and Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo. Competing Visions: A History Of California (2005), college textbook
- Cleland, Robert Glass. A History of California: The American Period (1922) 512pp online edition
- Deverell, William. Railroad Crossing: Californians and the Railroad, 1850-1910. (1994). 278 pp.
- Deverell, William, and David Igler, eds. A Companion to California History (2008), long essays by scholars excerpt and text search
- Ellison, William. A Self-governing Dominion: California, 1849-1860 (1950) full text online free
- Hayes, Derek. Historical Atlas of California: With Original Maps, (2007), 256pp
- Hittell, Theodore Henry. History of California (4 vol 1898) old. detailed narrative; online edition
- Hurtado, Albert L. John Sutter: A Life on the North American Frontier. U. of Oklahoma Press, 2006. 412 pp. excerpt and online search
- Isenberg, Andrew C. Mining California: An Ecological History. (2005). 242 pp.
- Jackson, Robert H. Missions and the Frontiers of Spanish America: A Comparative Study of the Impact of Environmental, Economic, Political, and Socio-Cultural Variations on the Missions in the Rio de la Plata Region and on the Northern Frontier of New Spain. Scottsdale, Ariz.: Pentacle, 2005. 592 pp.
- Jelinek, Lawrence. Harvest Empire: A History of California Agriculture (1982)
- Lavender, David. California: A History. (Some libraries catalog it as California: A Bicentennial History.) States and the Nation series. New York: Norton, 1976. Short and popular
- Lightfoot, Kent G. Indians, Missionaries, and Merchants: The Legacy of Colonial Encounters on the California Frontiers. U. of California Press, 1980. 355 pp. excerpt and online search
- Merchant, Carolyn ed. Green Versus Gold: Sources In California's Environmental History (1998) readings in primary and secondary sources excerpt and text search
- Pitt, Leonard. The Decline of the Californios: A Social History of the Spanish-Speaking Californians, 1846-1890 (2nd ed. 1999)
- Rawls, James J. ed. New Directions In California History: A Book of Readings (1988)
- Rawls, James and Walton Bean. California: An Interpretive History (8th ed 2003), college textbook; the latest version of Bean's solid 1968 text
- Rice, Richard B., William A. Bullough, and Richard J. Orsi. Elusive Eden: A New History of California 3rd ed (2001), college textbook
- Rolle, Andrew F. California: A History 6th ed. (2003), college textbook
- Sackman, Douglas Cazaux. Orange Empire: California and the Fruits of Eden. (2005). 386 pp.
- Starr, Kevin. California: A History (2005), a synthesis in 370 pp.
- Starr, Kevin. Americans and the California Dream, 1850-1915 (1973)]
- Starr, Kevin and Richard J. Orsi eds. Rooted in Barbarous Soil: People, Culture, and Community in Gold Rush California (2001)
- Street, Richard Steven. Beasts of the Field: A Narrative History of California Farmworkers, 1769-1913. (2004_. 904 pp.
- Sucheng, Chan, and Spencer C. Olin, eds. Major Problems in California History (1996), readings in primary and secondary sources