Alta California Totally Explained

Everything about Alta California totally explained

Alta California (Upper California) was formed in 1804 when the province of California, then a part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of New Spain, was divided in two along the line separating the Franciscan missions in the north from the Dominican missions in the south. The southern part became the territory of Baja California (Lower California). The two territories were also alternatively called Nueva California (New California; Upper California) and Vieja California (Old California; Lower California).
   Alta California - covering land that forms the modern US states of California, Nevada, Utah, northern Arizona, western Colorado, and southwestern Wyoming - gained independence from Spain in 1821 upon conclusion of the Mexican War of Independence. After the war, the region was included in the short-lived First Mexican Empire (deemed illegal by Spain in 1822) but wasn't recognized as one of the newly independent United Mexican States (the 1824 Constitution refers to Alta California as one of "the territories"). Mexico lost control of the territory as a result of the Mexican-American War.
   The last Mexican Governor of California was Pío Pico, who served until 1846. The capital of Alta California was Monterey.
   In the second half of the nineteenth century, there was a San Francisco-based newspaper called The Daily Alta California (or The Alta Californian). Mark Twain's first widely successful book, The Innocents Abroad, was an edited collection of letters written for this publication.

Lands under Spanish rule

Under Spanish rule, all lands in California were claimed by the king of Spain, who granted them to the Roman Catholic Church and to individuals. Specifically, the Spanish constructed and funded the missions for the Franciscans of the Catholic Church to gather and convert the Native American people, presidios to house Spanish soldiers who would enforce the peace, and Spanish settlement lands. The presidios and missions were the first lands chosen and developed.
   By law, the mission land and property was to pass to the resident Native Americans of California after a period of about ten years, when the natives would become Spanish citizens. In the interim period, the Franciscans were to act as mission administrators who held the land in trust for the Natives. The Franciscans, however, prolonged this power arrangement and ran the missions for more than 60 years.
   Once the Spanish began to send settlers to Northern California, a gray area began to grow over the future (and boundaries) of the mission properties. Property disputes arose over the mission (and adjacent) lands, between the Spanish Crown and the Catholic Church, and also between the Natives and the Spanish settlers: There were heated debates between the Spanish State and ecclesiastical bureaucracies over the government authority of the missions. Setting an interesting precedent, the Franciscan priests of Santa Clara sent a petition to the Governor in 1782, claiming the "missions Indians" owned both land and cattle, and represented the Natives in a petition against the Spanish settlers of the San Jose pueblo. The fathers mentioned the "Indians' crops" were being damaged by the San Jose settlers' livestock, and also mentioned settlers "getting mixed up with the livestock belonging to the Indians from the mission." They also stated the Mission Indians had property and rights to defend it.
   Under Spanish rule, Southern California and the Ranchos prospered and grew with the Missions. Californio cattle ranchers and the local people evolved into a different society from the northern American settlers of the fur trapper/mining economy that developed in the Sacramento River valley. This dichotomy of evolution was reflected during the Mexican-American War where the American immigrants of the north coveted the property, lands and riches of the more prosperous Southern California Californios and their vast Ranchos. (Reference Historical California Adobes and Rancho San Pascual).

Mexican-American War

Upon the declaration of war by the US Congress - partly in response to events in Texas after its annexation by the United States, and partly in response to calls from Northern California's American residents who were striving for independence from Mexico - US Army and US Navy forces entered into the territory and overpowered the remaining Mexican military units.
In Southern California, the Californios formed a defensive army and were victorious after the Siege of Los Angeles, the Battle of San Pascual, and the Battle of Dominguez Rancho; but the subsequent encounters at the Battle of Rio San Gabriel and the Battle of La Mesa were indecisive. They formally surrendered with the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga on 13 January 1847. California was ceded to the United States in 1848 by the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Flags over California

	Spanish Empire, first by Juan Cabrillo in 1542, founding San Diego, north to the Russian River. Validated and mapped in 1602, by sea voyage of the San Agustin under Sebastián Vizcaíno.
	St. George Cross of England, June 1579, voyage of the Golden Hind under Captain Francis Drake at Bodega Bay (exact location disputed)
	October 1775, the Sonora at Bodega Bay, under Lt. Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra until 1821, when New Spain gained independence from the Spanish Empire.
	Russian-American Company, by Ivan Alexandrovich Kuskov, the founder of Fort Ross and, from 1812 to 1821, its colonial administrator. Note: There is an overlap of rule with the Mexican Empire (next item), until the Russians sold Fort Ross in 1841 to John Sutter, and subsequently left the area in 1842
	Argentina, by Hippolyte de Bouchard, a French corsair who occupied Monterey from November 24 to November 29, 1818, raising the Argentine flag there and claiming Alta California for that country
	Mexican Empire, 24 August 1821, Mexico under Emperor Agustin Iturbide (October 1822, probable time new flag raised in California) until 1823
	Mexican Republic, 1823, until January 13 1847 at Los Angeles
	Bear Flag of the California Republic, June 14, 1846, at Sonoma until 9 July 1846
	United States of America, 9 July 1846; see History of California.

Ranchos of California

The Spanish (and later the Mexicans) encouraged settlement with large land grants which were turned into ranchos, where cattle and sheep were raised. Cow hides (at roughly $1 each) and fat (known as tallow, used to make candles as well as soaps) were the primary exports of California until the mid-19th century. The owners of these ranchos styled themselves after the landed gentry in Spain. Their workers included some Native Americans who had learned to speak Spanish and ride horses.

Alta California in popular culture

The fictional character Zorro provided many with an entertaining melodramatic view of life in Alta California.

The Carl Barks comic book Donald Duck in Old California! provided a glimpse into the lives of the Californios. Further Information

Get more info on 'Alta California'.

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