Californias History
California's history is unique. It has been shaped, in
part, by its geography. California has four main regions. The temperate coastal
region, the Central Valley, once an inland sea, the desert, and the mountain
region. The imposing Sierra Nevadas caused California to develop in relative
isolation from the rest of the nation. After Americans began to settle in
California in large numbers during the nineteenth century, it would usually be
weeks before news would arrive from the East.
Four flags have flown in earnest over California. Russia, Spain, Mexico, and
the United States.
The name 'California' came from a knightly romance book that was published in 1510. It was about an island paradise near the Indies where beautiful Queen Califia ruled over a country of beautiful black Amazons with lots of pearls and gold. Men were only allowed there one day a year to help perpetuate the race. Cortez's men thought they found the island in 1535, because they found pearls. Later, Francisco de Ulloa found that the island was really a peninsula.
The first settlers to arrive in California after the Native Americans were Spanish, and later Mexican. Russia had some small settlements for the purpose of whaling and fur trapping in Northern California, but Russia didn't attempt to colonize the area except in very isolated areas. Spanish priests were sent to California to covert the Indians to Christianity. Spain hoped to make the California native population into good Spaniards, loyal to Spain. Spain was becoming alarmed that the Russians and English were encroaching on lands claimed by Spain.
The fight for California began almost 500 years ago with Queen Elizabeth I. She sent Sir Francis Drake to harass and raid the Spanish galleons. England was beginning to realize the value of California. England did not want Spain claiming more land in the new world, upsetting the balance of power between the super powers of the time. Tensions were already high between Spain and England. Henry VIII, Elizabeth's father, had divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, a Spanish princess. In order to accomplish the divorce, England severed ties with Catholicism and Henry had instituted protestantism as the State religion. Henry and Jane Seymore's son had assumed the throne after Henry's death and continued Henry's policies. But when Edward the IV died at the age of 16, Mary I came to the throne. She was the daughter of Henry and his first wife, Catherine. Her ties to both Spain and Catholicism were strong. Elizabeth was suspected of plotting to overthrow Mary and was imprisoned in the Tower. After 'bloody Mary' died and Elizabeth I became monarch, the power struggle between catholics and protestants did not end. Eventually, Elizabeth had Mary, Queen of Scots, executed for treason. Mary was her greatest threat to the throne since Mary claimed it as her right by way of England's ties with the French throne. Even though Mary had abdicated her rights, she still remained a threat to Elizabeth since Spain and France could use Mary as a cause to move against England. With the death of Mary Queen of Scots, England had secured protestantism and Elizabeth's reign, but was short on allies. In order to build new European allies, England had to remain a power to be reckoned with. Spanish settlement along the west coast of North America could bolster Spanish power. This was the last thing England wanted.
200 years after the
superpowers of Spain and England first began to fight over California, Spain
decided to send priests in significant numbers in order to start missions.
Spain wanted the missions to serve as supply and trading posts for her galleons
in addition to the purpose of converting the Indians. Spain knew she needed
settlers to keep her tenuous hold on to these new lands. England had ceased to
become a real threat since the American Colonists had driven England from much
of the New World. England had left something just as dangerous in her stead;
English culture. Though the United States was a hodgepodge of different
nationalities, English culture was the overriding tie that bound these people
together.
Spain couldn't find enough Spaniards willing to leave Spain for the New World,
and her attempts to convert the Indians into Spaniards was failing. The
settlers in New Spain, which would soon become Mexico, were beginning to pose a
problem to the Spanish as well. Spain had made some of the same errors that the
English had made with the Colonies. Spain forbade New Spain from trading with
any other nation besides Spain, and Spanish settlers who were born in Spain
were considered to be a higher class than pure Spanish born in New Spain. Even
though New Spain had adopted the culture of Spain, the Spanish restrictions
would soon drive Spain from the New World just as the English had been driven
out.
The effect that the missions had on the native population was enormous. Many
traditions were abandoned or forbidden. As attempts to convert the natives were
unsuccessful, tensions between the Indians and the Spanish heightened.
Eventually, the missions were used as a means to control the Native American
population and the Indians were kept in virtual slavery at some of the missions
depending on the disposition of the head priest. There were Indian uprisings
and one of the missions was burned to the ground and all priests were killed.
Despite the negative effect that the missions eventually had on the Indians,
they did learn to excel at Western crafts. They were taught European painting
and music, among other things. Since the Indians were already excellent
craftspeople, they learned these new skills quickly. The mission period lasted
only about 60 years. The missions were left to decay and were eventually taken
over by the new state. The earthquake of 1812 destroyed many of the missions in
Southern California. The missions have since been reclaimed and rebuilt and
have become important historical sites.
The 1971 Sylmar quake destroyed the San Fernando Mission for the second time.
Even though the San Fernando Mission was destroyed by an earthquake twice, one
original building remains intact. This is unusual, because after the missions
were abandoned the roof tiles were taken. This left the adobe, which is only
mud and straw, open to the elements. The only reason that this building
remained intact was because it was used for other purposes after the mission
period ended. It has only recently been open to tourists because it had to be
reinforced to meet California earthquake standards. The inside of this building
contains many historical treasures including a painting from fourteenth century
Spain.
In addition to
starting the missions to gain settlers, the Spanish King, and later the Mexican
government, gave people land grants to start ranchos and encourage settlers.
Eventually, ranchos were given to Anglo settlers to encourage loyalty to Spain
and to discourage alliance with the United States. The Spanish policy of
purchasing loyalty remains to the present time as can be seen by the attempt of
Argentina to offer the Falkland citizens a large amount of money to ally
themselves with Argentina rather than England. The Anglo settlers tended to
accept the land but remain loyal to the United States.
Some of the ranchos lasted even beyond statehood. Descanso Gardens, in the city
of La Canada, was donated to the state by descendants of the original grant
holder. Even though Mexicans had positions of political power at the beginning
of California's statehood, most of the California Mexicans, or Californios,
lost their land soon after. Even so, the Californios played a large part in
early California politics.
By the mid
nineteenth century, California had come from obscurity to statehood because of
the Gold Rush which started in earnest in 1849. Even though California was now
part of the United States, coming to California was no small feat. If settlers
on wagon trains made it over the Rockies safely, they were often stopped by the
hostile Sierra Nevadas. Winter comes early and savagely and many settlers lost
their lives like the Donner party.
The most common method of travel for those that could afford the passage was by
ship. Settlers would leave the East Coast and have to travel South all the way
around the tip of South America. Since it is so close to the South Pole at that
point, ships would have to skirt ice bergs. The only short cut was through the
Straits of Magellan near the tip of the South American continent. This was
often perilous since the straights were rocky and often stormy. The only other
way to get to California was to get off the ship in Panama, cross the isthmus
by land, and pick up a ship on the West coast of Panama that was headed North.
Many travelers died of disease crossing the tropical isthmus.
Prior to the Gold
Rush, settlers very slowly filtered into California until 1848 when gold was
discovered at Sutter's Mill. Suddenly, people from all over the world looking
to strike it rich flooded through San Francisco. They travelled up the
Sacramento River to the gold fields. The Gold Rush was devastating to the
Native Americans in the area and depleted many natural resources. What is now
San Francisco was once a redwood forest. Whole native tribes were scattered or
destroyed. In some areas there were bounties on Indians. The California tribes
still have a rich culture and heritage, but the nineteenth century was a period
of great loss for all native tribes in the area.
It was this discovery of gold that hastened California's statehood. On
September 9, 1850, President Fillmore officially made California the
thirty-first state.
One thing that helped ease California's isolation was the telegraph. By 1861,
telegraph lines stretched across the country. Unfortunately, buffalo on the
plains often knocked down the poles, leaving California isolated again until
the line was fixed.
or see the Central Pacific Railroad History site.
People dreamed of a railroad, but no one dreamed it more than a man named
Theodore Judah. He and his assistant, Daniel Strong, vowed to find a way
through the Sierras. After exploring the Sierras, and almost losing their lives
to the rugged mountains, they eventually found a route that would work.
Judah needed funds to build the railroad. Eventually he found four wealthy men
willing to invest. These men were Leland Stanford (Stanford University is named
for his son), Collis Huntington, Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins. The money
that these investors made from the railroad was such a huge fortune, that they
became known as the Big Four. The Central Pacific Railroad was born. Judah
travelled to Washington to ask the Union government to help. His timing was
perfect. The Union wanted California to help in the Civil War. Congress helped
with Judah's railroad and they also helped a company build from the East toward
California. The other railroad was the Union Pacific.
Judah had a problem though. The Big Four wanted the railroad built quickly and
cheaply. Judah wanted it built well. In 1863 He decided to travel to the East
Coast to find new investors. Unfortunately, Judah never made it. He died of
yellow fever while crossing the isthmus of Panama, never seeing his dream
become a reality.
With Judah out of the pictures, the Big Four could build the railroad like they
wanted to, sometimes laying as much as ten miles of track a day. Many people
would not work in the dangerous conditions of the Sierras, so the Big Four needed
to find someone that would. They found the Chinese to be diligent workers, so
they hired all they could find, even sending to China for more immigrants. The
weather was so harsh that the Chinese had to dig into the ground at night to
keep from freezing to death. The Chinese were paid the same monetary wage as
white workers, but they were not fed like the white workers were. This actually
ended up being an unexpected benefit for the Chinese since their diet was much
healthier than the often rancid dietthe whites were eating.
The Big Four eventually became very unpopular men in California because of the
ruthless way they made their money. Time was of the essence since the United
States Government was giving land to the railroads based on how much track they
layed. The Chinese were not valued as equals, and had most of the more
dangerous jobs partly due to their experience with explosives. Often, Chinese
lives were not valued by foremen and explosives were deliberately blown before
the Chinese workers had time to clear away from the blast.
The two railroad companies met at Promontory Point in Utah in May of 1868. No
one thought to invite Theodore Judah's widow to the ceremony. A famous picture
was taken that day with workers and management from the Union and Central
Pacific. The Chinese, to whom the railroad owed everything for such a timely
completion, were excluded from the photo. California was now linked to the rest
of the nation.
California offered a lot to
the nation. The rich Central Valley eventually became known as the breadbasket
of the world. California's mild climate allowed for year-round farming and
fruits and vegetables could be grown in California that would grow in very few
other places. The Chinese eventually prospered, despite extreme prejudice and
jealousy over their success, by growing fruits and vegetables, which were an
important part of their diet. The Chinese eventually started their own town in
the Central Valley which remains to this day. The town has some descendants of these
original Chinese immigrants.
Eventually, the railroads carried California produce to the East. California's
exotic produce was in great demand in the East. Ice cars, the precursors to the
refrigerated cars of today, began in response to the demand for California
produce. Agriculture was responsible for generating great wealth in the state.
Agriculture is still a major industry today.
