U n d e r s t a n d i n g C a l i f o r n i a

1 U n d e r s ta n d i n gC a l i f o r n i aAn Introduction to California s Historyfor Young HistoriansThe California Historical Society1853 Map of California1o learn who we are in Californiaand how we live, we need to ask:How did we get here? How mightwe better understand California?Historians are like detectives. By studying evidence,historians try to understand some of the most importantevents, people, and ideas that have shaped our evidence can be anything that providesinformation about a person or time in the past. Evidencecan be found in photographs, newspaper articles, diaries,art, and anything that gives clues about the a detective! As you read through this booklet, look for thehistorical evidence that helps you to understand California s 155,959 square miles arefertile valleys, high mountains, freshwater lake s,and wind-swept deserts.

2 Prior to the arrival ofSpanish settlers, the land and its diverse andabundant plant and animal life supported more than300,000 Native Americans. California hadthe largest and most diverse i n d i g e n o u spopulation in what is today the UnitedS t a t e sof one knows the exact origins of the scientists and historians believethat they came from an ancient people who traveledfrom Asia into North America over 15,000 to 20,000years ago. Many of the creation stories told byi n d i g e n o u s :a l r e a d yexisting orn a t i v eWho werethe first Californians?E n v i ro n m e n tal History in Califo r n i a :The First Fa r m e r sEnvironmental historians study the environment. They want toknow how people use their environment and how the useschange over time.

3 New studies are revealing how NativeAmericans used the land for many centuries. They not onlygathered what was available, but discovered ways of producingmore of what they needed with early farming s native peoples say that since theircreation they have lived in California. WhenEuropeans arrived, California s native peopless p o ke more than 100 different languages andlived in more than 500 areas around the state. Most of these groups survived by huntingand gathering. Re c e n t l y, e n v i r o n m e n t a lh i s t o r i a n slearned that native peoples alsocarefully burned, weeded, and planted seeds tohave successful harvests of their favorite foods. On the San Francisco BayUtensils and We a p o n sNo one knows for certain which Europeanexpedition was the first to see California.

4 Agroup of Spanish explorers may have first traveledby land from Mexico into southernCalifornia. However, there isnot enough historicalevidence to prove , the credit for thef i r s tEuropean dis-c o v e r y of Californiagoes to Captain JuanRodr guez Cabrilloof Spain. Cabrillo and hismen sailed upfrom M exico intothe San Diego har-bor in 1542. Theywere searching forthe Strait of Ani n, awater passage that w a ssupposed to be a short-cut to Asia. Traders wantedthevaluable silk and spices from Asia but needed aq u i c ker way to get there. Explorers believed thestrait was the shortcut they needed. But, it did notexist and Cabrillo left California disappointed. Heeventually died on the journey, and his ships andmen returned to Mexico unaware that Californiaheld riches of its Francis Drake, from England, made the nex tknown landing in California.

5 In 1579 he made ane m e rgency stop to repair his leaking ship andprobably landed at what is now called Drake s Bay,located north of San Francisco. Historianscontinue to disagree about the location of the would be another 227 years before any Europeanssettled in Francis Drake3W h ow e r et h efirst Europeansto come to California?Juan Rodr guez CabrilloWhen did Europeanss e t tle in California?The Spanish established the first European settle-ments in California. In 1769 Father Jun pero Serrabegan the Sacred Expedition, a trip by land and bysea from New Spain (Mexico). He brought with himSpanish missionaries, Mexican-Indian farm worke r s ,and cooks, carpenters, and soldiers of mixe dEuropean, Indian and African descent. Under greatdifficulties they built California s first mission in SanDiego.

6 The mission was not just a church but also atown. Hundreds of Native Americans lived at themission and were taught the Spanish way of life andthe Catholic religion. Mission life was hard on the NativeAmericans. Many were brought to themissions against their will. Many died ofdiseases caught from the Europeans. Thoughsome Native Americans settled into missionlife, others ran away. Some even led deadlyr e v o l t sin attempts to force the Europeans to vo l t :a fight orprotest againsts o m et h i n gMap of missions in upper and lower CaliforniaMaking baskets and ropeMission San DiegoIn 1822 Mexico won independence from was now under Mexican rule and themissions were closed. The new Mexican governmentwanted to give some of the mission landsto the Native Americans who lived andw o r ked there.

7 Instead, SpanishCalifornian ranchers, called c a l i f o r n i o s,turned the lands into huge cattleranches selling hides and t a l l o w. TheNative Americans living at the mis-sions became servants and laborers forthe Californio families. They c o o ked andcleaned the large homes of the Californiosand managed the farms and herds of settlers from the eastern United Stateshad been trickling into Mexican California for farmed land, traded goods, and started smallbusinesses. Then, in 1846 the United States declaredwar on Mexico. The Americans won the war and in1848 an agreement was signed making California partof the United quiet town of San Francisco had only a fewhundred settlers in 1835. In 1848, John Marshallfound a nugget of gold at John Sutter s Mill in theAmerican River near the Sierra Nevada changed everything!

8 By 1850 thousands offortune seekers had arrived in California from allover the world. San Fr a n c i s c obecame the tenthl a rgest city in the entire United States by the early1 8 7 0 s .This population boom brought many new faces andcultures to the West. People came from all over theworld, including Mexico, Chile, France, and China,to name a few. But they increased pressure on the:ta l l o w :a hard fat obtainedfrom body parts ofcattle, sheep, orhorses, used in foodor to make candlesand did the Gold Rushchange California?Rancheros lassoing cattleSan Francisco in 1849 Native Californians and M exican citizens already inC a l i f o r n i a .Along the foothills of the Sierra NevadaMountains, gold miners clashed with native commu-nities. Immigrants were settling on lands that NativeAmericans used for food and cultural purposes.

9 T h eland was often damaged by mining, hunting, orbuilding boom towns. Loss of their land, diseases,and racial attacks meant a high death toll f o rCalifornia s native peoples. California s nativepopulation fell from 150,000 in 1845 to less than30,000 by 1870. The diversity of California s people during thistime resulted in other racial conflicts as miners who came to California did notwant to share gold or land with Mexican andChinese miners. In 1849, the California legislaturepassed discriminatory mining and land laws. Tw o Foreign Miners License Tax laws were also passedthat further discriminated against non-white new laws forced Mexican and Chinesem i n e r sto pay heavy taxes to mine for gold. 6 Ethnic History in Califo r n i a :Ishi and the Ya h iThe study of ethnic history is the study of racial or culturalgroups.

10 This includes regional communities, Native Americans,and immigrants. The Yahi were Native Americans. They resistedAmerican settlement near Mount Lassen where they lived. Golds e e kers thought they had murdered the entire Yahi population,but in 1911 the last Yahi man appeared in a town called called him "Ishi," the Yahi word for man. Fr o mhim they learned about the lost traditions and culture of theYahi for goldSaloonNewspaper announcement about California in 1849 Most fortunes made during the Gold Rush were notfrom mining. Merchants, shopkeepers, laundresses,cooks, and hotel and saloon owners got rich by serv-ing the needs of the growing California men, Collis P. Huntington, Leland Stanford,Charles Crocke r, and Mark Hopkins who later foundedthe Central Pacific and Southern Pacific Railways,became known as the railroad kings.