Early California - the Quest Begins

Even before Texas became a part of the United States, Americans were moving westward toward the Pacific to the rich, empty regions of Oregon Territory and California.  They believed it was their destiny to claim and settle this land.  Trappers and traders came first, followed by missionaries, as we have seen, finally farmers and their families by the thousands, traveling the continent by packhorses and wagon trains came west.  By mid-1800s the conquest was complete.  But we are a bit ahead of ourselves...

Before the white man came in great numbers, California was home to more the 100,000 Native Americans.  These Indians had broad, tanned and heavy faces, and spoke a great number of dialects. Basically peace-loving, they lived in semi-permanent villages along the coast where they gathered and hunted, subsisting on plants, fish, some game and grubs.  The mild climate gave them little reason for many clothes, and they seldom went hungry.  They enjoyed elaborate ceremonies, and the Pomo Indians wove some of the finest baskets in all of America out of redbud bark, bulrushes, and strips of sledge.  These California tribes lived in dome-roofed dugouts (see Pomo dwelling photo).  Acorns were a staple for food as well as dye.  As was the case in all North America, original ownership belonged to them.

As wagon trains pushed to the West in the early 1840s, several countries had already contended for ownership of the territory...we've seen Texas and Mexico in the Rio Grande, but Britain and the United States were jointly occupying the Pacific Northwest, and more and more Americans wanted Mexican California.

By the 1840s about 200 Americans (not including the Native Americans) lived in California, many prominent residents.  Some had married into distinguished Mexican families and adopted both the Roman Catholic faith and Mexican citizenship.  Still, annexation of California was never far from their conversations...

Next time...Yankee Mischief
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This Day in Pioneer History:  On November 17,  1856, US establishes Fort Buchanan. Named for recently elected President James Buchanan, Fort Buchanan was located on the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona.