THE HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA - in 13 Minutes

California. The state with a population and  economy so large that it could be compared to another country. From Spanish to Mexican to  independent to American. Home of the Gold Rush, Yosemite, and so much more. How did  the California of today come to be?... Historians don’t have an exact date, but  it’s assumed that Native American tribes began inhabiting the land of modern-day  California around 10,000 BC. These early settlers came from Asia, likely across the  Bering Straits, and would soon

diversify into more than 100 separate tribes totaling anywhere  from roughly 100,000 to 300,000 individuals. These tribes had their own cultures and ways  of life, and inhabited the state on their own for thousands of years - until European  explorers touched down on Californian soil… The first known European to reach the gorgeous  coasts of California was Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542. Cabrillo’s expedition had been launched  from modern-day Mexico, known then as the Viceroyalty of New Spain,

and ended up in San  Diego Bay. The expedition was rather fruitless, however, as Cabrillo failed to discover anything  that he viewed as worth the trouble for Spain to colonize. He left, and California remained  untouched by European hands. Occasional ships, such as those from the Spanish East Indies traders  would at times touch down on California’s coasts, but the idea of colonizing the territory still  remained unconsidered. Even when English explorer Francis Drake plundered his way into Ore

gon and  California, claiming the lands for his homeland, no real settlement of any sort was actually  set up. Less than 30 years later, in 1602, another Spanish sailor, this one  by name of Sebastian Vizcaino, set off for the coast of California in the  name of New Spain and hopeful expansion. He, too, found San Diego Bay as well as  Monterey Bay - yet again, no colony. It wasn’t until decades later that the Spanish  finally got around to actually setting up camp in what they were now calling A

lta California.  This region was to be a province of New Spain alongside Baja California below it.  Franciscan missionaries would become the first to set up real, permanent settlements  in the region. 1769 would see the first mission be established alongside California’s first  presidio located in today’s San Diego. More than another dozen missions would spring up in  succession across Alta California as more and more Franciscans aimed to convert the local  Indigenous population to Christianity.

The general effort to colonize the region, however,  was poorly funded and supported as the Spanish North American holdings were slowly pushing  the bounds of what the Empire could handle. And the Spanish relationship with the Natives  in Alta California was complicated to say the very least. While the missionaries hoped  to teach the Indigenous people their Spanish culture and beliefs, they also attempted to take  advantage of the Natives and utilize them for free labor while keeping them orga

nized on small  portions of the land that had once entirely belonged to the Indigenous. In response to this  sudden encroachment and missionary conquest, the Natives organized several revolts which  made the already unapproachable land even less appealing to new colonists. Alta California was  remote in contrast to other Spanish territories and the lack of adequate funding left small  numbers of friars and soldiers solely in charge of the settlement and missionary establishment.  Nevertheless, t

he Spaniards were tenacious, and the following year saw the accidental discovery  of San Francisco after the explorers failed to recognize Sebastian Vizcaino’s description  of Monterey Bay and thus sailed on past it. Further expeditions did uncover more of Northern  California as the missions continued to pop up, but life in Alta California failed to become  easier. Shortages of crucial goods including food, disease, and frequent violence with the Natives  led to many close calls of abandoning t

he new province. Still, the colonists remained and  were continuing to fill the maps with missions, presidios, and pueblos - many of which we  know as cities today like Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Monterey, and Santa Cruz. It  seemed that Spain had at least secured itself a functioning new province…until  the Mexican War of Independence… The 1821 war saw Mexico break free from  the Spanish and Alta California tag along with the neighboring lands. It was now a Mexican  territory, not Spanish, and

the mission culture began to shift in the direction of a ranching  culture. There was also an uptick in trade thanks to the new policies of the Mexican government, and  immigrants from the neighboring American colonies along with European migrants began filling in the  gaps of California’s population left behind by the declining number of Indigenous. The consequence of  the latter fact, however, was the slow collapse of the missions which relied on their population of  converted Natives to stay

afloat. What remained of the missions was soon secularized by the Mexican  government in the 1830s and the original Alta California settlers were having to share land  with a growing number of American migrants who would soon outnumber their predecessors to the  region. The following decade thus saw these new American-Californians stage an uprising against  the unstable and preoccupied Mexican government. The summer of 1846 would mark this so-called  Bear Flag Revolt. The revolutionaries raised

the now-famous flag of their newly declared California  Republic as they demanded ultimate independence. While the revolt broke out on June 14 and found  speedy success, by mid-July, the “Bear Flaggers” were informed that the United States - who had  declared war on Mexico two months earlier, much to their surprise, had already captured Monterey and  declared it American territory. The rebels now had two options - take up arms against another nation  to maintain their newly founded independence

, or, accept American authority without a fight.  Since the early goal of the Bear Flaggers had actually been to make California an American  possession, the decision was quite an easy one. With the Treaty of Guadalupe  Hidalgo on February 2, 1848, the Mexican-American War came to  an end and California was made an official possession of the United States. Two  years later, California would become the 31st state of the United States of America. But  before that, James W. Marshall found gold… The

famous California Gold Rush began at Sutter’s  Mill nestled on the American River in Coloma, California when Marshall discovered gold on  January 24, 1848, while at his sawmill. The immediate reaction to the news brought in migrants  from nearby and outside of America’s borders, particularly Mexico, China, and  Chile, but after the endorsement of the announcement by President James  Polk, the era of the “forty-niners” began. Prospectors from all around the U.S.,  Australia, Europe, and even Asi

a were flooding the state throughout 1849 and  caused the population to triple. Businesses and mines were springing up around Northern  California as gold became everyone’s focus. It’s believed that between 1850 and 1859  alone, somewhere around 28,280,711 ounces of gold were discovered. With an additional  300,000 people now calling California home, the Gold Rush came to an end and the state  somehow managed to skate by as the American Civil War played out, spilling brotherly blood  all across

the southern and eastern states. California’s agriculture now had a unique chance  to develop, as did its rail systems, economy, and general development. The once sparse and  unattractive land that the Spaniards had found and passed up time after time was becoming a  rising star within the United States. All the while, however, life for Native Californians was  worsening. Those who had managed to survive abuse, disease, and seclusion were now secured onto  reservations by the government and thei

r population numbers were on a constant downhill  tumble. Still, life in California went on… The state’s modern history is no less busy than  the rest, and the 20th century saw California in a constant state of adaptation. After much  growth and progress, San Francisco felt the first tragedy in California’s recent past when  a fatally colossal earthquake hit on April 18, 1906. The effects were utterly catastrophic,  leaving 28,000 buildings damaged beyond repair, 250,000 people without homes, an

d a now estimated  3,000 dead. Though San Francisco would recover, the loss of life and property  continues today to serve as a reminder of what the earth under  California’s soil can accomplish… When the Great Depression hit the United States,  however, fear of another earthquake was too small an angst when compared to the comforts and  opportunities California provided to those fleeing the “Dust Bowl” states of the Midwest. Even after  World War Two, many surviving soldiers saw the state as an

ideal home. California’s economy thus  benefited even further and prosperity returned to the short-lived republic. By the middle  of the 1960s, California’s population had already earned itself the title of the nation’s  largest - a fact that still rings true today. Other significant events in the state’s modern  history included multiple hefty earthquakes, social justice movements that  spread to the rest of the nation, a 1969 Native American occupation of  Alcatraz Island, and so much more. T

oday, California sits as one of America’s  most important states on multiple levels. Its geography, economy, culture, and history are  vast and varied. What we remember of the state’s past is often focused primarily on its role  in the Wild West as the home of the Gold Rush, in addition to the more modern designation as the  home of cinema and fame. But California’s time as a home to the Indigenous, a Spanish colony,  a Mexican province, an independent republic, and at long last as a U.S. state

are all equally  distinguished and necessary periods of the land’s past. Its California’s bustling history that  made it the extraordinary place that it is today…