California: A History

Jeffrey Phongsamran

4. Striking it Rich• Feb 2, 1848, all Mexican territories north of the Rio Grande were

ceded to the United States.• From the conquest of 1846 to the signing of the treaty, the U.S.

administered California under international law as occupied enemy territory in time of war.

• California was experiencing difficulties in establishment of a civil society, as the population grew the military governors found themselves increasingly reluctant to administer civilians.

4. Striking it Rich: Important Persons

• Charles Webber established the city of Tuleburg, later renamed Stockton in honor of the conqueror of California.

• William Leidesdorff built a warehouse and city hotel, the first such hostelry in San Francisco.

• John Augustus Sutter created Sutter’s Fort, inland of the Sacramento River. City is eventually named Sacramento

• James Wilson Marshal was commissioned to build a sawmill at Sutters Fort and eventually found gold that lead to the gold rush.

William Leidesdorff

John Augustus Sutter

4. Striking it Rich: The Gold Rush

• On January 24, 1848, Marshall noticed some sparkling pebbles in the gravel bed. It was gold.

• Employee’s of Sutter began to abandon their jobs to look for gold fulltime.

• Within two years, the gold rush fast forwarded California into what historians describe as “a rapid, monstrous maturity.”

9. War and Peace• Seized as an act of war and

governed by the military, California remained closely connected to the military.

• It contained an important Navy repair facility and minted the army’s pacific headquarters.

• As the United States became a global military power (especially at sea), the military importance of California increased.

9. War and Peace: World War I• In 1914 the Navy established the

Pacific Fleet as its navy presence grew in San Diego.

• During the First World War California contributed a fair share of troops.

• Professor George Ellery Hale helped organize the national scientific establishment on behalf of the war effort.

• San Diego became a kind of Gibraltar on the Pacific. It had a Marine Corps training depot coupled with a strong navy.

9. War and Peace: World War II• Californian’s supported the “America

First” movement and wanted to keep the U.S. out of the war.

• The War Department had increased its presence in California, the Army Air Corps established a number of pilot and mechanic training.

• The attack on Pearl Harbor threw California into a panic. The “California-Japanese War” took place and a law passed that prohibited Japanese Immigrants from owning land and eventually many Japanese were being arrested on suspicion of being a spy.

10. O Brave New World!• Through engineering and technology, California

invented itself as an American place.• They had taken a lead in the development of

radio and television. • California emerged as a society

friendly to the search for utopia through science and technology, to discover the truth and make the world a better and more interesting place.

10. O Brave New World: Technology

• The University of California opened in 1869 and was interested in mining, geology, agriculture, and mechanical engineering.

• The greatest mechanical invention during this period was the Pelton Turbine. An improvement to the waterwheel, technology that hasn’t changed for thousands of years.

Pelton Turbine

• Brothers John and James Montgomery flew the first recorded heavier-than-air flight in human history in California.

10. O Brave New World: Aviation• Over the 19th century, aviation

would shape California and California would shape aviation.

• Air travel would merge in with the California Identity.

• The Wright brothers flew their powered craft on 1903 in North Carolina, but California would be the place to capitalize on it.

• Lockheed brothers designed a passenger-carrying sea plane, first flown in 1911.

• Claude Ryan would make he Spirit of St. Louis, the first plane flown across the Atlantic.