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California History
Prior to the arrival of Europeans, California
was inhabited by many distinct
groups of Native Americans.
The Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo reached
San Diego Bay in 1542,
and claimed the area for
Spain. From 1565, Spanish traders are known to have
made visits to the area, and the English explorer, Sir Francis Drake visited the region in 1579.
Spain began to colonize the territory beginning in 1769, with the establishment
of fortresses (presidios) and missions.
When
Mexico became independent from Spain as a result of
the Mexican War of Independence (1810 to 1821), the territory became part
of Mexico.
Following a brief revolt by US settlers (the Bear Revolt - from which California
gets its
flag) in 1846, California first became
an independent republic, and then soon after was annexed by the United States.
In 1849, gold was discovered in the region, a huge number of immigrants
arrived. California was admitted as the 31st state of the Union on
September 9th,
1850. Following the establishment of transcontinental railroads and highways,
migration to California continued and accelerated,
a pattern that has to the present day, making the state into the most populous in the Union.
California played a relatively minor role
in the American Civil War (1861 to 1865). While it is true that the state was home
to some Confederate sympathizers, they were not allowed to organize and their newspapers
were closed, and hence the state remained peaceful. The main involvement of California
during the war, was that California Column, a force of 2,000 Union volunteers who marched
across
New Mexico and
Arizona (at that time both part of the New Mexico Territory)
into western Texas, engaged in some skirmishes with the Confederates,
and spent most of the war fighting Apaches.
In the 20th century, California continued to grow both in
population and economic important. When oil was discovered in southern
California it was, for a time, the most important industry in the state.
California also became an important center of movie-making and
the entertainment industry more generally. During World War II, the state produced massive amounts of
armaments for the Allied war effort. In more recent years, California
became a key location in the new computer and high technology industries.
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By Kevin Starr
Starr, Kevin
Released: 2007-03-13
Paperback (416 pages)
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California has always been our Shangri-la–the promised land of countless pilgrims in search of the American Dream. Now the Golden State’s premier historian, Kevin Starr, distills the entire sweep of California’s history into one splendid volume. From the age of exploration to the age of Arnold, this is the story of a place at once quintessentially American and utterly unique.
Arguing that America’s most populous state has always been blessed with both spectacular natural beauty and astonishing human diversity, Starr unfolds a rapid-fire epic of discovery, innovation, catastrophe, and triumph.
For generations, California’s native peoples basked in the abundance of a climate and topography eminently suited to human habitation. By the time the Spanish arrived in the early sixteenth century, there were scores of autonomous tribes were thriving in the region. Though conquest was rapid, nearly two centuries passed before Spain exerted control over upper California through the chain of missions that stand to this day.
The discovery of gold in January 1848 changed everything. With population increasing exponentially as get-rich-quick dreamers converged from all over the world, California reinvented itself overnight. Starr deftly traces the successive waves of innovation and calamity that have broken over the state since then–the incredible wealth of the Big Four railroad tycoons and the devastating San Francisco earthquake of 1906; the emergence of Hollywood as the world’s entertainment capital and of Silicon Valley as the center of high-tech research and development; the heroic irrigation and transportation projects that have altered the face of the region; the role of labor, both organized and migrant, in key industries from agriculture to aerospace.
Kevin Starr has devoted his career to the history of his beloved state, but he has never lost his sense of wonder over California’s sheer abundance and peerless variety. This one-volume distillation of a lifetime’s work gathers together everything that is most important, most fascinating, and most revealing about our greatest state.
From the Hardcover edition. |
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By Katy S. Duffield
Chicago Review Press
Paperback (144 pages)
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The story of California is the story of dreamers—explorers, gold miners, immigrants, ranchers, moviemakers, farmers, and everyday Americans who headed west for a fresh start. The first native inhabitants arrived 9,000 years ago, ancestors of the tribes who would greet the Spanish in the 1700s. Father Junípero Serra later established a chain of missions along the coast, expanding European and Mexican influence. But when gold was discovered in 1848, the rush was on, and two short years later California became a state. After the gold ran out, other rushes followed, from agriculture to industry, Hollywood to Silicon Valley. California History for Kids includes a time line of significant events, a list of historic sites to visit or explore online, and Web resources for further study. And to get a better idea of the scope of California history and the lives of its citizens, readers can: * create a Chumash rock painting * play the Miwok Hoop-and-Pole game * bake and eat hardtack like a gold miner * design a cattle brand * decode a railroad cipher * immortalize their handprints in plaster * assemble an earthquake preparedness kit * and more Author Katy Duffield tells the rich story of the men and women who, despite challenges and occasional hardships, settled and built the vibrant cities and bountiful farms, ranches, and orchards of the Golden State. |
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By Franklin Tuthill
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Paperback (400 pages)
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This is a comprehensive 19th century history of California, from its early times up to the Gold Rush. From the preface: "The following book was written because there seemed to be a demand for a History of California which should sketch the main events of the country from its discovery to the present time. The pioneer, under whose observation the most exciting of these events have occurred, confesses the need of such a book. The thousands who have entered the State since it assumed its present peaceful aspect, complain of the lack of a succinct story of what had to be done here to make the land so pleasant a home. The material for a history of California is abundant. The log-books of ancient mariners who visited the coast—the voluminous, if not well-kept archives of the Government, while the territory was under Spanish or Mexican rule—the official reports and Congressional documents about the transfer to the United States—the files of newspapers since the land was Americanized—the scores of books of intelligent travellers, who have put their impressions on record, and the oral evidence of natives, and early immigrants, who mingled in all the affairs most interesting to us—from these sources may be drawn ample details of life in California, from dates as far in the past as any but enthusiastic antiquarians care to retire to." |
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By Richard Rayner
W. W. Norton/Atlas & Company
Hardcover (224 pages)
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A true-life tale of ruthless ambition, staggering greed, and the making of a nation. One hundred forty years ago, four men rose from their position as middle-class merchants in Sacramento, California, to become the force behind the transcontinental railroad. In the course of doing so, they became wealthy beyond any measure––and to sustain their power, they lied, bribed, wheedled, and, when necessary, arranged for obstacles, both human and legal, to disappear. Their names were Collis Huntington, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins, and they were known as “The Big Four” or “The Associates.” Their drive for money––nothing more, nothing less––was epic. Their legacy is a university, public gardens, museums, mansions, banks, and libraries––and to a large degree California itself, a state that even today owes its aura of “can-do” and limitless possibilities to The Associates. |
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By Andrew Rolle
Wiley-Blackwell
Paperback (456 pages)
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The eighth edition of California: A History covers the entire scope of the history of the Golden State, from before first contact with Europeans through the present; an accessible and compelling narrative that comprises the stories of the many diverse peoples who have called, and currently do call, California home. - Explores the latest developments relating to California’s immigration, energy, environment, and transportation concerns
- Features concise chapters and a narrative approach along with numerous maps, photographs, and new graphic features to facilitate student comprehension
- Offers illuminating insights into the significant events and people that shaped the lengthy and complex history of a state that has become synonymous with the American dream
- Includes discussion of recent – and uniquely Californian – social trends connecting Hollywood, social media, and Silicon Valley – and most recently "Silicon Beach"
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By James Miller Guinn
Jazzybee Verlag
Paperback (450 pages)
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Few states of the United States have a more varied, a more interesting or a more instructive history than California, and few have done so little to preserve their history. In narrating the story of California, the author has endeavored to deal justly with the different eras and episodes of its history; to state facts; to tell the truth without favoritism or prejudice; to give credit where credit is due and censure where it is deserved. This accounts also for the prominence of Los Angeles in the second half of this volume. The consolidation of Los Angeles city and the cities of Wilmington, San Pedro and Hollywood has merged the history of these three into that of the Greater Los Angeles. The early history of these cities is given separately up to their consolidation. All over this book is a real treasure chest and every single of its more than 400 pages is a must-read for the people of California and Los Angeles County. |
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By Helen Elliott Bandini
Forgotten Books
Paperback (194 pages)
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California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, and Arizona to the southeast, as well as by Baja California in Mexico to the south. The most populous U.S. state, California's capital city is Sacramento, and its four largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco. California is known for its varied climate and geography, as well as for its ethnically diverse population. The state is divided into 58 counties.
Before becoming a part of the United States, Alta California was colonized by the Spanish Empire, beginning in 1769. Alta California became a part of the newly independent nation of Mexico in 1821, and remained so until 1846. That year, an independent California Republic was declared. The Republic's first and only president was William B. Ide, who played a pivotal role during the Bear Flag Revolt. His term lasted twenty-five days and concluded when California was occupied by U.S. forces during the Mexican-American War. Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, Mexico formally ceded California to the United States. California was admitted to the Union as the 31st state on September 9, 1850. (Quote from wikipedia.org)
About the Author
Helen Elliott Bandini was an American writer, primarily of Californian history.
Helen Elliott Bandini was born in Indianapolis and educated in public schools. She came to California in 1874 when her father was president of Indiana Colony, which founded Pasadena, California. She married Arturo Bandini who was the author of several books, including Navidad, a description of Christmas in Old California.
She was a writer for newspapers and magazines. (Quote from wikipe |
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By H.W. Brands
Anchor
Released: 2003-10-14
Paperback (592 pages)
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The California Gold Rush inspired a new American dream—the “dream of instant wealth, won by audacity and good luck.” The discovery of gold on the American River in 1848 triggered the most astonishing mass movement of peoples since the Crusades. It drew fortune-seekers from the ends of the earth, accelerated America’s imperial expansion, and exacerbated the tensions that exploded in the Civil War.
H.W. Brands tells his epic story from multiple perspectives: of adventurers John and Jessie Fremont, entrepreneur Leland Stanford, and the wry observer Samuel Clemens—side by side with prospectors, soldiers, and scoundrels. He imparts a visceral sense of the distances they traveled, the suffering they endured, and the fortunes they made and lost. Impressive in its scholarship and overflowing with life, The Age of Gold is history in the grand traditions of Stephen Ambrose and David McCullough. |
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By Jared Farmer
W. W. Norton & Company
Hardcover (592 pages)
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From roots to canopy, a lush, verdant history of the making of California.
California now has more trees than at any time since the late Pleistocene. This green landscape, however, is not the work of nature. It's the work of history.
In the years after the Gold Rush, American settlers remade the California landscape, harnessing nature to their vision of the good life. Horticulturists, boosters, and civic reformers began to "improve" the bare, brown countryside, planting millions of trees to create groves, wooded suburbs, and landscaped cities. They imported the blue-green eucalypts whose tangy fragrance was thought to cure malaria. They built the lucrative "Orange Empire" on the sweet juice and thick skin of the Washington navel, an industrial fruit. They lined their streets with graceful palms to announce that they were not in the Midwest anymore.
To the north the majestic coastal redwoods inspired awe and invited exploitation. A resource in the state, the durable heartwood of these timeless giants became infrastructure, transformed by the saw teeth of American enterprise. By 1900 timber firms owned the entire redwood forest; by 1950 they had clear-cut almost all of the old-growth trees.
In time California's new landscape proved to be no paradise: the eucalypts in the Berkeley hills exploded in fire; the orange groves near Riverside froze on cold nights; Los Angeles's palms harbored rats and dropped heavy fronds on the streets below. Disease, infestation, and development all spelled decline for these nonnative evergreens. In the north, however, a new forest of second-growth redwood took root, nurtured by protective laws and sustainable harvesting. Today there are more California redwoods than there were a century ago.
Rich in character and story, Trees in Paradise is a dazzling narrative that offers an insightful, new perspective on the history of the Golden State and the American West.
32 pages of illustrations. |
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By Alton Pryor
Brand: Stagecoach Pub
Paperback (204 pages)
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This book has 41 different chapters on California's gold rush and development history. Read about The Lost Spanish Galleon, Pegleg Smith's Lost Gold Mine, Joaquin Murrieta, and railroad titans. |
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