War in California, 1846-1848

Author(s): Lisbeth Haas

Source: California History, Vol. 76, No. 2/3, Contested Eden: California before the Gold Rush
(Summer - Fall, 1997), pp. 331-355
Published by: University of California Press in association with the California Historical Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25161671 .
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12

in California,

War

1846-1848

Lisbeth Haas

introduction
The most

recent and
in Califor
War
thorough account of the Mexican-American
in his book
nia has been written
in
by Neil Harlow
California Conquered, published
war
to
con
Harlow
carries
the
and
the
of
American
1982.
story
provides
background

was admitted
to the Union. Harlow's
book
through 1850, when California
war
the first complete
since
of
the
Hubert
Bancroft's
and
substan
story
large
tive history was published
in 1886.x Like Bancroft, Harlow
relies on awealth of pri
focuses his story around the American
lead
mary sources. Though Harlow
military
quest
offers

ers who

led the conquest of the territory, he also discusses the Californios'

role in the
to
takes
their
and
resistance
the
American
war,
occupation
seriously.
in general have yet to produce a literature that investigates
historians
Nevertheless,
in a sustained manner
to
the strategies Californio
leaders and citizens developed
thwart

the American
takeover and that examines their goals and objectives
in wag
a resistance that lasted for six months
a time
to
and
enabled
them
for
reoccupy
ing
war
most
are in
Los Angeles,
In
Santa Barbara, and San Diego.
accounts, Californios
are dismissed.
and commitment,
visible, or their involvement
ideas, and intentions
the exception of Harlow
and a few others, historians have poorly portrayed Cal
ifornios guerrilla-type
tactics of war that involved surprise attack and quick retreat, or
were too
that
have
Californios
divided to effectively
resist.2
they
argued
politically

With

Yet
Mervine

it took hundreds
to reestablish

of troops under Stockton, Fremont, Kearny,

and
Gillespie,
American
control of southern California
from late Septem

unex
ber 1846 to early January 1847. The story behind this has remained
relatively
in
because
few
have used Spanish
lan
historians,
part
plored
including Harlow,
sources
a
in
their
histories.
Californio
Moreover,
guage
writing
frequently quoted
source
were indifferent to the American
occu
that Californios
gives the impression
pation

and cession

of land. That

source

is amistranslation

that has Maria

331

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de lasAn

332

IN CALIFORNIA,

WAR

1846-1848

States troops cross the San Gabriel River on the afternoon of January 8,1847,

United

in a watercolor

by

Widiam

Meyers,

gunner

on

the U.S.S.

Dale.

The

com

Americans,

van
by Commodore Robert Stockton and General Stephen Kearny, quickly
on Los
the
for
final
the
Californios
and
then
advanced
engagement
Angeles
quished
of the war. Though the Dale was inMexican waters at the time of the battle, Meyers was
not on the scene, and as in his other depictions of military engagements
in California, he

manded

relied

on

eyewitness

accounts

in

composing

his watercolors.

Courtesy

Franklin

D.

Roosevelt

Library, Hyde Park, N.Y

did not bother the Califor

de la Guerra
saying "the conquest of California
statement should read "the
If
her
least
ad
the
of
women."
nians,
accurately translated,
not
at ad, and least of ad the wo
please the Californios
taking of the country did
men."3 Genaro Padilla is the only author to offer a detailed account of Californios'
gustias

on the war,

reflections
changing
amining

the daily
of American

perceptions
almost one hundred

resistance

society
narrative histories

women

and men,
and their
ex
structure. This he did
by
or written
spoken
by Californios

by
waged
and political

during the 1870s.

are
at the center of war accounts, native
If Californios
rarely
are
were
vast
who
stid
the
nia,
majority of the population,
entirely
to look
has
is simply noted without
studied.
One
presence
being
or comb accounts of Indian
to situate the war's
in
order
history,
Indians. We

know

that some joined

the American

battalions

peoples

in Califor

absent, unless their

at
primary sources,
effect on California

as scouts, a few worked

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IN CALIFORNIA,

WAR

for

and others worked

333

1846-1848

The majority
remained neutral, intent
against Californios.
two nations
in acquiring
interested
involved in a war between

upon not becoming

Indian land and labor.We

war
little of Indian peoples' experiences
during the
that
of ever larger numbers of settlers and soldiers meant
know

except that the presence

their conditions of life grew worse, their autonomy was sharply reduced, and their in
teractions with settler society became ever more heavily policed.4
as
or is contained
in the
Much
of what we do know has been written
biography
and testimonies
of the war's participants. The largest
diaries, letters, autobiographies,
accounts
number of historical
and biographies
document
the lives and actions of
accounts of their
also wrote vivid first-hand
participants, many of whom
on and
are far less extensive, but a
works
Published
Californios
experiences.5
by
few have begun to be published
and others are available in manuscript
form.6 These
recent historical works,
combined with primary accounts, make
it possible now to
amore
war as a
so
to
begin
develop
complete portrait of the
military, political, and
new state and the lives of itsMexican,
cial event that dynamically
the
Amer
shaped

American

ican, and Indian populations.

THE
War

WAR

AT

between

stemmed

A GLIMPSE

the United

from

States

the United

States'

and Mexico,
annexation

the

causes

immediate

of Texas,

was

declared

for which
on

13,
May
on June 30,1848. But pre
1846, and it ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo
as
as 1842. These
ludes to the war in California
the Cali
began
early
heightened
fornios' sense of caution against an American
immi
and American
government
grants who proved capable of, if not intent upon, defying the political sovereignty of
was announced
in California
their territory. When
the war with Mexico
by U.S.
on
naval officer Commodore
Drake
Sloat
forces had al
John
July 7,1846, Californio
area from a group of
to retake the Sonoma
ready been fighting
against Americans
settlers instigated by U.S. Army officer John C. Fremont, who had
illegally impris
oned Californio
seized governmental
and private property,
officials,
occupied
Sonoma and its surroundings,
in
and declared California
the "Bear Flag Republic,"
dependent

of Mexico.

After

Sloat's

announcement

of war,

these

as the California
States Army
Battalion
and
the
forces
Battalion
California
took Monterey

into the United

brought
The U.S. Navy
cisco, and the Californio
ital of Los Angeles.
to San
pueblo
Diego

The

forces moved
Americans

south

to

join with

others

settlers were

under Fremont.
and San Fran

to protect

the cap
and
every presidio
occupying
fell to the American
forces in

followed
them,
went. After Los
they
Angeles
themselves
under a new command. They
1846, Californios
mid-August
regrouped
retook the whole
of southern California
in
and engaged
by the end of September,
to maintain
battles and skirmishes
the south through early January 1847.
as

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334

WAR

IN CALIFORNIA,

1846-1848

Californio
forces were always outnumbered
and militarily
overpowered
by Amer
ican volunteers,
soldiers, sailors, and their superior weapons. The Pacific Squadron,
the land army under Fremont,
and the U.S. Army under Stephen Kearny, who ar
a formidable
rived in December
1846, presented
enemy that ultimately
prevailed.
on
Californios
the
of
13, 1847, m which
signed
Treaty
Cahuenga
January
they
to put down their arms and were, in turn,
the full exercise of their
pledged
promised
was
civil liberties and property
while
the
rights
territory
occupied
by the United
States. Seven American
in
from its occupation
military officers governed California
as
to
a
were
to
state
its
in
admission
instructed
and
ad
1850. They
respect
July 1846
here

toMexican

law when

it did not conflict with American

objectives. Land spec

into
hinted
the
immigration
territory during the occupation
occur
after the treaty of Guadalupe
changes that would
Hidalgo
New
and
Arizona,
Mexico,
parts of Nevada, Utah, and Colorado,

and continuous

ulation

at the momentous

ceded California,
area of Texas to the United
States. At the war's end Mexico's
national
enlarged
had
been
reduced
and
the
conditions
of
life
for
Californios
and Na
territory
by half,
es
tive Americans
the ceded territories were drastically transformed. Having
within

an

this chronology
of the war
of the preludes to war.

tablished
discussion

PRELUDE

TO WAR

AND

THE

and its aftermath,

BEAR

FLAG

let me

turn to amore

detailed

REPUBLIC

Thomas
19, 1842, Commodore
harbor,
Jones sailed into Monterey
sent
and
into
anchored
Mon
there,
ships
Captain James Armstrong
to surrender,
the intention of the
terey with a summons for the governor
declaring
States to occupy Lower and Upper California
latter
United
embraced the pres
(the
ent states of California, Nevada, Utah, and part of Colorado).
the
Jones commanded
On

October

seized Mexican

were declared,
Ifwar between
the United
States and Mexico
Squadron.
to
under orders
seize and hold every port in California
from San Francisco
war
was
to San Diego.
received
that
with
Mexico
imminent.
word
He antic
Jones

U.S.

Pacific

he was

a conflict with British fleets when he arrived in

was
Monterey
Bay, since it
ipated
to Great Britain in
also rumored thatMexico
had ceded California
partial repayment
of British
loans. Instead of encountering
the Pacific Squadron
took the
hostilities,
was not
to de
of Monterey
surprise. The pueblo
by complete
population
equipped
forces
fend itself. With
soldiers
and
others
who
could
bear
Californio
arms,
29
25
were no match
to the 160 men Jones would march
ashore. Nor were
the eleven
cannons
eighty
That

protecting
cannons.

theMonterey

presidio

able to defend

the pueblo

against Jones's

sent a commission
of
Juan Bautista Alvarado
to Jones's ship to discuss the terms of surrender. The treaty they drew up
Californios
an area
ceded control of the district of Monterey,
from San Juan Bautista
extending
same

night,

former Governor

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WAR

IN CALIFORNIA,

1846-1848

335

in 1842 as depicted by the lithographer Charles Gildemeister, working from

Monterey
an original
an unidentified artist. Commissioned
drawing by
by the prominent American
trader Thomas O. Larkin, the print shows the sweep of the town from the old presidial
chapel,y#r left,to the custom house. That October, when Commodore Thomas ap Catesby
authorities surrender the California capital,
Jones sailed in and demanded thatMexican
Larkin served as interpreter. Courtesy Oakland Museum of California; gift ofMrs. Emil
Hagstrom.

to San Luis
of both Californias,
Jones had demanded
possession
Obispo. Though
to enable his forces to occupy the
the surrendered
land was enough
and
presidio
After
Jones's men
signing the treaty the following morning,
pueblo of Monterey.
went

ashore. Marching

six abreast

to the tunes of "Yankee Doodle"

over the
Spangled Banner," they took
presidio
to the citizens
fort.7 Jones read a proclamation

as Californio
of Monterey

soldiers
inwhich

and "The Star

evacuated

the

he announced

that they could exercise their full civil liberties, and would be protected by the "stars
and stripes . . .henceforth
and forever."8 All the while, of course, Jones lacked any
official information
about whether
the two countries were indeed at war.
the Californios
instead of risking a battle in which
capitulated militarily
no
sent word for
to California's
chance, Alvarado
they had
recently appointed
help
in Los Angeles. Micheltorena
Governor Manuel Micheltorena
began
immediately
While

a resistance
to organize
to the American
forces. He
their cattle to the interior and take up arms to defend

to drive
urged all Californios
their territory. He ordered the
to prepare for
citizens
encourage

to
in each presidio
officers
military
similarly
to defend
conflict. Micheltorena
also requested
the territory.
troops from Mexico
was
two hours into his march north to
The governor
when he received an
Monterey

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WAR

336

IN CALIFORNIA,

1846-1848

and
Jones, who declared he had made a mistake
apology from Commodore
his forces. The occupation
withdrawn
had lasted less than two days. On October
21,
in
had
that
confirmed
found
1842, Jones's secretary
Monterey
correspondence
official

Mexico

was

at war with

neither

States nor intended

the United

to give CaHfornia

to

England.
recaded for this unwarranted
Jones was temporarily
aggression.
return
as commodore
to
Alta
of the Pacific Fleet
CaHfornia
ever,
war. His

to risk his

widingness

was

to secure CaHfornia

position

He would, how
at the end of the

for the United

States

a government

to
that had attempted
acquire
acknowledged
appreciation by
as
as 1822.9
channels
CaHfornia, Texas, and New Mexico
early
through diplomatic
to occupy California
in the case of war was con
Commodore
Jones's instructions
in the Monroe
sistent with U.S. poHcy as defined
Doctrine
of 1823, which declared
with

the United
colonies

or

doctrine

was

ad European
of keeping
powers
in
nations
of
the
the
Western
intervening

intentions

States'
poHticady

in official

invoked

discussions

from gaining

new

The
Hemisphere.
In late Oc
about California.

frequently
and recorded in
tober 1845, f?r example, President Polk stated in a cabinet meeting,
not
States would
his diary that, "the people of the United
permit Califor
widingly
nia to pass into the possession
of any new colony planted by Great Britain or any for
an
and the father-in
Thomas
Hart Benton,
Senator
expansionist
eign monarchy"10
law of John C. Fremont,
River would
Sacramento

that itwas his opinion that American

for the United
hold CaHfornia
ultimately

added

settlers on the
States.

it to the United
States was one of
and annexing
Severing CaHfornia from Mexico
States
it
that
the
United
and
the main objectives of the Polk administration,
appears
to
in Cali
covert leadership
government
immigrants
organize American
provided
as Americans
had done in
independent
repubHc,
after 1841 were Hkely
the immigrants who arrived in CaHfornia
Texas.11 Certainly
who
earHer
learned
for
this
action.
Urdike
prospects
immigrants
Spanish, adopted
and sought the status of
the population,
close ties with
estabHshed
CathoHcism,
fornia

to revolt

and declare

an

later immigrants most often remained

idegal
legal residence,
on
social and poHtical Hfe. Many
of
the margins
of CaHfornia's
settlers who resided
ex
to the CaHfornio
and
Indian
themselves
them believed
populations,
superior
to the land in conjunction with their notions of white
racial su
their
pressing
right
was on the Ameri
argues, "by 1850 the emphasis
periority. As Reginald Horsman
were
as a separate,
can
destined to bring
innately superior people who
Anglo-Saxons
to less civdized peoples.12
commercial prosperity" and Christianity
good government,
in ter
had long fought to create and protect their political autonomy
CaHfornios
or the United
not adow either Mexico
States to erode
ritorial affairs and would
naturalized

citizen

or

their sovereignty without

significant resistance.13 Even
the United
States's repubHcan system and democratic
sense of
having

been deceived

by Americans

whose

sympathized with
express a strong
ex
race ideas were
pervasively
those who

ideals would

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IN CALIFORNIA,

WAR

history

337

had a
Californios
and occupation.
Though
and southern parts of the ter
between
the northern
forces in November
1844 against Governor Micheltorena

against them during

of conflict over power

pressed

1846-1848

ritory, they had

and theMexican

joined
soldiers who

the war

to protect California,
but
from
the
Micheltorena
territory in
ejecting
over the gov
February 1845, prominent
figures among the rebels assumed authority
ernment.
In a spirit of compromise
north and south, Pio Pico from Los
between
became governor, and General
Jose Castro from the vicinity of Monterey
Angeles
between
of the territory. But political
became military
commander
antagonisms
war broke out with the United
had not abated. When
Californios
States, Pico was
were

known

for pillaging

arrived under his command

instead. After

an attack
to be
caused them to again join
against Castro. War
planning
their forces instead. Indian peoples in California made strategic use of these tensions
to increase their raids against Californio
ranches and pueblos, and were successful in

rumored

keeping

on
the coastal area. Drawing
society from expanding
beyond
the
and
United
States
Indian
between
Californios,
enmity
peoples
a few, limited alliances with Indians
war.
during the
by making

Californio

long-standing
would benefit

was confident
would
become part of the
that California
government
re
to
United
States at some future date, and began to send expeditions
explore the
summer
In
the
the
the
C.
Fremont
war, Captain John
1840s.
gion during
preceding
a
and a few scientists
led
of
frontiersmen
of the Topographical
large group
Corps
states
Mexican
of
the
of
New Mexico,
Col
present
territory, including parts
through
The

U.S.

to determine,
orado, Utah, and California,
among other things, a route for
allegedly
or in the
a railroad to the Pacific,
in
either
California
terminating
Oregon Country.14
northern
California
and was fa
Fremont, who had led a previous expedition
through
at
reached
California
the
end
of
December.
miliar with American
settlements
there,
Fremont
United

arrived

States,
had voted

during
and between

period of
Californios

extreme

tension

and the American

between

Mexico

settlers. The U.S.

and the
Con

to annex Texas
that December.
Months
the late
earlier, during
to pre
of 1845, Governor
Pico had already sent out a call for Californios
States. Californios
and the Mexican
pare to defend themselves
against the United
the
hundreds
of
feared
the
American
government
immigrants
dangers posed by
who had taken up residence along the Sacramento River and north of San Francisco
gress
summer

to stop American
into Cali
arrived from Mexico
City
Bay. Orders
immigration
a
an
as
to
fornia. In
eliminate
Sutter's Fort
attempt
point for foreigners,
gathering
sent envoy Andres Castillero with
to
instructions
it for the Mex
Mexico
purchase
to
ican government.
In early November
and Castillero went
1845, General Castro
the fort to persuade John Sutter to sell, but he rejected the offer. While
there, Cas
tro
to establish amicable
the immigrants. He told them
relations with
attempted
its laws, settled only in Sonoma or
they could stay in the territory if they obeyed
New Helvetia
Sutter's Fort), and applied within
three
(the territory surrounding

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338

WAR

IN CALIFORNIA,

1846-1848

inSan
Probably
painted
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^l^|^^^^^^^^^K^iii:;^il^
Francisco 1 Widiam

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Ktt^tt^^^^^BKm^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^^^B?i||%::, ,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^KtelLi'^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HH^Kiy^j^^i

2,
S.Jewett's
romantic
por
traitofJohn
C Fremont
conveysthepopular

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H|^^^KaH| temporary ofthe

young
Army
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^H

focus
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H

Gallery,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B
to reside
for a permit
their permits were denied.

months

in the territory

on the condition

that they

leave

if

near Sacramento
in the middle
of Jan
immigrants
south to Monterey.
He
with
the
uary 1846,
stayed inMonterey
American
counsel and merchant Thomas O. Larkin, from whom he purchased
sup
to
Larkin
and
Fremont
both
asked
General
Castro
Fremont
plies.
give
permission
Fremont

arrived among
and proceeded

these

to stay in California
to rest his men and animals before
to
proceeding
Oregon. Cas
tro
consent
needed to remain in the val
qualified his
by stating that the Americans
of
the
San
far
from
Mexican
away
ley
Joaquin River,
pueblos and ranchos along the
coast.

in and
of this order, Fremont
and sixty armed men
traveled
at San Jose, Santa Cruz, and SaHnas
As
Vadey.
they
accusations
the CaHfornios'
them
mounted.15
against

In defiance

camped
traveled,

near

the settlements

and the persistent, unauthorized

pres
Upon
receiving these reports of aggression
ence of armed Americans,
to
Fremont
leave
im
ordered
Castro
the
Jose
province
was
on
a
men
his
Fremont's
He
small
response
mediately.
belligerent.
camped
between
the
SaHnas
and
the
San
the principal
plateau
Joaquin vadeys overlooking

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WAR

IN CALIFORNIA,

1846-1848

339

and the pueblo of San Juan Bautista. Raising

the American
road toMonterey
flag,
he invited conflict. As Castro prepared to remove them by force, Fremont
abandoned
9,1846, and headed for the Sacramento Valley, where
camp on the night of March
he found American
that Castro

convinced

settlers fearful that they would be expelled from the territory and
had encouraged bands of Yokuts and Miwok
Indians to attack

them.16

in late April, but five days before war was de

toward Oregon
clared between
the United
States and Mexico
(onMay
13,1846), he received an ur
a
sent
and
that
confidential
from
courier
him
back to California.
message
gent
By
a camp north of Sutter's Fort, which became
Fremont
had
established
the
29,
May
Fremont

meandered

center of
who organized
the Bear Flag incident. On June
activity for the Americans
10, eleven of these men left Fremont's
camp to take some 170 horses from Castro's
were
was
to
who
in Santa Clara.
them
soldiers,
join forces Castro
driving
massing
The Americans
a

were

to their fears that Castro was

perhaps responding
organizing
were
to force them to leave the
territory. Perhaps they
inspired
re
insistence
that they could, indeed, establish an independent

military
campaign
to act
Fremont's
by
horses was the first act of the Bear Flag
public. Their
illegal seizure of government
incident. Having
seized the horses, they decided also to take the military garrison at
Sonoma. With

twenty men

and a body

of recruits

that grew

as

they

rode,

they

to the
garrison.
General Mariano
Guadalupe

headed

was awakened
men and informed
Vallejo
by these
that he was under arrest. Aware
that he did not have troops at the garrison or other
means
to restrain the men and defend his
family and the town, Vallejo surrendered
and invited

into his home. As he formulated

three negotiators
the articles of capit
his
drank
the
offered.
The
articles
contained
three
ulation,
captors
brandy Vallejo
one of which
wrote
in Spanish. This
that
paragraphs,
Vallejo
paragraph emphasized
was to protect the lives of his
mem
motive
for
Vallejo's
peaceful capitulation
family
bers, and the lives and interests of all the inhabitants under his jurisdiction. For lit
erary critic Genaro Padilla, this paragraph
symbolized Vallejo's resistance "within a
rhetorical space."17 Prohibited
confined, and dangerous,
by the articles from taking
arms
or
for
the
General
should
have remained free. But
invaders,
up
against
Vallejo
he and a captain, a colonel, and Vallejo's son-in-law were taken
prisoner, and would
remain locked up in extremely harsh conditions
In the days
for the next few months.
were
that followed,
the mayor of Sonoma and other prominent Californios
similarly
jailed.
That

same

Sunday morning
a bear and a star, hoisted

the Americans

occupied

Sonoma

and made

flag
it at the fort, and brought together citizens from the
to
the Bear Flag Republic
of Independent
California.18
pueblo and vicinity
proclaim
In a crude formulation
we will
of their position,
told
the
enemies
"as
they
citizenry,

with

kill and destroy

as friends we will
you! but

share with

you all the blessings

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of lib

340

IN CALIFORNIA,

WAR

1846-1848

The guidon carried by the American frontiersmen who in June 1846, following their
capture of Sonoma, proclaimed the Republic of California. Joseph Warren Revere of the
U.S. Navy secured the guidon the following month, when American forces occupied the
town, and later presented it to the Society of California Pioneers. Along with the original
Bear Flag, itwas destroyed in the fire of 1906. Courtesy California State Library.

erty."19 The Bear Flaggers

flour, meat, and other goods

took horses
from

from Vallejo
and others, and "borrowed"
the storerooms of many citizens without
offering

compensation.

In a letter to Thomas

Larkin,

the United

States

inMonterey,
Governor
Pio
of North American
(multitude)

consul

Pico protested
this act, stating that a "great number
. . .Per
in the Plaza of Sonoma.
have
invaded the frontier, encamping
foreigners
sonal rights have been attacked, well-established
social contracts broken, the sacred
in
the
leader of the multitude
of for
soil of another nation profaned
and,
short,
from the
B. Ide, by insulting
libel, urged them to a separation
eigners, William
she
Mexican
Union."20 Rosalia Vallejo de Leese elaborated on the event. Fremont,
that Cali
stated, arrived some days after this incident. On June 20, on hearing
to rescue the citizens, he
under Captain Padilla were approaching
Sonoma
to stop him.
"burn our houses
that he would
forced her to write Padilla
Stating
with us inside of them if I refused to address Padilla in the manner he wishes me to
fornios

"In the family way," she explained, "I had no right

do," Vallejo de Leese acquiesced.
to
life
the
of
unborn
my
baby." She decried their thieving and aggressive
endanger
manner
in Sonoma,
her means of resistance,
and closed her account by describing
which was to keep the memory
of the incident alive, and to refuse to learn English.
"Those hated men
passionately

me with such a
inspired
large dose of hate against their race," she
"that
recalled,
years have elapsed since that time,
though twenty-eight

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WAR

IN CALIFORNIA,

341

1846-1848

not
they heaped upon me, and
being desirous of
from learning their language."21
them, I have abstained
was
even more
While
for
the
the
incident
war,
significant
perhaps
important for
on
and bitterness
the Americans
the part of
against
creating great resentment
Californios.
I have not yet forgotten
in contact with
coming

THE

the insults

WAR

immedi
engaged in skirmishes against the Bear Flaggers
a
quiet, but sustained, resistance that spread
ately, and the citizens of Sonoma began
once the war was announced
the
and the formal occupation
of
territory
throughout
California
began.22 As Juan Bautista Alvarado
explained about the poHtical and ju
under Castro

CaHfornios

and organized
the resistance, we "loved our
sacrifice to
country most dearly because we had only been able by dint of immense
it at the level of contemporary
maintain
civilization."23 Alvarado,
Hke almost ad of
dicial

authorities

who

fled

to the hids

the Californio

and democratic
constitution
elite, spoke favorably of the American
was
an
to
not
but
like
that
he,
many others,
government,
accept
occupation
widing
was unconditional
and beyond Californio
power to control.
momentum
when American
forces planted
their flag
gathered
in early July, under the com
and declared possession
of California, which happened
mand of Commodore
of the Pacific Squadron. Upon hear
Sloat, naval commander
This

resistance

to
instructions
ing of the early battles of the war, he carried out his long-standing
a
seize California
before another power did,
policy that had similarly motivated
Commodore
almost
five
earlier.
On
Jones
years
July 2,1846, Sloat sailed into Mon
States Navy Commander
terey and learned of the Bear Flag incident from United
who
had
the
John Montgomery,
neutraHty On July 7,1846,
pledged
government's
sent
to
Sloat raised the American
word
General Castro and Governor
Pio
flag and
to surrender. He sent Commander
to occupy San Francisco Bay
Montgomery
and the town of Yerba Buena, and enlisted 350 men who had been acting under the
into the California
Battalion
under Fremont.24
auspices of the Bear Flag Republic

Pico

The would-be
With

repubHc dissolved with the American

occupation.
the northern part of the state secured by Sloat and Montgomery,

and the

on
Stockton,
impending
Bay
July
over
the leadership of the Pacific fleet in California
from Sloat, General
15 to take
Castro began a retreat southward to join his forces with those of Governor
Pico. On
Pico issued orders in Santa Barbara that all citizens of the terri
July 16, Governor
who

arrival of Commodore

sailed

into Monterey

or naturalized,
sent for ammunition
native-born
take up arms. He
tory, whether
from Baja CaHfornia. Acting
under orders from Pico, Abel Stearns, a southern Cal
to fine rancheros who did not
ifornia ranchero, threatened
join the defense. Pico's
force of 100 men

joined Castro's

160 men,

and they marched

to Los

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Angeles

to pro

IN CALIFORNIA,

WAR

342

tect the
capital. Their former
toward the common
animosity
men

behind

Leaving
forces followed
Town

officials

it themselves,
after Fremont

raised
Diego

inter-regional

tensions

enemy."25
to secure

their hold

his

"turned

to

nearly

unanimous

on the north, the American

at
arrived
San Diego
harbor in late July.
so Fremont's men
to hoist the American
flag,

enough
south. Fremont
Castro

refused

1846-1848

request
and a contingent
began his march

in San
of forty-eight
remained
Americans
north to Los Angeles.
Stockton
sailed from
in Santa Barbara to raise the American
flag and

on
i.He
Monterey
stopped
August
at San Pedro on
leave a small occupation
6. Though
force, and anchored
August
sent word
to Stockton
General
that they should not fight but discuss the
Castro
terms of a truce instead, Stockton
short of Californios'
refused anything
declaring
the territory independent
and
of Mexico
and under American
Castro
protection.
Pico

had already

rejected this alternative.

On August
then
towards Los Angeles,
9, as Stockton was marching
Castro,
a
to
outside
of
the
with
his
mournful
farewell
Cali
men, composed
city
camped
fornios and went south to Sonora, where he would
the Mexican
ceaselessly petition
arms and soldiers to retake California.
same
for
That
government
evening, Pico
wrote a
of farewell that emphasized
California's
similarly
proclamation
inadequate
s
un
on
in
defense. He stayed
rancho south of Los Angeles
Yorba
Teodosio
hiding
til September
7when he escaped to Baja California. From there, he also endlessly pe
for money,
the
titioned
Mexican
arms, and troops to restore California
government
toMexico.26
An

advance American

contingent

arrived

streets deserted

on
11 to find the
in Los Angeles
August
and furni
ransacked of their documents

and government
buildings
officials who had fled with the Californio
troops to the hills sur
by government
two
into Los Angeles
Castro
rounding the city. Stockton marched
days later.With
he
decreed
that
and Pico gone and the major ports occupied by American
troops,
to the United
himself commander
both Californias
States and proclaimed
belonged
ture

and governor. In the days that followed, Californio

troops were rounded up
on
in northern and southern California
and then released
parole after they promised
was to be conducted
war. Government
not take up arms
of
the
for
the
duration
again
in-chief

through
declared

and laws as during theMexican

period, and Stockton
of California
should meet and elect their officials. But the

the same institutions

that the citizens

of elective govern
stood in the way of the smooth operation
occupation
military
a curfew, soldiers searched and seized
ment. The
had
city
goods in private homes,
in place,
these conditions
and citizens' freedom of association was limited.27 With
re
and Sonoma,
the troops under Stockton
and Fremont
returned to Monterey
in charge of Los Angeles.
Hamilton
Gillespie
spectively, and left Archibald
The
month

Americans
Los Angeles,

returned

north with

Santa Barbara,

a false

San Diego,

sense

of victory. In the following

Santa Ines, and San Luis Obispo,

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WAR

IN CALIFORNIA,

1846-1848

343

of both soldiers
and surrounding
lands were retaken by a CaHfornio
army composed
and civiHans. They had gathered
together at ranchos outside the cities and beyond
a
under Jose Maria Flores. Simultaneously,
the cit
built
force
and
easy surveidance,
izens of Los Angeles
banded together under the leadership of Serbulo Varela and
out of Los
to force
Angeles
Gidespie
by the end of September. On Septem

Flores

ber 29, Gidespie

of Capitulation,
which
caded for an exchange
signed the Articles
of prisoners and ensured his safe retreat to a ship in San Pedro harbor.28 Flores, An
Carrido
led the resistance. Flores caded the depart
dres Pico, and Jose Antonio
into
session.
On
October
mental
26,1846,
they elected Francisco Figueroa
assembly
as commander-in-chief
and gov
territory and Flores
president of the California
in
with
Castro
commander
the
north.
Flores
de
Manuel
ernor,
appointed miHtary
in early November
that required ad
clared a state of siege and issued a proclamation
or
male citizens between
the ages of fifteen and sixty, whether
born in California
as

to appear for
at the first warning,
under
naturalized,
military
duty
as a traitor. To fund the war the government
rescinded Pio Pico's
California missions.29
tactics of resistance

Californios'

The

tion. They moved

ican troops would

their cattle and other

penalty of death
order to sed the

a broad sector of the

incorporated
popula
livestock from the coast so that the Amer

not be able to use the cattle for meat,

but left enough for the Cal

on the
ifornio forces, who traveled without
because
supplies
they could rely
citizenry.
When
Stockton withdrew American
troops from Sonoma, Yerba Buena, San Jose,
to send them south to
San Juan Bautista,
and Monterey
qued the counterattack,
to
paroled Californios
similarly left for the countryside
join the resistance. Women
at great risk to their families,
pleaded for the lives of their
loved ones, and prepared the ground for negotiations
that would
leave the CaHfornio
once the hostilities
to exercise their civil
en
able
had
ended. They
citizenry
rights
leaders Jose Cas
gaged in smad, but dady, acts of resistance, and criticized CaHfornio
hid Californio

soldiers

tro and Pio Pico

These
tain

it.30
for leaving the country rather than defending
the outnumbered
and overpowered
Californio
army to main
even as a concerted American
a
for months,
force was preparing

acts enabled

its hold

counter-offensive.
from Los Angeles,
ber 6. A battalion

Gillespie's
ship stayed in San Pedro harbor after he was ousted
on Octo
and he was soon joined by another American
warship
to
them
the
of vigilant Californios
close
harbor.
On
October
kept

to
sailed south from San Francisco
Fremont
Monterey.
a battaHon of 430 men. Some had
to Los
with
began
Angeles,
come on his
or were
to arrive on
original exploration party
emigrants who continued
or via the Overland
men
vessels
Fremont's
Trail.
furnished
their
sailing
generady
own
and uniforms,
and drove three hundred head of cattle.
ammunition,
equipment,
14, Stockton

and Fremont

his overland

march

company of Indian scouts traveled with them. They

Delaware
Indians from the Columbia
River in Oregon

included Wadawadah
territory,

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and Miwok

and
and

344
from

Yokuts

the Sacramento

some three miles

IN CALIFORNIA,

WAR

in advance

1846-1848

fires
Valley. Part of the company encamped without
to
and the rest remained some distance
of the battalion

the rear, according to Fremont,

"so that no traveler on the road escaped
were
our hands."31 Fremont's
battalion was formidable,
and Californios
to skirmish with
the opportunity
of the troops when
contingents
egated
near San Juan Bautista on November
as at the battle of La Natividad,
at this encounter
Californios
had inferior weapons,
they outnumbered
gent of Americans
Stockton
sailed

and suffered

fewer

falling

into

largely rel
arose, such
16.

Though
the contin

casualties.

on to San
to San Pedro harbor and then moved
Diego with ap
men.
armaments
and
would
have permitted
his
numbers
750
Though
proximately
the resistance appeared sufficiently
him to retake Los Angeles,
strong to make him
he occupied
and Kearny's forces. Though
by Fremont
From San
forces did not control the countryside.
the center of town, American
men
sent
for horses, cattle, and sheep, built
into Baja California
Stockton
Diego,
In the meantime,
General
off
Californios.
attacks
and
fended
fortifications,
by

wait

for the reinforcement

to California
which he had
from New Mexico,
overland
Kearny marched
war with Mexico.
He brought a relatively small
of
the
after
the
outbreak
occupied
to California,
Battalion,
troops, called the Mormon
though supporting
contingent
follow.32
would
Stephen

on December
at San Pascual
6 as
battle of the war was fought
biggest
the gunpow
San Diego. Because
troops approached
Kearny's tired and unprepared
involved hand-to
der of most of Kearny smen was wet, much of this confrontation
who were famous for their horse
hand combat that was favorable to Californios,
The

and more

suffered
and muskets
than rifles. Americans
equipped with lances
re
seventeen
wounded.
and
dead
Californios
with
casualties,
eighteen
significant
no
deaths.
ported eleven injuries and

manship

The

final battles

of the war

involved

about five hundred

Californio

forces

at the

on
San Gabriel River, outside of Los Angeles,
January 8 and January 9,1847. They
ofWilliam
the battalions
Mervine,
Kearny,
troops, while
fought against Stockton's
to converge on the city at once.
towards Los Angeles
and Fremont were marching
and La Mesa
the battles of San Gabriel
(also known as the Battle of Los
Though
on two consecutive
were
resulted,
days, relatively few casualties
fought
Angeles)
with

about

wounded

and three Californios

killed.33

were
very costly
relatively few deaths
interconnected
that was closely
felt among the small population
through
out of reach. For
remained
for
whom
and extended kin relations, and
victory

Waging
deeply

twelve Americans
the war was

to Californios.

The

family
to stem the tide of American
control
decades,
immigration,
they had not been able
or
secure
from
Mex
and
soldiers
Indian frontier,
the California
aid, arms,
monetary
Pio Pico.
ico, despite the constant appeals of General Castro and former Governor
After

the lost battle of Los Angeles,

and with

doubts

growing

rapidly among

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

soldiers

WAR

* '*
- i
i^SkP'

IN CALIFORNIA,

345

ill

The idustriousrancheroandCalifornio
patriotAndres Pico,who on a coldDecem
bermorning in 1846 ledhismen to victory
at San Pascual,beating theweary dragoons

^^^^^F^^^^^M^*
^^^^^^k
^^^^^^B
^^^^^^^K
^^^^HRB
J^^^m
-'J^L^^^^^^^^^k

ofGeneralStephen
Kearnyinoneof the
battlesof thewar inCalifornia.
bloodiest
further
The fodowing
month,realizing

^^^^/L^j^B^^^^^^t^^^^
^^^^^B^H^^I^^^H^^^^^
^B-^^^^^^^H|H^^^H ^fpH/

resistancewas futde,Pico surrenderedthe

^^^^^H^^^^H^y

j^^^^^^^^^^^^/jPydj^Li
Ii

1846-1848

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^BkwvM^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Kbm^Ij
HHHH.i.^.BIHil^.^HHk.

toJohn
C FremontintheTreaty
country

of Cahuenga. CourtesyCaliforniaHistorical
Society/TitleInsuranceandTrustPhoto
Collection, University

of Southern California.

about the feasibiHty

population
a truce. General
Flores and men among

and the civdian

sought
tiators went
The war

to Stockton's
in CaHfornia

camp to determine
ended with the Treaty

1847. The articles of capitulation

States citizens. CaHfornios
United

of continued
fighting, CaHfornios
his ranks left for Sonora, as nego
for peace.34
the conditions

on
of Cahuenga,
January 13,
signed
same
as
the
every citizen with
rights

provided
were ad
guaranteed

to unhindered

movement

the protection of their Hfe and

and travel, and the men pledged

property and the right

not take up arms again for the duration of the war with Mexico.
that they would
were also
to
that they would not have to take an oath of adegiance
They
guaranteed
the United

States until

a treaty of peace was

signed between

the two nations.

Though fighting ended inUpper CaHfornia, both CaHfornias had been objects of
as
as
Stockton
announced
States government.
17,
early
August
"of Upper and Lower CaHfornia"
States had taken possession
1846, that the United
of the United
States as
and declared these separate territories under the possession
a
a
in
single territory.35 He ordered
miHtary blockade of the Pacific ports of Mexico
interest

to the United

in the Gulf of CaHfornia,

of commerce
1846, and the disruption
sending
August
as the resistance
some of his fleet to occupy
In
CaHfornia.
1846,
just
Baja
September
an American
was
to the American
inUpper CaHfornia,
occupation
being organized
seized a number ofMex
landed in the harbor of La Paz, Lower CaHfornia,
warship
ican vessels, which
States, and secured a
they put into the service of the United
Colonel
Francisco Palacios Miranda.
The gov
pledge of neutraHty from Governor
ernor had Httle choice. For two years he had been

left without

any military

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

or naval

346

WAR

IN CALIFORNIA,

1846-1848

in Upper Califor
of hostilities
and a resumption
to
after
California.
back
Alta
Stockton's
nia,
peace was finally se
Only
of
order his troops to resume the blockade
cured in January 1847 did Stockton
to
and
California.36
Mazatlan,
occupy Baja
resources. With

neutrality
men went

secured

the naval occupation

When
of the Baja Peninsula
began in July 1847, the in
of Baja California was ini
resistance. And the annexation
vaders did not encounter
in late August
1847. Perhaps in part for
tially sought in the armistice talks that began
a
resistance had been organized
that reason, by September
by Captain
significant
in
raids
Pineda. Battles,
and
American
Manuel
skirmishes,
troops persisted
against
on
war
when
the United
States
Lower California
until the end of the
May 30,1848,
to evacuate, rather than to annex, Baja California. Over five hundred
agreed by treaty
for their
States citizenship
residents of that territory were given asylum and United
were
to the United
of
States
the
These
support
by
occupation.
transported
refugees
vessels.37 Most
of the refugees were from among the landown
retreating American
elite, and had family connections
among elite Californios.
They
ing and political
were
for their
States
the
United
with
limited
government
by
compensation
provided
as
to claim land in
continued
losses as they left the territory. Others
Baja California,
Amparo Ruiz de Burton, and would
tain that land in the American
period.38

did Maria

THE

TREATY

OF

GUADALUPE

wage

long and retracted battles

to re

HIDALGO

ceded the territories

The Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo
to the United
States (these territories contained
Mexico

of Alta California

and New

land in the present states of

na
loss of Texas, Mexico's
with
and
the
Colorado). Together
Arizona, Nevada, Utah,
was
tional territory
reduced by half at the war's end. In the initial treaty negotiations
was
to cede that part of
that began as early as September
1847, Mexico
only willing
from
Its
northward.
reluctance
led the United
that extended
California
Monterey
States

to

drop

its demands
to

nual message
Congress
back to Mexico.
Californias

an
California,
though President Polk, in his
of 1847, promised never to give either of the
for
States remained firm in its demand
United

for Lower

in December
The

a
by
compromise
initially sought
Upper California. Mexico
to retain that
two leagues north of the port of San Diego,
in proving that San
States succeeded
Pacific, but the United
of the
from the first Spanish exploration
of Alta California

the border
establishing
valuable harbor on the
had been a part
Diego
area. The international

was established one marine

point of the
league south of the southernmost
boundary
dollars for this
the U.S. paid fifteen million
In compensation,
bay of San Diego.39
to
met
Mexico.40
other financial obligations
land and
the treaty's twenty-three
articles, four defined the rights of Mexican
8 and 9 outlined Mexican
Articles
in
the
territories.
and Indian peoples
Of

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citizens
citizens'

WAR

IN CALIFORNIA,

rights of residence, property, and citizenship.

territories as either United
States orMexican

1846-1848
Free

to continue

347
to live in the ceded

citizens, their property was to be "in

or not
or continued
their res
violably respected" whether
they assumed citizenship
was
as
were
in the United
idence
States. If property
free
Mexicans
sold, the proceeds
persons had to declare their intent of citizenship within one year or
to have elected to become United
be assumed
States citizens. These

of taxation. All

they would
new citizens, Article
into the Union
of the United
9 reads, "shall be incorporated
at the proper time (to be
States and be admitted,
of the
judged by the Congress
ac
to
of
of
citizens
all
the
of
the
United
the
United
States
States)
enjoyment
rights
to the
of the constitutions."41
principles
10
that "all grants of land made by the Mexican
govern
guaranteed
. . . shall be
as valid."42 The article also enabled citizens to continue
respected

cording
Article
ment

the process

to clear their titles under

terms defined

by Mexican
that the president

law. The most

severe

was
of the treaty for Californios
asked the U.S. Sen
consequence
were
ate to strike this article,
inAr
that
property rights
arguing
already guaranteed
one of the first acts of
ticle 8 of the treaty. However,
after California was
Congress
admitted

to the Union

in 1850, was to pass the California

Land Act
(1851). Each
land grant had to be reviewed and approved by a land court
Rancheros
general before legal title could be acknowledged.

Spanish and Mexican

and the U.S. attorney
had to submit to the land court a map of their ranchos and all the documents
that
to be
land
had
The
American
of
title.
proved legitimate
surveyed using
techniques
over these ranchos took an average of seventeen years. The
measurement.
Litigation
land court often approved the grants, but the attorney general of the United
States
as often sent them back
cases went as far as the U.S.
just
rejected. Many
Supreme
state law enabled squatters to preempt unculti
Court. In the meantime,
California
If the grant was accepted and
vated land for which
title had not yet been confirmed.
to
cost
on the
the
of their improvements
pay squatters for the
grantee had
patented,
land.

tides were

confirmed, but only a handful of ranchero families still

ultimately
econ
their lands when
their tides had cleared. In the relatively cash-scarce

Most

possessed
omy of California,

surveyors, new immigrants with ready

lawyers, land speculators,
or
or
ran
cash, and squatters ended up owning
portions of almost every
claiming all
cho in the state. As long as titles were unconfirmed,
the new owners held their por
but this did not stop the ranchos from being bought
times before their titles were secured. Once confirmed,

tions in shares-in-common,
sold on paper one or more
land was

legally divided
the war. In commenting
Governor
titles, Military
would
would

probably
endeavor

the

at a

rapid pace. Land speculation had already begun before

on a report about the "laws and
precedents" pertinent to land
in early 1850 that "much of what
Richard Mason
observed

constitute
to

and

dispose

the public domain had been acquired by speculators

of it to settlers at an exorbitant profit."43 Rancheros,

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who
U.S.

348

*
^^^^^^HfH^^^^H

WAR

IN CALIFORNIA,

1846-1848

SI^^^^Sb^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^bHb^b^b^B'

b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^bB:^^^^b^bHHb^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^b^HbK'
jUL '

Wr

The Indian Chefo gathers his famdy about him in a photograph probably taken in the
to American rule, Indians
late nineteenth century.When CaHfornia passed from Mexican
were accorded even less
protection under law than previously, with no right of tide to the
lands they occupied. Living on the periphery of society, openly hunted down and kided in
mining days, their numbers decUned precipitously. Courtesy California Historical Society,
FN-J0500.

and Navy personnel,

and the newest
Army
immigrants who arrived for the Gold
were
Rush
in town lots and on rancho lands. Miners
and others who ar
speculating
rived for the Gold Rush gained the passage of land laws that favored the squatter,
intense poHtical pressure upon the declaration
speculator, and farmer, after mounting
of statehood.44
California

Some

Hke Jose Castro

and Antonio Maria Osio,
left
The vast majority
remained in the territory, Hv
of rural land, or moving
into the old pueblos where
itwas

CaHfornios,
and returned toMexico.

on ever smader
ing
pieces
easier to hold on to a smad parcel of land.45
California
Indians were even less protected
all Indians in
by the treaty. While
were
Mexico
made citizens by law in 1826, few California
Indians had been able to
exercise

of citizenship
of
during the Mexican
period. Interpretations
their rights generady
in Article XI of the
placed them among Indians discussed
This
article
"A
that
of
the
territories
which, by the
treaty.
great part
begins by stating
are
to be
for the future within the Hmits of the United
present treaty,
comprehended
States,

their rights

is now occupied

by savage

tribes." The

treaty map

identified

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the largest area

WAR

IN CALIFORNIA,

1846-1848

349

land as

to 180,000
In
This reference included from 160,000
"Apacheria"
States responsible for policing
and control
article declared the United
their raids into Mexico,
the
ling those tribes, and preventing
especially protecting
states of Chihuahua,
Sinaloa.
and
Sonora,

of ceded

dians.46 The

article was written

at the request of Mexican

who
felt they
negotiators,
were
to get northern
states whose
the provision
sharply against
populations
cession of the territory to accept the treaty. This article denies all land rights to In
dian peoples who had not exercised their rights of citizenship
by stating that "when
of the Indians from any portion of the said territories, or
for
the
removal
providing
The

needed

for its being settled by citizens of the United

States . . . special care shall then be
under the necessity
of seeking homes."
taken not to place its Indian occupants
some California
as
Indian peoples, such
the Tapai and Ipai near San Diego,
Though
won the
to hold dual
status because their lands were di
ultimately
right
nationality
or near
of California
Indians living within
by the border, the great majority
a
manner
Mexican
(their land rights
society held their village lands in usufructary
use
to
not
the
of the land, but did
extended
confer legal title).47
vided

to declare
the federal government's
right
to
lands public domain and
take possession
of them "as the absolute and
indigenous
or
"The
committee
owners."
the
stated, "had no usufructory
Indian,"
unqualified
were
manner
to be in any
other rights therein which
respected."48 Land speculators,
state law offered these lands
and
would
seek
settlers
also
Indian
lands
and
squatters,
A U.S.

Senate

committee

to the speculator, who

PUBLIC

MEMORY

Historical

accounts

American
known.

dispossessed

AND

California.

Towns

whole

villages with

impunity.49

HISTORY

and public records of the military

are rare. Few names
by Californios

occupation
Likenesses
of Pio Pico

as civic monuments

confirmed

and civil resistance

from Mexican

to the

California

are

two most
and Mariano
stand
prominent,
Vallejo, the
that record a memory
of their presence and activity inMexican
and cities may also record a name or two of a local Californio,
rarely

if ever connecting
it to political history or a more substantive account of the colonial
and Mexican
in public
past, the war, and statehood. This absence of representation
contrasts
to the public monumentalization
of Sutter's Fort, the
memory
quite sharply
Bear Flag republic, and the figures of
Stockton,
Fremont,
Montgomery,
Kearny,
men are remembered
a
Their
stories
Sloat, and Polk. Other American
locally.
play
in
so
the
out
and
that
other
part
forging
pioneer
patriotic history
commonly
pushes
versions of the past in public commemoration.50
But the relative absence of Cali
fornios

and Indians

in public memory
is also the result of their
demographic,
politi
losses that began during the occupation
in 1846.
cal, cultural, and economic
This near erasure of Californios
and California
Indians from public memory
is re

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350

WAR

IN CALIFORNIA,

1846-1848

in much

is organized
in
of the scholarship, which
around the American
to the near exclusion of other groups. In
in California
volvement
sharp distinction
men
were
to the numerous
of American
who
involved in the
biographies
military
inforced

of California
war, biographies
leaders, and female and male citizens who were highly
affected by and involved in the war, have yet to be written. But the material
exists to
the war

to the experiences
and according
perspectives
of individuals and particular groups. Many
of those primary sources are recorded in
Norman
War. Tutorow
E.Tutorow's
annotated bibliography,
The Mexican-American

write

about

from Californio

at the Bancroft,
of Californios,
describes
the collections
Huntington,
to the
and points
State libraries, and at Santa Barbara Mission,
official papers and other documents
left by Castro, Mariano
Guadalupe
Vallejo, and
other
and
officials.51
Californio
many
governmental
military
same archives must be searched in
on Indian
These
systematic ways for material
lists narratives

and California

on the war and

must be
to the fore.
occupation
history. Indian perspectives
brought
How was the war interpreted and responded to by each group? Did it change the na
ture of Indian-white
of most Indian societies
relations? The territorial dispossession
war
shortly after the
studied.
carefully

in California

needs

to be
thoroughly

examined

and Indian

re

sponses
We need

to understand,
in short, the many sides to this conflict and to investigate
documents. This would begin to pro
it through Spanish aswell as English-language
of
for the entire population
vide a fuller accounting
of the war and its consequences
in the
of American
involvement
also should push our understanding
California. We
to un
beyond the history of generals, their policies, and military action. We need
on
more
were
sides
the
batdefield.
What
who
these
soldiers
both
of
derstand
fully
were their
and how did these change during the
hopes, their aims and aspirations,
were the
course of the war? What
of the citizens who
and
sup
aspirations
goals

war

who
need to know more about the response of Californios
ported either side?52We
were for and
had
who
settled
and
of
those
American
the
invasion,
foreigners
against
in California
and who fought on the Californio
side, or turned their affiliations back
States during the war. We need to have new studies of the war that also
reexamine the Bear Flag incident to see how and why the men and women who had
were
and able to take up arms.
willing
recendy settled in this territory
to the United

and war would begin to explain how people lived

social history of the occupation
were
event. Itwould bridge
changed by this political
through the period and how they
new
answer
two
about society and politics. The
questions
periods in time, raise and
A

the formation of
show them to be important to understanding
race
state histories, of
relations, and of the po
gender, ethnic, and
patriotic legends and
of
Future
studies
the
Mexican-American
litical ideas that pervade post-war
society.
a
account
the various sectors of society
should take broader view that takes into
War
newest

studies of wars

and the whole

spectrum

of persons

and relationships

that were

affected

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by it.

WAR

IN CALIFORNIA,

1846-1848

351

NOTES
i. Neal Harlow,
on the
California Conquered: War and Peace
Pacific, 1846-1850 (Berkeley:
Hubert
of
California
Press, 1982).
Bancroft, History of California, Volume V,
University
1846-1848 (San Francisco: The History Co., 1886). Few books have been written on the war
inCalifornia. Most of the literature consists of articles on batdes and books on particular in
dividuals. Perhaps the war in California is not well researched because the war with Mexico
has been, according to Robert W. Johannsen, virtually forgotten by the nation. See his article
"America's Forgotten War," Wilson Quarterly (Spring 1996): 96-107.
2. In Sally C. Johns's article "Viva Los Californios! The Battle of San Pasqual," Journal
a well-researched
San
essay that provides a
of
Diego History (Fall 1973): 1-13, she presents
vivid portrait of the Californios' resistance. In contrast, see Kenneth Johnson, "The Batde of
San Pasqual" Pacific Historian 20 (Winter 1977): 368-73; Frank J. Polley, "Americans at the
Battle of Cahuenga" Historical Society of Southern California, Annual Publication
(1894):
"The Conquest of Los Angeles" Historical Society of Southern
47-54; Corinne King Wright,
California Publications (Spring 1919): 18-25.
3. Genaro Padilla, My History, Not Yours (Madison: University ofWisconsin
Press, 1993),
149.Maria de lasAngustias de La Guerra Ord, aOcurrencias en California," 1878,ms, Bancroft
Library, University of California, Berkeley. The translation is entided Occurrences inHispanic
Ellison (Washington, D.C:
California, translated and edited by Francis Price andWilliam
of
Franciscan
American
History, 1956), 59.
Academy
4. On neutrality and a brief account of the war years, see George Harwood Phillips,
Chiefs and Challengers: Indian Resistance and Cooperation in Southern California (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1975), 61, and James Rawls, Indians of California: The Chang
ing Image (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1984), esp. 82-105.
5. Though not exhaustive, the titles below are some of the richest sources of information.
See Mary Lee Spence and Donald Jackson, eds. The Expeditions ofJohn Charles Fremont:
The Bear Flag Revolt and the Court-Martial
(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1973), vol.
II; Allan Nevins, ed.,John Charles Fremont: Narratives
ofExploration and Adventure (New
York: Longmans, Green, and Co, 1956); Simeon Ide, Who Conquered California? The Con
quest of California by theBear Flag Party, and a Biographical Sketch of theLife ofWilliam B. Ide
(Glorieta, N. Mex.: Rio Grande Press, 1967); Philip St. Geo. Cooke, The Conquest ofNew
Mexico and California: An Historical and Personal Narrative
(Albuquerque: Horn andWal
Harlan
and
O.
A Life ofPatriotism and
David
Larkin:
Thomas
lace, 1964);
Hague
Langum,
in
Old
of
Oklahoma
Press, 1990); George P. Ham
Profit
California (Norman: University
Larkin
and
The
Personal,
Business,
mond, ed.
Papers:
Official Correspondence ofThomas Oliver
Larkin, Merchant and Consul in California, 10 vols. (Berkeley: University of California Press,
1951-68).

6. Padilla's My History was extremely useful, as was Antonio Maria Osio, The
History of
Alta California: A Memoir ofMexican California, translated by Rose Marie Beebe and Robert
Senkewicz
ofWisconsin
(Madison: University
Press, 1996). Also see Rosalia Vallejo de
Bear
of
Bancroft
the
Leese, "History
Party," ms, 1874,
Library; Juan Avila, "Notas Califor
nianas" ms, 1878, Bancroft Library; Juan Bautista Alvarado, "Historia de California, 1876,"
ms, Bancroft Library.
7. See C. L. Higham,
"Songs of theMexican War: An
nal of theWest 28 (July 1989): 16-23.

Interpretation

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

of Sources," Jour

352 WAR

IN CALIFORNIA,

1846-1848

8. Harlow, California Conquered, 9, and see Gene A. Smith, "The War

Thomas
ap Catesby Jones's Seizure of Monterey," California History LXVI

thatWasn't:
(June1987):

105-13.

inAmerican History: A Reinterpre

9. See Frederick Merk, Manifest Destiny andMission
tation (New York Alfred A. Knopf, 1963). Seymor V. Conner and Odie B. Faulk focus on the
short-term causes for the war inNorth America Divided: TheMexican War, 1846-1848 (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1971) and Thomas B.Jones criticizes that perspective, em
phasizing the long-term goals of United States foreign poHcy in his article "Mexican War
The Journal ofMexican American History 5
Assessment"
Scholarship: The Connor-Faulk
see
et
Also
al., eds., Essays on theMexican War (Codege Sta
(1977): 103-24.
Wayne Cutler,
tion: Texas A 8cM University Press, 1986). For a study of contemporaneous Mexican per
spectives on American expansionism, see Gene M. Brack, Mexico Views Manifest Destiny,
of New
1821-1846: An Essay on the Origins of theMexican War (Albuquerque: University
Mexico Press, 1975).
a
10. Adan Nevins, ed., Polk The
Diary of President, 1845-1849 (New York: Longmans,
of
and
Green,
Co., 1952), 19 (entry
Friday, 24 October 1845).
n. See John A. Hawgood,
"John C Fremont and the Bear Flag Revolution: A Reap
have disagreed
praisal" Southern California Quarterly 44 (June 1962): 67-96. Historians
was
to
for
In
"California
Textbooks
and the
far
Polk
how
CaHfornia.
about
go
History
wilHng
a
of
CaHfornia
The
for
Broader
of
Need
the Civd War:
History," South
Perspective
Coming
ern
M.
asks
whether
Polk de
McAfee
Ward
(Summer 1974): 159-74,
California Quarterly^
or
a
war
to
into
whether, by sending John SHded
ceitfudy pushed Mexico
acquire CaHfornia,
to negotiate with Mexico, he was honesdy attempting to reach a peaceful settlement. For
more on this debate, see Richard R. Stenburg, ed., "President Polk and California: Additional
Documents" Pacific Historical Review 10 (June 1941): 217-19, and Glenn W. Price, Origins
of theWar with Mexico: The Polk-Stockton Intrigue (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1967),
who argue that CaHfornia was a principal cause for the war, whde Justin H. Smith, The War
with Mexico
James
1963), and Eugene I.McCormac,
(1919, reprinted Gloucester, Mass.,
Polk A Political Biography (Berkeley, 1922), argue that Polk would have sacrificed CaHfornia
to avoid war if the Texas boundaries were settled.
12. Reginald Horsman, Race andManifest Destiny (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univer
mean
sity Press, 1981), 2, and esp. chapters 7 and 8. Robert Walter Johannsen examines the
war
in
Mexican
War
to
Halls
To
Montezumas:
The
Americans
in
his
the
the
of
the
many
ing
of
race
the
theAmerican Imagination (New York Oxford, 1985). John Edward Weems
explores
ideas and experiences of the common soldier in theMexican War in his To Conquer a Peace:
The War Between theUnited States andMexico

(1974, reprinted Codege

Station: Texas A 8cM

University Press, 1988).

13. Before the war CaHfornio poHtical leaders held differing views on their adegiance to
Mexico.
See Hague and Langum, Larkin, 117, and Harlow, California Conquered, 89.
14. Merk, Manifest Destiny, 77. Adrian George Traas emphasizes the importance of the
to expansion; see his book From the Golden Gate toMexico City: The
topographical engineer
U.S. Army Topographical Engineers in theMexican War, 1846-1848 (Washington, D.C: United
States Army publ., 1993).
15. Hague and Langum, Larkin, 120-21. They were accused of attempted rape (see Osio,
The History, 223), and of horse theft and insulting, bedigerent attitudes towards the popula
tion (see Harlow, California Conquered, 61-73).

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WAR

IN CALIFORNIA,

1846-1848

353

16. George Harwood

Phillips, Indians and Intruders in Central California, 1769-1849
of
Oklahoma
Press, 1993), 133.
(Norman: University
17. Padilla, My History, 56-60.
18. On the whole incident, see Ide, Who Conquered California?; Hawgood,
"John C. Fre
Revolt
Bear
The
Dissension
L.
and
(Cambell, Calif: The
Brown,
mont";
Flag
James
inArcady:
Academy Press, 1978).
19. Padilla, My History, 5 8.
20. Pio Pico, from Santa Barbara, June 29,1846, in "Governor Pico's Protest Against the
Action of the Bear Flag Party" inHistorical Society of Southern California Publications 10
129-30.

(1916):

21. Vallejo de Leese,

22.

Osio,

The

History,

"History of the Bear Party."

230-34.

23. Juan Bautista Alvarado, "History of California," 1876, ms, Bancroft Library, 5: 219-22,
and quoted inDavid Weber, ed. Foreigners in theNative Land: Historical Roots of theMexican
Americans (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1973), 129-30.
24. On the role of the United States Navy in the California war, see Oakah L. Jones, Jr.,
"The Pacific Squadron and the Conquest of California, 1846-1847," Journal of theWest (April
see John D. Tanner, Jr.,
1966): 187-202, and on American military action in the war, also
to
Los
for
29,1846,
January 10,1847" California Historical
Angeles?December
"Campaign
Society Quarterly XLVIII (September 1969): 219-41.
25. Douglas Monroy, Thrown among Strangers: TheMaking ofMexican Culture inFrontier
of California Press, 1990), 177, and Harlow, California Con
California (Berkeley: University
143.

quered,

26. See "Pio Pico's Correspondence with the Mexican Government,

1846-1848," Cali
(March 1934): 99-149.
fornia Historical Society QuarterlyXffl
27. Harlow, California Conquered, 149-54; Hague and Langum, Larkin, 148.
28. Hubert H. Bancroft translates the text of the rebels, entided Pronunciamiento de Varela
seeMonroy, Thrown
y otros Californios contra losAmericanos, in his History, 5:310 n; also
among

Strangers,

178.

29. Harlow, California Conquered, 161-63 and 193-94.

30. See Osio, The History, 235-36; Padilla, My History, 114-20,125-30;
son,

eds.

The

Expeditions,

236?37.

31. Spence and Jackson, eds. The Expeditions,

32.

Harlow,

California

Spence and Jack

Conquered,

235.

172-73.

33. Ibid, 211;Hague and Langum, Larkin, 155; Juan Avila, "Notas Californianas," ms,
Bancroft Library.
34. See Juan Avila, "Notas Californianas."
35. See Doyce B. Nunis, Jr., TheMexican War inBaja California: TheMemorandum of Cap
tainHenry Halleck (Los Angeles: Dawson's Book Shop, 1977), 18-19.
36. Nunis, ed. TheMexican War, 24.
37. Ibid, 26-27, and 60. Also see Kenneth M. Johnson, "Baja California and the Treaty
of Guadalupe Hidalgo," Journal of theWest (April 1972): 328-47.
38. Ruiz de Burton's book, The Squatter and theDon (Houston: Arte Publico Press, 1992,
to plead for the land rights of elite
initally published in 1885), represented her last effort
Californios.
39. Richard Griswold

del Castillo,

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: A Legacy of Conflict

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

354

WAR

IN CALIFORNIA,

1846-1848

(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990), 38-40; also see David M. Pletcher's Diplo
macy ofAnnexation: Texas, Oregon, and theMexican War (Columbia: University of Missouri
Press, 1973).
40. Griswold del Castido, The Treaty, 179-99.
41.

Ibid.,

189-90.

42.

Ibid.,

189-90,

and

45-48.

43. Harlow, California Conquered, 290; Hague and Langum, Larkin, 176-98; and see
Beverly E. Bastian, "'IHeartily Regret That I Ever Touched aTitle in CaHfornia': Henry
Wager Hadeck, the CaHfornios, and the Clash of Legal Cultures," California History LXXII
(Winter 1993/94): 310-23.
44. One of the first and stid highly informative studies of this process is presented by
Leonard Pitt in The Decline of the
Californios: A Social History of the Spanish-Speaking Cali
fornians, 1846-1890 (Berkeley: University of CaHfornia Press, 1966).
45. Osio, The History,
social, and cultural
247-48. On land loss and its political,
ramifications see Albert Camarido, Chicanos in a Changing Society: From Mexican Pueblos to
American Barrios in Santa Barbara and Southern
California, 1848-19J0 (Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 1979); Richard Griswold del Castido, The Los
Angeles Barrio,
a
of
text that exam
recent
California
for
Press, 1979); and,
1850-1890 (Berkeley: University
ines CaHfornio and Indian society through Spanish and American
conquests, see Lisbeth
of CaHfornia
Conquests and Historical Identities in California (Berkeley: University
Press, 1995), and the previously cited work of Monroy, Thrown among Strangers.
Troublesome
46. Griswold del Castido, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; Oscar Martinez,
Border (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1988), 53-79,57.

Haas,

47. One

in Florence
person's history that vividly depicts this dilemma is presented
see
Cuero
CaHf:
Badena
and
(Menlo Park,
Press, 1991);
Shipek's, Delfina
Shipek's history of
land poHcy in, Pushed into theRocks: Southern California Indian Land Tenure, 1769-1986 (Lin
coln: University of Nebraska Press, 1987).
48. See Robert Heizer, ed., Report of Special Federal Concern About the Conditions of Cal
ifornia

Indians,

1853?1913:

Eight

Documents

(Socorro,

N.Mex.:

Badena

Press,

1979),

65.

49. See Rawls, Indians of California, parts II and III.

50. See John Bodnar, Remaking America: Public Memory, Commemoration, and Patriotism
in the Twentieth Century (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992), especiady 120-37.
51. Norman

E. Tutorow,

comp.

and

ed., Mexican-American

War: An

Annotated

Bibliogra

and John Parish, "California Books and

phy (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1981), 42,46-47,
in the Huntington
Manuscripts
Library," Huntington Library Bulletin 7 (April 1935): 36?58,
summarize the manuscripts
in the Huntington
Library related to theMexican War. Genaro
M. Padida also Hsts narrative accounts inMy History, 271-72.
52. A more recent Hterature brings social history to the study of theMexican War. On sol
diers' experiences and their ideas and attitudes, see James M. McCaffrey, Army
ofManifest
Destiny: The American Soldier in theMexican War, 1846-1848 (New York: New York Univer
"Manifest Destiny andMditary ProfessionaHsm: Ju
sity Press, 1992), and Samuel J.Watson,
nior U.S. Army Officers' Attitudes Toward War with Mexico,
1844-1846," Southwestern
Historical Quarterly 99 (April 1996): 466-98. On the cultural history of war photos, as this
was the first war with a photographic record, seeMartha A. Sandweiss, Rick Stewart, and
Ben W. Huseman, Eyewitness toWar: Prints and Daguerreotypes of theMexican War, 1846-1848
D.C:
Smithsonian
Institution Press,
(FortWorth: Amon Carter Museum/Washington

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WAR

IN CALIFORNIA,

1846-1848

355

1989), and Thomas R. Kailbourn, "The View from the Ojo de Agua: A Daguerreian Relic
of Saltillo, Mexico, ca. 1847," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 95 (October 1991): 221-31. On
see Robert Ryal Miller, Sham
the Irish soldiers who deserted and became heroes inMexico,
rock and Sword: The Saint Patricks Battalion in the U.S.-Mexican War (Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1989), and Marc Cramer, "The Fighting Irish of Mexico," Americas 48
o - 27.
(March-April 19 9 6): 2

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