In 1821, Mexico gained independence from Spain, and in 1825, after several years of self-government, the region, later named Alta California, was formally declared a territory of the Mexican Republic.
Many of the California colonists, like the local Indians, disliked the wealthy and overbearing Franciscan missionaries who represented the Spanish government. Therefore, after Mexico gained independence, there was a wave of protests against the Spanish missions in the region.
Eventually the new republic of Mexico decided to eliminate the administrative power of the missionaries, and in 1833 the Mexican Congress legislated to free the native Indians from the power of the missionaries and confiscated church lands in favor of the colonists of California.
Most of the former church lands were given to several hundred of the oldest Indian tribes. Huge “ranchos” founded by the missionaries came into the possession of the California colonists, and herds of cows and sheep raised under the guidance of Franciscan friars formed the main economic and economic base for the development of the California region.
Ranchers began to trade in meat, hides, and horns of livestock. These goods were eagerly purchased for the needs of manufactories and food industry by foreign merchant ships from various countries, including America.
The period of Mexican rule lasted until 1840. And all this time in California, violent bloody uprisings and feuds continued unabated. Sometimes ranchers set their workers against representatives of the Mexican authorities, but more often clashes arose between the owners of different ranches, claiming neighboring lands.
Development by Americans
Most American citizens who visited California before 1840 were seafarers, fur hunters, or “gentlemen of fortune,” swindlers engaged in fur-trading.
In the 20s and 30s of the 19th century, the British had many more settlements and trading posts here, and in this regard, many U.S. politicians feared that Britain might be the sole ruler of the territory. It took a lot of effort to convince Americans of the prospect of settling Oregon.
To get there initially had to ship extremely tedious, dangerous and expensive route: from the Atlantic coast, around South America, through the turbulent Strait of Magellan and further north to the Pacific coast.
In 1832, the settlers adopted an overland route that began at Independence on the Missouri River and led them to Oregon by a winding 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) route. This route became known as the Oregon Trail, although no single road was laid out along it-it merely defined the direction of travel across the Great Plains and indicated river fords and accessible mountain passes. This way was no less difficult and dangerous than the sea, and thousands of settlers died in floods, blizzards, steppe fires, from drought, accidents, disease, and in clashes with hostile Indian tribes.
Some of the first Americans to settle in California were trappers James Ohio Pattie and Jedediah Smith. They came to the land from the east in 1840, “paving the way” to California for hundreds of American colonists from the United States, thousands of Spaniards and Spanish-speaking settlers.
Reports from California settlers, including both Swiss John Sutter and John Marsh, described the unusually attractive conditions of the area’s fertile lands and the carefree, easy life in California. In 1840, emigrants from the central West and then from other parts of the United States began arriving in organized batches in California, settling the land and other regions of the Pacific Coast.
In 1841, the first group of colonists, led by John Bidwell and John Bartleson, traveled to California. In 1843, “Oregon fever” swept across many parts of the United States. People abandoned what had become barren lands and headed west. By 1846, some 800 colonists had already arrived in California from the west along established routes: Santa Fe, Oregon, California.
Most of those arriving in California were farmers, so they established their settlements in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys rather than on California’s ocean coast.
Travelers sought these lands overcoming incredible hardships. Their routes took them across prairies, deserts, and mountains. Often the settlers encountered hostile local Indians and equally hostile weather.