[California's Dawn, 1960s]

California had become official. Two weeks later, on July 4th, a new continent, Spain was unconcerned. Soon, Indian fishermen saw more Spanish ships sailing into the bay. Indian hunters were frightened by the boom of Spanish guns. Indians were pressed into labor gangs by Spanish soldiers. At the same time, the mission fathers tried to convert them to Christianity. From books with especially colored notes, they were to learn religious songs. But most of them clung to their ancient chants and dances and to their custom of gambling even at mission festivities. And they remained reluctant to wear clothes. Indian labor helped the missions pay their own way. Indians learned to make candles from tallow, press olives, and tan cattle hides. The hides were sold to Yankee captains who sometimes showed up at the nearby shores. The Neapites, as the converts were called, lived near the missions they had helped to build. Their labors helped to make the missions prosper. But their Spanish masters remembered the San Diego massacre and other uprisings. There were soldiers quarters at every mission. The ringing bell and the booming gun were never far apart. All mission activities were carefully recorded. Father Maynard Guyger, historian of Franciscan missions at Santa Barbara, shows with what great care annual crop and livestock figures were kept, and all births and deaths were registered. But gradually the role of the missions changed. To attract more settlers, the government began to offer large land grants called ranchos to former soldiers and other deserving people. The missions became their social center. Free land and cheap labor soon made the rancheros wealthy. They raised great herds of cattle. At roundup time, they were appraised for quality by sharpeyed traders. They took great pride in their horsemanship. And one of their favorite sports was the hunting of the grizzly bear, now extinct in California. They loved parties, hospitable to outsiders. They did not worry, as did their government, about who might hunt the sea otter. But then the Russians decided to set up a permanent trading outpost in California. In 1812, the Russian American company built a fort on the coast above San Francisco. Fort Ross, which means Russian fort, was surrounded by a strong stockade with blockhouses containing small cannon. A chapel served the hundred Russians and their 80 elute Indian hunters who lived outside the enclosure. The commander's house was within. From the day their flag was first raised, the Russians tried to win friends among the Spanish since they wanted to trade with them. They gave bells cast with cerillion letters to some of the missions. At the same time, the hunters killed thousands of sea otter that lived off the coast. The furs were sold to Boston skippers who often helped the hunters. Here are some relics found at Fort Ross. Alute spearheads and tools carved from whale bone. Fish hooks, talismans, and zsarist coins the Russians used in the area. Today, the name of the town of Sebastapool and the Russian river, once called Slaviana, are reminders that the Russians had a colony in California. Spain could do nothing about it in a national uprising. Augustine Etherbida, a former Spanish officer, became emperor. A year later, he was overthrown and Mexico was proclaimed a republic. The Mexican flag brought many changes to California. To stem discontent within, the missions had to give up their land. Half to the Indians, half to the public. To ward off dangers from without, General Valo was put in command of a strong garrison at Soma near Fort Ross. Valo did not believe the Russians were a threat to Spain. He was friendly toward the American fur trappers who appeared in increasing numbers in California. But Governor Alvarado and his successor Michelina wanted them kept out. To this end, they made large land grants rather freely to natives and naturalized citizens, often to make political friends. Today, the land grant documents are kept in the state archives at Sacramento. When California became a part of the United States, they were all re-examined by a land commission. Every landowner had to submit a handdrawn map with his title papers to have his claim honored. They have already scaled the Sierra Nevada. We're threatened by hordes of Yankee immigrants. We cannot stop. They will succeed in anything they start. Thus wrote a worried Mexican official about the early American overland parties. In 1839, John Augustus Sutter, a Swiss soldier of fortune, became a naturalized Mexican and made friends with Alvarado. The governor thought he would make a useful ally and gave him a large land grant by the Sacramento River. There, Sutter built a strong fort as center of his own little empire he called New Helvishia. By 1841, the Russians had all but killed off the sea otterter. Their efforts at farming had failed, and they abandoned Fort Ross. Setter bought the livestock and everything else that could be moved. Now, the final chapter opens in the early history of California. This is an eyewitness account in words and pictures by William Meyers, a gunner on the Sloop Cyan, a ship in the Pacific Squadron of the Young United States Fleet. On this map, Gunner Meyers charted the zigzag course the squadron followed to elude pursuing British ships. There are accounts of landings in South American and Mexican ports and pictures of the people, the water carrier, the breadman, the local blacksmith at work. This is San Diego as it appeared from the sea 300 years after Cababrio had landed. There were shore leaves with receptions and gay parties and dancing into the early hours. [Music] But the American squadron commander, Commodore Sllo, had been given secret orders. Suddenly, the parties were at an end. The Americans sailed away too west at first to fool the English fleet. About that time, American settlers had started a revolt at Soma. Using red cloth from a petticoat, they fashioned a flag with a star and a bear on it. With support from Captain John Fremont, they took General Balo as prisoner to Sutter's Fort. On the high seas, the American sailors learned that they had orders to occupy the California ports. Ship discipline was tightened with corporal punishment for offenders. Early in July 1846, the ships approached the coast. The tension mounted and so did the number of sick calls. According to Gunner Meyers on July 7th, the squadron dropped anchor in Mterrey Bay. The decisive moment had come. Gunner Meyers painted a dramatic picture of the storming of Mterrey. Actually, the landing party under Captain Murvine met with no resistance. There simply were no soldiers to resist. The only shots fired at Mteray were the gun salutes by the ships as Commodore Sllo gave the order to raise the stars and stripes over the customs house. The old customs house is now a historical museum. The bay itself is the homeport of the small fishing fleet. Overlooking the bay is Fort Murvine, an army post. For the captives of Mterrey, shore duty began. There was time off to go inland and watch the Indians gambling and to hunt for deer and boar. Though vigilance was maintained, nothing disturbed the quiet. all remained peaceful at Mterrey. On August 15th, just 5 weeks after the takeover, the first California newspaper appeared in print, partly in English and partly in Spanish. The first issue brought news of the fleet, discussed prospects of California, and came out for a constitutional assembly. But the most important item was the proclamation of war between the United States and Mexico which President Pul had issued 3 months earlier. Indeed, though Mterrey was peaceful, some battles were fought elsewhere, such as at San Pasqual near Oceanside, where outnumbered US cavalry was badly beaten. and at Buen a Vista where American forces gained a major victory before the 28 Star Flag flew over all of [Music] California. 300 years of history. There is a statue of Cababrio at Point Loma where he landed in 1542. A plaque tells of the fate of the Portuguese discoverer. The plate of brass that Francis Drake left nailed to a post was found in 1934. It is kept in the Bankraftoft Library of the University of California. A statue of Father Sarah marks the original site of San Diego mission. Now there are cities along the route the early Spanish settlers opened with their ox carts. The dusty trail they called king's highway today is worthy of the name. Some of the missions and puebllos have been restored by the state. Parisima conpsion. San Juan Batista Carmel. There are the baking ovens, olive presses, grinding stones, and tallow vats where Indians labored. An Indian burial ground at Pala, the only mission still serving a Pueblo. Others are in ruins. There's Soma, where the California flag was born. The battlefield of San Pasqual. The chapel at Fort Ross. A gun at Mter Ray. This is Mteray's Colton Hall. Through these doors, on the first day of September 1849, entered 48 men, chosen senators, ready to sign a document they had labored over for some weeks. The California Constitution. Among its signers, the original is kept in the state archives, were General Valo and John Sutter. Both had switched their allegiance in good time. Within a year, California would become the 31st state of the Union. Now that the Constitution was signed, Setter hurried back to his fort. His landing place was crowded with ships. Almost overnight, he had become world famous because of a find his carpenter had made while building a sawmill. But that's another story. 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