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California: A History

Arman Vatanpur

California originally entered history as a mythIn

1510, the Spanish writer Garci Ordonez de Montalvowrote a sequel to his novel about the people known as the Californians who were black Amazons under the command of Queen Calafia who were at war with people from Constantinople

They were described as having weapons that were even made out of gold

Queen Calafia’s Island: Place and First People

In the book Queen Calafia sets out to join other great captains in a siege against the Turks with her fleet of ships

Also in the book it talks about her and the rest of the Californians becoming Christians after giving up their evil ways of feeding their male babies to their griffinsQueen Calafia’s Island: Place and First People

The Californians ruled by Queen Calafia was described as having a bountiful amount of gold and precious stones which incised all the readers of the popular book, a land made out of gold was almost everyone’s dream to find

Queen Calafia’s Island: Place and First People

Within the decade, the Spanish sailing expedition commanded by a Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan would create hope finding the wealth in the Indies

With five vessels and 265 men he reached the shores of South Africa in January

He also traveled to South America, the Marianas and the Philippines

Even though he was killed attempting to solve a native dispute, one of his ships again reached Europe, being the first ever to travel the globe

Laws of the Indies: Spanish Colonial Era

Magellan’s expedition linked Spain, the Atlantic, the Caribbean, South America, Central America, Mexico, the Pacific and the Philippines that would hold its unity until its collapse in the Spanish empire in the early 1800’s

Mexico would soon lead to the exploration of California as well as the settlement

However, Mexico had to become Spanish first by being conquered

Laws of the Indies: Spanish Colonial Era

Hernan Cortes, who was another explorer who participated in the conquest of Cuba decided to do the same in Mexico

He sailed to Mexico in February 1519

By November he had reached the Aztec capital and had seized the Aztec emperor Montezuma which after he made deals with other local Indians in order to take over

Laws of the Indies: Spanish Colonial Era

James Marshall finds gold at Sutters mill on Jan 24 th 1848

Dec 5 1848 President Polk made it official that GOLD had been found in California

The “rush” a mass migration to California from all over the world

Striking it Rich

Mostly young men but some middle aged venture to California

They would choose one of three routes Overland Ship via panama Ship around the horn

Striking it Rich

The “mother lode” 210 miles long in sierra Nevada foot hills

The gold was not under private owenership

It belonged to everyone provided they could find it

Striking it Rich