The People Who Influenced
California in the 1800’s
The Exploration of
California
John C. Fremont
Jedediah Smith
John Bidwell
John Charles Fremont
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Traveled from Missouri to
the West.
His lively map reporting
enticed Americans, from
the east coast, to travel
to California
Traveled to the Great Salt
Lake region in 1843
The Mormons were
encouraged, by
Fremont’s detail, to travel
to California
John C. Fremont
Highlights
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HARPER'S WEEKLY: JULY 13, 1861.
Ran for political office
in 1856.
Fought in the Civil
War.
First Senator from
California
Governor of
Arizona,1878-81
Died in New York City,
July 13, 1890
View of the Wind River Range. Illustration from Fremont's 1st
and 2nd Western Expedition Book published 1845.
1842 and 1843, Eruptions of Mount St. Helens and
Mount Rainier,
and map detail of the peaks of the Cascade Range
(Published in 1845)
Fremont in the Klamath
On his journey from California, Fremont and his expedition party were attacked
by Indians in Southern Oregon.
Jedediah Smith
1799-1831
“I wanted to be the
first to view a
country on which
the eyes of a white
man had never
gazed and to follow
the course of rivers
that run through a
new land."
Jedediah Smith
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Traveled to Arizona through
Mojave Desert
1st American to travel
through California and
through the southwest.
He also crossed the Great
Basin of California
“The heat became so
unbearable Smith and his
men had to bury themselves
in sand to keep cool. “
Jedediah Smith’s Travels
John Bidwell
Traveled from
Missouri to California
 He fought alongside
John C. Fremont in
the Mexican War
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John Bidwell
Travels through California
He
seemed considerably
agitated, and reported that at
the Mission of San José, some
fifteen miles this side of the town
of San José, all the men had been
arrested and put in prison by
General Vallejo, Mexican
commander- in-chief of the
military under Governor
Alvarado, he alone having been
sent back to tell Marsh and to
have him come forthwith to
explain why this armed force had
invaded the country. We reached
Marsh’s after dark.
John Bidwell
Travels to Fort Sutter
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“We got out of provisions and were about three days without food.
Game was plentiful. but hard to shoot in the rain. Besides, it was
impossible to keep our old flint-lock guns dry, and especially the
powder dry in the pans. On the eighth day we came to Sutter’s
settlement; the fort had not then been begun. Sutter received us
with open arms and in a princely fashion, for he was a man of the
most polite address and the most courteous manners, a man who
could shine in an society. Moreover, our coming was not
unexpected to him. “
 John Bidwell’s Diary
John Bidwell
Meets John Sutter
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We got out of provisions and were
about three days without food. Game
was plentiful. but hard to shoot in the
rain. Besides, it was impossible to
keep our old flint-lock guns dry, and
especially the powder dry in the pans.
On the eighth day we came to Sutter’s
settlement; the fort had not then been
begun. Sutter received us with open
arms and in a princely fashion, for he
was a man of the most polite address
and the most courteous manners, a
man who could shine in an society.
Moreover, our coming was not
unexpected to him.
 John Bidwell’s Diary
James Beckwourth
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1st African-American who documented
his travels through California
Born as a slave
Lived with Crow Indians
Fought in California Revolution
He was a scout for John C. Fremont
In 1850 in the Sierra Nevada,
Beckwourth found an important and
safer pass that led pioneers and gold
seekers to the fields of California (now
called "Beckwourth Pass").
Beckwourth Pass
The Gold Rush
John Sutter
James Marshall
Sam Brannan
John Sutter
(1803-1880)
 He was a trader who
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traveled through the Oregon
trail, San Francisco Bay,
Hawaiian Island to Sitka,
Alaska
He established a settlement
in Yerba Buena (east of San
Francisco)
He made his headquarters
along the American River at
junction with Sacramento
River
Established Fort Sutter
Died a poor man
Fort Sutter
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It was established in
1841.
It was trading post for
Americans traveling
through California.
Also, Sutter created a
myriad of relationships
with immigrants which
provided political
protection when the
Mexican War occured.
Fort Sutter
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With the discovery of gold, Fort Sutter collapsed
because of the influx of gold rushers and squatters.
Sutter described it this way: "Everyone left, from
the clerk to the cook, and I was in great distress."
Discovery of Gold
“I went in the race and picked
up several pieces of this gold,
several of the laborers gave
me some which they had
picked up, and from Marshall
I received a part. I told them
that I would get a ring made
of this gold as soon as it could
be done in California; and I
have had a heavy ring made,
with my family’s cost of arms
engraved on the outside, and
on the inside of the ring is
engraved, “The first gold,
discovered in January, 1848.”
Sutter’s Diary
James Marshall
He was building a
sawmill for John
Sutter.
 He discovered gold
nuggets on January
24, 1848.
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Sutter’s Sawmill
James Marshall at Sutter's Sawmill, Coloma, California, 1851
James Marshall discovery of gold
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went down as usual, and after shutting
off the water from the race I stepped into
it, near the lower end, and there, upon
the rock, about six inches beneath the
surface of the water, I discovered the
gold. I then collected four or five pieces
and went up to Mr. Scott (who was
working at the carpenter's bench making
the mill wheel) and the pieces in my hand
and said, 'I have found it.'
'What is it?' inquired Scott.
'Gold,' I answered.
'Oh! No,' returned Scott, 'that can't be!'
I replied positively, 'I know it to be
nothing else.'"
Sam Brannan
He publicized the
discovery of gold
 Became California’s
1st millionaire by
selling goods and
supplies to miners.
 Died poor and lonely
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“Gold! Gold on the American River!“
Sam Brannan yelled in the streets
The Gold Rush
The Women of the 1800’s
Mary Tape
Louise Clapp
Helen Hunt Jackson
Bernanda Ruiz
Louise Clapp
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Louise wrote the life and times of living near the gold
mines.
She wrote letters to her sister, Molly, who lived in New
England.
Her letters were published under Dame Shirley in 1854
Dame Shirley
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“Really, everybody
ought to go to the
mines just to see how
little it takes to make
people comfortable in
the world.”
By Dame Shirley
Helen Hunt Jackson
She wrote about the
unfair treatment of
the Indians at the
hands of the
government.
 Her most famous
books were Ramona
and A Century of
Dishonor
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A quote from
A Century of Dishonor
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history of the Government
connections with the Indians is
a shameful record of broken
treaties and unfulfilled
promises. The history of the
border white man's connection
with the Indians is a sickening
record of murder, outrage,
robbery, and wrongs committed
by the former, as the rule, and
occasional savage outbreaks
and unspeakably barbarous
deeds of retaliation by the
latter, as the exception.
A quote from
A Century of Dishonor
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“Cheating, robbing, breaking promises-these
three are clearly things which must cease to be
done. One more thing, also, and that is the refusal
of the protection of the law to the Indian's rights
of property, "of life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness."
Mary Tape
Joseph and Mary Tape, tried to enroll their 8-year-old
U.S.-born daughter in San Francisco's all-white Spring
Valley School in September 1884.
Joseph, Emily, Mamie, Frank & Mary Tape circa 1884–85
California Political Code had been repealed by the state legislature in
April 1880. Section 1662 of the revised Code read:
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Every school, unless otherwise provided by law,
must be open for the admission of all children
between six and twenty-one years of age
residing in the district; and the board of
trustees, or city board of education, have power
to admit adults and children not residing in the
district whenever good reason exists therefore.
Trustees shall have the power to exclude
children of filthy and vicious habits, or children
suffering from contagious or infectious diseases.
Mary Tape’s Letter to School Board,
1885
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Dear Sirs: I see that you are going to make all
sorts of excuses to keep my child out off the
Public schools. Dear sirs, Will you please to tell
me! Is it a disgrace to be Born a Chinese? Didn’t
God make us all!!! What right have you to bar my
children out of the schools because she is a
Chinese Descend…. Do you call that a Christian
act to compel my little children to go so far to a
school that is made in purpose for them. My
children don’t dress like the other Chinese…. Her
playmates is all Caucasians ever since she could
toddle around. If she is good enough to play with
them! Then is she not good enough to be in the
same room and studie with them?… It seems no
matter how a Chinese may live and dress so long
as you know they Chinese. Then they are hated
as one. There is not any right or justice for them.
1885 Court Ruling
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On 9 January 1885,
Superior Court Judge
McGuire decided the case
in favor of the parents,
writing, “To deny a child,
born of Chinese parents
in this State, entrance to
the public schools would
be a violation of the law
of the State and the
Constitution of the United
States.”
School Superintendent Andrew Jackson Moulder lobbied a
compliant state legislature to introduce Assembly Bill 268,
which was passed under an “urgency provision.”
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...and also to
establish separate
schools for children of
Mongolian or Chinese
descent. When such
separate schools are
established Chinese
or Mongolian children
must not be admitted
into any other
schools.
Bridget "Biddy" Mason
(1818-1891)
She was born a slave
 Traveled with Robert Smith
who was a Mormon and
moving to Utah territory
 She handled his cattle
 Biddy settled in California
 She petitioned to be freed.
 One of the first women to own
land in Los Angeles
 Buried in Boyle Heights
(Evergreen Cemetery)
 With the Compromise of 1850,
Mason challenged her freedom
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Compromise of 1850
California. would
be free
 Mexican states
would be divided they decide if they
want slaves
 slave trade would
end in D.C. but not
slavery
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California Constitution
Bernarda Ruiz brokered a peace treaty between
Pico and Fremont
during the Mexican War
The peace meeting
was on January 13,
1847
 The peace meeting
was at the Cahuenga
Pass
 She led a peace
compromise between
Andres Pico and John
C. Fremont
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Andres Pico
John Charles Fremont
Bennett Riley
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He was responsible for
creating California’s
constitution in 1849.
The Californians met in
Monterey from Sept. to
Oct. It was ratified on
Nov. 13, 1849.
California was admitted
to the union in 1850 as
the 31st state.
California Constitution
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Hubert Howe Bancroft, in describing the
convention, stated:
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“Never in the history of the world did a similar
convention come together. They were there to
form a state out of unorganized territory; out of
territory only lately wrested from a subjugated
people, who were allowed to assist in framing a
constitution in conformity with the political views
of the conquerors."
California Delegates
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“June 3, 1849, issued by Bvt. Brigadier-General Bennet
Riley, U.S.A., the then Military Governor, which
recommended "the formation of a State constitution or a
plan for a territorial government."
According to this proclamation, the convention was to
consist of thirty-seven delegates, to be chosen as
follows: two from San Diego; four from Los Angeles; two
from Santa Barbara; two from San Luis Obispo; five from
Monterey; five from San Jose; five from San Francisco;
four from Sonoma; four from Sacramento; and four from
San Joaquin. “
General Riley issued this proclamation
to the People of California
"The people are now called upon to form a
government for themselves, and to designate
such officers as they desire to make and
execute the laws. That their choice may be
wisely made, and that the government so
organized may secure the permanent welfare
and happiness of the people of the new State,
is the sincere and earnest wish of the present
Executive, who, if the Constitution be ratified,
will, with pleasure, surrender his powers to
whomsoever the people may designate as his
successor." ( part of the proclamation)
Peter Burnett
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First Civilian
governor for
California in 1849
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo
He protected the interest of
the Californians
 The Treaty of GuadalupeHidalgo was supposed to
protect the rights of the
Californians.
 Vallejo lost much of his
land and power with the
Gold Rush.
 American Settlers took
Vallejo’s landholdings.
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Pio Pico
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Last Mexican Governor of
California
He served a brief term in
1832 and again from
March 1845 to July 1846.
One of the key events
during his administration
was the finalization of the
secularization of
California’s missions.
Chinese Immigrants Influenced
California’s Economy
Chinese Influence in the Railroad
The great curved trestle at Secret Town was the largest
structure of its type on the railroad. In this remarkable
photograph, which shows the Chinese laborers bringing a never
ending supply of dirt from the mountainside, the trestle is being
filled in to eliminate the fire hazard and avoid replacement of
the aging timbers.
Chinese Working in California
In 1851, 3,000
Chinese arrived in
California to worked
the mines.
 In 1852, 20,000
arrived.
 The worked was
primarily in Calaveras,
El Dorado and
Amador counties
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Chinese working the gold mines
The Chinese and the Railroad
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In 1865, there was a labor shortage building the Central
Pacific railroad.
There was friction between the Irish immigrants and the
Chinese immigrants.
The Chinese proved to be reliable and efficient workers.
Charles Crocker contracted the
Chinese to work on the railroad
Wherever we put them,
we found them good,"
Crocker recalled, "and
they worked themselves
into our favor to such an
extent that if we found
we were in a hurry for a
job of work, it was
better to put Chinese on
at once."
Chinese labor force was reliable
and efficient
The Chinese were
punctual, willing and
well-behaved.
 They were known as
“Celestials” for their
spiritual beliefs.
 The Caucasian
counterparts began
to feel resentment
towards the Chinese
workers.
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How were the Chinese treated in US in the political?
Who is the woman in
the illustration?
 Why is the man
sitting down?
 What are the men are
doing?
 What words are on
the poster?
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Website used for this power point
Coloma Valley Historical Society
http://www.coloma.com/gold/
Mary Tape
http://www.berkeleyheritage.com/essays/tape_f
amily.html
California State Parks
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=23741
Caliornia Constitution
PBS and the West
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/su
tter.htm
Quotes related to Helen Hunt Jackson
Sutter’s Diary” San Francisco Museum
http://www.sfmuseum.net/hist6/grush.html
Fremont Biography
http://historytogo.utah.gov/people/johncharlesfr
emont.html
John C. Fremont’s pictures
http://www.museumoflocalhistory.org/fremont/g
allery.php
http://www.militarymuseum.org/Constitution.ht
ml
http://www.nativevillage.org/
Chinese and the railroad
http://www.nps.gov/archive/gosp/research/chin
ese%26rr.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/tcrr/peopleeven
ts/p_cprr.html