Northern California

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Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, including the state's fourth largest city and a major center of government, commerce, and culture; the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern California coast, the Big Sur coastline area, the Sierra Nevada including Yosemite Valley and Lake Tahoe, and Mt. Shasta, the second-highest peak in the Cascade Range.

Native Americans descended on Northern California perhaps as early as 5,000 to 8,000 BCE, and successive waves of arrivals led to one of the most densely populated areas of pre-Columbian North America. The arrival of European explorers from the early 1500s to the mid-1700s, did not lead to European settlements in Northern California. The Spanish mission at Monterey was the first European settlement in the area, followed by other missions along the coast—eventually extending as far north to Sonoma County.

Contents 1 Description 2 Geography and climate 3 History 3.1 European explorers 3.2 Spanish era 3.3 Mexican era 3.4 American interest 3.5 Beginning of United States era 4 Cities 5 Educational Institutions 6 Regions & Parks 7 Counties 8 Major Cities 9 See also 10 Notes 11 External links

[edit] Description

Definitions of what areas constitute "Northern California" vary considerably. The term usually refers to the area north of the ten counties of Southern California, anything northward of San Luis Obispo County or the Transverse Ranges, while others distinguish the Northern and Central Coast areas from the San Luis Obispo County to Santa Cruz County. Moreover, though many residents of rural far Northern California define their region as encompassing only those areas to the north of the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento metropolitan areas. This definition becomes problematic for inland regions; the Central Valley is a distinct region in itself both culturally and topographically from coastal California, though in Northern versus Central California divisions, the Sacramento Valley is usually placed in Northern California and the San Joaquin Valley is placed in Central California. Division of the Sierra Nevada and Eastern California regions into Northern, Central, and Southern California is even more problematic.

[edit] Geography and climate

The region is highly diverse, but can be generally characterized by its beautiful coastline, redwood forests, marine to warm Mediterranean climates and, apart from the San Francisco Bay Area, low population density. It is also a land of wine country, the high mountains of the Sierras, the southern Cascade Ranges, Trinity Alps, and the Klamath Mountains, lakes, and windswept sagebrush steppe, in the northeast portion of the state.

[edit] History

Inhabited for millenia by Native Americans, from the Shasta tribe in the north, to the Miwoks in the central coast and Sierra Nevada, to the Yokuts of the southern Central Valley, Northern California was among the most densely populated areas of pre-Columbian North America.^[1]

[edit] European explorers

The first European explorers, flying the flags of Spain and of England, sailed along the coast of California from the early 1500s to the mid-1700s, but no European settlements were established. The first European to explore the coast was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese navigator sailing for the Spanish Crown. In 1542, Cabrillo led an expedition that landed at San Diego Bay, and continued north to explore a coastal route to reach the Asian mainland. But Cabrillo died during this voyage, and the remainder of the exploration was led by Bartolomé Ferrelo, who sailed perhaps as far north as the Rogue River in today's Oregon.^[2]

Beginning in 1565, the Manila Galleons crossed the Pacific Ocean from Mexico to the Spanish possession of the Philippines, laden with silver and gemstones from Mexico. There, the wealth was used to purchase Asian trade goods such as spices, silk, and porcelain. The Manila Galleons then followed prevailing winds across the northern Pacific, and reached the North American continent typically off the coast of Northern California. The Manila Galleons then coasted southward to the port of Acapulco in Mexico, where the Asian goods were destined for shipment to Spain and sale in Europe.

In 1579, Northern California was visited by the English explorer Sir Francis Drake who landed north of today's San Francisco and claimed the area for England; the next official visit by the British would be some two hundred years later.

In 1602, the Spaniard Sebastián Vizcaíno explored California's coastline as far north as Monterey Bay, where he went ashore. He ventured inland south along the coast, and recorded a visit to what is likely Carmel Bay. His major contributions to the state's history were the glowing reports of the Monterey area as an anchorage and as land suitable for settlement, as well as the detailed charts he made of the coastal waters used for nearly 200 years.^[3][4] Other Spanish explorers sailed along the coastline of Northern California for the next 150 years, but no settlements were established.

[edit] Spanish era

The first European inhabitants were Spanish missionaries, who built missions along the California coast. The mission at Monterey (Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo) was first established in 1770, and the mission at San Francisco (Mission San Francisco de Asís) was founded in 1776. In all, some 15 missions would eventually stretch along the coast from Sonoma south to Santa Barbara (and still more missions to the southern tip of Baja California).

In 1786, the French signaled their interest in the Northern California area by sending group of French scientists and artists on a voyage of exploration to Monterey, California. They compiled an account of the California mission system, the land and the people.

Explorers and fur trappers from the Russian Empire established settlements in Alaska (beginning in 1784), and then expanded hunting and trading down the west coast of North America. By the early 1800s, fur trappers of the Russian Empire hunted for sea otter pelts as far south as San Diego. In 1812, the Russian-American Company set up a fortified trading post at Fort Ross, near present day Bodega Bay some sixty miles north of San Francisco.

The first twenty years of the 19th century continued the slow colonization of the California coast by Spanish missionaries, ranchers, and troops. By 1820, Spanish influence extended inland approximately 25 to 50 miles from the missions. Outside of this zone, perhaps 200,000 to 250,000 Native Americans were continuing to lead traditional lives. The Adams-Onís Treaty, signed in 1819 between Spain and the young United States, set the northern boundary of the Spanish claims at the 42nd parallel, effectively creating today's northern boundary of California.

[edit] Mexican era

After Mexico won its War of Independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico initially retained Spain's missions and settlements along the Pacific coast, and continued Spain's claims to territory as far north as today's border between California and Oregon. In the 1830s, Mexico ended Church control of the missions in California and opened the land to secular development, particularly ranching. By the 1840s, there were small Mexican settlements at the territorial capital at Monterey, San Francisco, Sonoma, and elsewhere along the coast (primarily near the sites of the original missions). The Californios (Spanish-speaking Californians) in these settlements primarily traded cattle hides and tallow with American and European merchant vessels which came to call.

In 1825, the Hudson's Bay Company established a major trading post at Fort Vancouver just north of today's Portland, Oregon. From this headquarters, for the next 20 years, British fur trappers and hunters used the Siskiyou Trail to travel throughout Northern California, as far south as modern-day Stockton. Trapping parties (or "brigades" as they were known) typically crossed the recognized border at the 42nd parallel, and trapped in the Shasta Cascade region, the Sierra Nevada foothills and Central Valley, without official Mexican permission or even knowledge.^[5]

The leader of a further French scientific expedition to Northern California, Eugene Duflot de Mofras, wrote in 1840 "...it is evident that California will belong to whatever nation chooses to send there a man-of-war and two hundred men."^[6] In 1841, the Mexican military commander in Northern California, General Mariano Vallejo, wrote "there is no doubt that France is intriguing to become mistress of California."

By the 1830s, a significant number of non-Californios had immigrated to Northern California. Chief among these was John Sutter, a European immigrant from Switzerland, who was granted 48,827 acres (19,759 ha) centered on the area of today's Sacramento. Sutter built Sutter's Fort, and embarked on plans for an agricultural empire.^[7]

[edit] American interest

American trappers and "mountain men" began filtering into Northern California in the 1830s.^[8] In 1834, American visionary Ewing Young led a herd of horses and mules over the Siskiyou Trail from missions in Northern California to British and American settlements in Oregon. Although this initial effort was met with suspicion by Hudson's Bay Company officials in Oregon, Young returned to Northern California in 1837, where he purchased 700 head of cattle which he drove over the Siskiyou Trail to Oregon. This monumental task required nearly three months through largely uncharted territory.^{[9] [10]}

Although a small number of American traders and trappers had lived in Northern California since the early 1830s, the first organized overland party of American immigrants was the Bidwell-Bartleson party of 1841.^[11] With mules and on foot, this pioneering group groped their way across the continent using the still untested California Trail. Also in 1841, an overland exploratory party of the United States Exploring Expedition came down the Siskiyou Trail from the Pacific Northwest. In 1844, Caleb Greenwood guided the first settlers to take wagons over the Sierra Nevada. In 1846, the misfortunes of the Donner Party earned notoriety as they struggled to enter Northern California.

[edit] Beginning of United States era

When the Mexican-American War was declared on May 13, 1846 between the United States and Mexico, it took almost two months (mid-July 1846) for definite word of war to get to California. U.S. consul Thomas O. Larkin, stationed in Monterey, on hearing rumors of war tried to keep peace between the Americans and the small Mexican military garrison commanded by José Castro. American army captain John C. Frémont with about 60 well-armed men had entered California in December 1845 and was making a slow march to Oregon when they received word that war between Mexico and the U.S. was imminent.^[12]

On June 15, 1846, some 30 non-Mexican settlers, mostly Americans, staged a revolt and seized the small Mexican garrison in Sonoma. They raised the "Bear Flag" of the California Republic over Sonoma. It lasted one week until the U.S. Army, led by Frémont, took over on June 23.^[13] The California state flag today is based on this original Bear Flag, and continues to contain the words "California Republic."

Commodore John Drake Sloat, on hearing of imminent war and the revolt in Sonoma, ordered his naval forces to occupy Yerba Buena (present San Francisco) on July 7 and raise the American flag. On July 15, Sloat transferred his command to Commodore Robert F. Stockton, a much more aggressive leader. Commodore Stockton, put Frémont's forces under his orders. On July 19th, Frémont's "California Battalion" swelled to about 160 additional men from newly arrived settlers near Sacramento, and he entered Monterey in a joint operation with some of Stockton's sailors and marines. The official word had been received—the Mexican-American War was on. The American forces easily took over Northern California; within days they controlled San Francisco, Sonoma, and Sutter's Fort in Sacramento.^[13]

In January 1847, the last significant body of Californios surrendered to Frémont, and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed on February 2, 1848, marked the end of the Mexican-American War. In that treaty, the United States agreed to pay Mexico $18,250,000; Mexico formally ceded Northern California (and other northern territories) to the United States, and a new international boundary was drawn.

[edit] Cities

Northern California's largest metropolitan area is the San Francisco Bay Area which includes the cities of San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, and their many suburbs, and the Silicon Valley high-tech region. The California state capital, Sacramento, and the state's largest inland city, Fresno, are also in Northern California. Other important cities in the region include Yreka to the far north, Redding at the northern end of the Central Valley, Chico, in the mid-north of the Valley, Eureka on the northern coast, and Yuba City and Marysville directly east of the Sutter Buttes.

[edit] Educational Institutions

Northern California hosts a number of the most prestigious and renowned universities and academic institutions in the world. Five of the ten University of California campuses; UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Francisco, and the newly created UC Merced, and nine California State University campuses; Chico State, San Francisco State, Fresno State, Humboldt State, Sonoma State, San Jose State, CSU Maritime, CSU East Bay, and Sacramento State). Of the private institutions are included Stanford University, the University of San Francisco, Santa Clara University, St. Mary's College and Mills College.

[edit] Regions & Parks

• Bidwell Park
• Emerald Triangle
• Gold Country
• Grey Lodge Wildlife Reserve
• Mount Shasta
• Shasta Cascade
• Tri-Valley
• Wine Country
• Yosemite
• Yuba-Sutter Area

[edit] Counties

Alameda County Butte County Contra Costa County Del Norte County Fresno County Humboldt County Lake County Lassen County Madera County

Marin County Mendocino County Modoc County Monterey County Napa County Sacramento County San Benito County San Joaquin County San Francisco County

San Mateo County Santa Clara County Santa Cruz County Shasta County Siskiyou County Solano County Sonoma County Sutter County Yuba County

[edit] Major Cities

Berkeley Chico Eureka Fresno Fremont Monterey Modesto

Oakland Red Bluff Redding Roseville Sacramento Salinas San Francisco

San Jose Santa Rosa Stockton Yuba City

[edit] See also

• Northern California-Southern California rivalry
• History of the west coast of North America
• History of California to 1899
• Redwood Empire

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Museum of the Siskiyou Trail