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to California - Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego
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California,
a state of the far-western United States, is widely known for its great
natural beauty, its highly productive farms and factories, and its innovative
social and political ideas. The state has an area larger than that of
Germany. Its many cities include Los Angeles, a major center of the entertainment
and aerospace industries as well as a noted financial center, and San
Francisco, also a sophisticated financial center. Often depicted as a
fabulous land of opportunity, the state has lured millions of migrants
since the mid-19th century, when gold was discovered there, and by the
late 1970s it was the nation's most populous state. California is bordered
by Oregon in the north, by Nevada and Arizona in the east, by Mexico in
the south, and by the Pacific Ocean in the west. The state is named after
a fictional island of great wealth described in a novel (published about
1500) by the Spanish writer Garci Ordonez de Montalvo; the name was probably
first applied (early 16th century) to the southern tip of Baja California
by the Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes.
LAND AND RESOURCES
California is a state of great scenic beauty, and it is well endowed with
natural resources. Its highest point is Mount Whitney (4,418 m/14,494
ft), the loftiest point in the conterminous United States; and its lowest
point, in Death Valley (86 m/282 ft below sea level), is the lowest point
in the Western Hemisphere.
Physiographic Regions
California has a varied and complex topography, the main features of which
are the large Central Valley and the mountain ranges that enclose it.
The Central, or Great, Valley, about 805 km (500 mi) long and 80 km (50
mi) wide, includes two major drainage basins: the Sacramento River system,
in the north, and the San Joaquin River system, in the south. Both ultimately
empty into the Pacific Ocean. In the extreme southern part of the valley
is a region of interior drainage, formerly occupied in part by Tulare
and Buena Vista lakes. The Central Valley generally is very flat, with
elevations of less than 150 m (492 ft). It is mostly overlain by deep
deposits of fertile alluvium, washed down from the mountains. The valley
is bounded on the northwest by the Klamath Mountains, a rugged, forested
range, with peaks reaching an altitude of more than 2,700 m (8,900 ft).
The southern portion of the Cascade Range borders the Central Valley on
the northeast. The Cascades include isolated lofty volcanic peaks, the
highest of which is Mount Shasta (4,317 m/14,162 ft), as well as cinder
cones, lava flows, and beds of ash, pumice, and tuff. Lassen Peak (3,187
m/10,457 ft) is one of the two active volcanoes in the conterminous United
States. Lassen last erupted in 1914-21.
To the east of the Central Valley is the great Sierra Nevada, a north-south
mountain barrier with many peaks rising more than 4,267 m (14,000 ft);
the highest point is Mount Whitney. The western slopes are cut by deep
river canyons, such as the Yosemite Valley, that were formed in part by
glacial action. Historic Donner Pass is part of an important route across
the Sierra Nevada.
The Central Valley is bounded on the west and south by the Coast Ranges,
which extend parallel to the Pacific from the Klamath Mountains to Point
Conception, with a break at San Francisco Bay. Component parts of these
mountains include the Diablo, San Rafael, Santa Cruz, and Santa Lucia
ranges. The northern parts of the Coast Ranges are forested and have fertile
valleys (such as the Napa Valley), whereas the drier southern portion
is covered with chaparral, a dense brush, or with oak-grass woodlands.
The San Andreas Fault, a visible fracture in the Earth's crust, cuts through
the Coast Ranges; movements along the fault cause periodic earthquakes.
However, the 1994 Northridge earthquake, centered in a Los Angeles suburb,
is believed to have been caused by a system of subterranean faults underlying
the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains.
Southeast of the Coast Ranges are the Transverse Ranges, a group of east-west-trending
mountains that include the Santa Monica, San Gabriel, and San Bernardino
mountains. The highest point is Mount San Gorgonio (3,506 m/11,502 ft),
in the San Bernardino Mountains. The Transverse Ranges enclose many valleys
and lowlands, but the only large expanse of flatland is the Los Angeles
Lowland, the site of the city of Los Angeles. South of the Los Angeles
Ranges are the Peninsular Ranges, part of a system that extends into the
Baja California peninsula of Mexico.
To the east of California's major mountain systems are extensive regions
of arid basins and valleys, with several other mountain ranges. In the
northeast and east-center are parts of the Great Basin; the latter area
includes Death Valley as well as the Panamint range. In southeastern California
is the large Mojave Desert and the Salton Trough, which includes the Salton
Sea and the Imperial Valley.
The state has about 1,348 km (838 mi) of coastline along the Pacific Ocean.
Much of it is rocky and rugged, but southern California has numerous large
sand beaches. The Channel Islands (see Santa Barbara Islands), which include
Santa Catalina Island, are located in the Pacific near Los Angeles.
Rivers and Lakes
The principal rivers of California are the Sacramento and San Joaquin,
which merge shortly before emptying into the Pacific Ocean via San Francisco
Bay. Most of the state's other large rivers flow into either the Sacramento
or the San Joaquin. Rivers not part of these systems include the Colorado
River, which forms California's southeastern border; the Kern River, in
the south central part of the state; and the Klamath River, in the northwest.
Many of the state's smaller streams flow only during a few months of the
year.
California has many large natural lakes. These include Lake Tahoe, astride
the border with Nevada; Goose Lake, straddling the boundary with Oregon;
and the shallow Salton Sea, in the south, formed (1905-07) by floodwaters
of the Colorado River. The state also has numerous artificial lakes, created
by dams on rivers. These include Lake Oroville, Clair Engle Lake, Folsom
Reservoir, and Shasta Lake.
Water Distribution
Natural water supplies in California are distributed unevenly and do not
parallel the need. The northern third of the state receives about 70 percent
of California's total annual precipitation, but the southern two-thirds
(with large population centers, huge tracts of farmland needing irrigation,
and numerous industrial establishments) requires about 80 percent of the
water. As a consequence, several great projects have been constructed
to transfer water to the south. These include the immense California Water
Project, which delivers Feather River water (gathered at Oroville Dam)
to the San Francisco area, the San Joaquin Valley, Los Angeles, and San
Diego via more than 900 km (559 mi) of aqueducts; the Central Valley Project,
which transfers waters of the Sacramento River system to the southern
part of the Central Valley; the All-American Canal, which carries water
from the Colorado River to the Imperial Valley; and the Owens Valley and
Colorado River aqueducts, which supply water to the Los Angeles area.
Climate
California has a varied climate pattern, the result of its complex topography
and wide latitudinal range. Most of the state has only two distinguishable
seasons--a rainy period (October to April) and a dry period (May to September).
Annual precipitation is greatest in the north, especially near the coast,
which receives about 2,032 mm (80 in) of moisture yearly. The south gets
much less precipitation; Los Angeles receives only about 381 mm (15 in)
and San Diego just 254 mm (10 in). Desert areas receive even less moisture.
Temperatures are mild along the coast, with relatively small variations
between the warmest and coolest months; the southern coast is somewhat
warmer than the central and northern coasts. The average recorded January
temperature in Los Angeles is 13 degrees C (56 degrees F), and in San
Francisco it is 10 degrees C (50 degrees F); the mean recorded July temperature
in Los Angeles is 22 degrees C (72 degrees F), and in San Francisco it
is 15 degrees C (59 degrees F). The Central Valley often has a mild climate,
but other parts of the interior are either markedly hotter (Death Valley
and the Mojave Desert, for example) or colder (the lofty peaks of the
Sierra Nevada).
Vegetation and Animal Life
California's great climatic and topographic diversity is reflected in
the variety of its plants and animals. Forests cover about 42 percent
of the state; almost half the forestland is in California's 22 national
forests. The humid northwest has dense coniferous forests, which extend
south along the coast past Monterey; these coastal forests include numerous
tall trees, especially the redwood (ranging to about 113 m/371 ft high).
The forests thin toward the east, and much of the Coast Ranges is covered
with chaparral. The Sierra Nevada foothills and coastal southern California
also have much chaparral. Higher parts of the Sierra Nevada and some sections
of the Transverse and Peninsular ranges are covered by woodlands of conifers,
especially yellow pine. The Sierra Nevada is noted for its massive sequoia
trees. California's deserts have a sparse cover of xerophytes (drought-resistant
plants), including many types of cactus in the Mojave Desert.
Large mammals, such as deer, bears, and cougars, are found in the northwest
and in the Sierra Nevada. Chaparral areas have deer, rabbits, coyotes,
rattlesnakes, tortoises, and many rodents. Desert wildlife, surprisingly
rich, includes bighorn sheep, wild burros, coyotes, hares, sidewinders
(a variety of rattlesnake), and numerous lizards. The extremely rare California
condor, the largest bird of North America, is found in the Transverse
ranges. The state's rivers and lakes contain salmon, bass, and trout;
coastal marine waters are noted for their shellfish and grunion.
Mineral Resources
California has economically important deposits of many minerals. Among
the more important are crude petroleum and natural gas, found in the southern
Central Valley and in coastal southern California (both onshore and offshore);
boron and tungsten, located in the deserts of the southeast; and sand
and gravel, found in most parts of the state. Other minerals include asbestos,
copper, feldspar, gold, iron ore, mercury, potash, soda ash, sulfur, and
uranium.
PEOPLE
California, the nation's most populous state, had a resident population
of 29,760,021 at the time of the 1990 census, with a population growth
rate of more than 25 percent during the 1980s (compared to the national
growth rate of 9.8 percent). California has had a high rate of population
growth ever since it became a state in 1850. In the post-World War II
era, the highest growth rates (of about 50 percent--much of it from in-migration)
occurred between 1940 and 1960. The rate slowed significantly from the
late 1980s through the mid 1990s, however, due in part to recession and
out-migration.
The great majority of California's inhabitants are white, but there are
significant communities of minority groups. The state's Asian population,
which grew by 127 percent between 1980 and 1990, is the fastest growing
ethnic group, and Asians now make up nearly 10 percent of California's
population. Within the various Asian communities, San Francisco's Chinese-American
community is perhaps the best known. Many from that group are descended
from persons who immigrated during 1850-79 to work in the goldfields and
on railroad construction. Persons of Hispanic origin, with a 69.2 percent
population-growth rate (about 25 percent of the total state population),
are the second-fastest-growing ethnic group in the state. The heaviest
concentration of Hispanics (known as Chicanos) is found in Los Angeles
County, where the group comprises nearly 40 percent of the population.
The black population, which grew by 21.4 percent during the 1980-90 decade,
constitutes 7.4 percent of the total state population, about the same
as during the previous decade. There are also about 242,164 American Indians
(nearly 1 percent of the total population) in California. The largest
religious denomination is the Roman Catholic church; large Protestant
bodies include Baptist, Episcopalians, Methodists, and Presbyterians.
There is also a sizable Jewish community.
Most of California's population is classified as urban, and in 1990 the
state had 44 cities with 100,000 or more inhabitants. The largest city,
by far, is Los Angeles, followed by, in order of decreasing population
within the city proper, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Long Beach,
Oakland, Sacramento (the capital), Fresno, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Riverside,
and Stockton, all of which have populations greater than 200,000. Most
of California's major urban areas are located near the Pacific coast.
EDUCATION AND CULTURAL ACTIVITY
California is widely known for its excellent educational institutions
and for its rich cultural life.
Education
The 1849 California constitution called for a statewide system of free
public education; in 1866 the state passed legislation assuring sufficient
tax revenue to support elementary schools, and a 1903 law extended public
support to high schools. The public school system grew rapidly in the
20th century, and private schools also proliferated. Many colleges and
universities are supported with public funds (see California, state universities
and colleges of), and the state has a large number of community colleges.
The nation's first tax-supported junior college was established at Fresno
in 1910.
Among the better-known private institutions of higher education are the
California Institute of Technology (established 1891), at Pasadena; the
Claremont Colleges; Mills College (1852), at Oakland; Pepperdine University
(1937), at Malibu; Stanford University (1885), at Stanford; the University
of the Pacific (1851), at Stockton; the University of San Diego (1949);
the University of San Francisco (1855); Santa Clara University (1851);
the University of Southern California (1880), at Los Angeles; and Whittier
College (1901), at Whittier. Advanced learning also is pursued at specialized
schools like the Rand Graduate School of Policy Studies, at Santa Monica.
Cultural Institutions
All of California's larger cities support institutions devoted to learning
and the arts. Notable museums include the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum,
with exhibitions of American Indian, European, and Asian art, and the
California Palace of the Legion of Honor, featuring displays of French
painting, both in San Francisco; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
with wings devoted to 20th-century works and Japanese art, the Museum
of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, designed by the Japanese architect Arata
Isozaki and opened in 1986, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
County, with Ice Age fossils from the La Brea asphalt pits in Los Angeles,
and the Southwest Museum, with displays of American Indian artifacts,
all in Los Angeles; the Crocker Art Museum, in Sacramento; the Henry E.
Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, in San Marino;
the J. Paul Getty Museum, with noteworthy holdings of ancient Greek and
Roman art, in Malibu; and the San Diego Natural History Museum.
Several important research libraries are located in the state. These include
the Los Angeles Public Library (about 5.4 million volumes, many destroyed
or damaged by fire in 1986); the Stanford University libraries (6.1 million
volumes, including the library of the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution,
and Peace), at Stanford; the University of California at Berkeley library
(about 7.7 million volumes); and the University of California at Los Angeles
library (about 6.2 million volumes).
Both Los Angeles and San Francisco have respected symphony orchestras,
and San Francisco has a noted opera company. Included among the numerous
theaters in the state are the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and the
American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco.
Historic Sites
Among California's places of historic interest are Cabrillo National Monument,
at San Diego, commemorating the voyage of the Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez
Cabrillo in 1542 (see History below); Fort Point National Historic Site,
at San Francisco, with a large 19th-century fortification; John Muir National
Historic Site, at Martinez, including the home of the famous naturalist;
and several 18th-century Franciscan missions, at or near San Diego, San
Juan Capistrano, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Carmel, and other places.
Recreation and Sports
Ample opportunities for year-round outdoor recreation are found in California:
camping, backpacking, and skiing in the mountains; and fishing and water
sports along the coast. The state's eight national parks and numerous
public forests, as well as Lake Tahoe, are recreation and vacation centers.
Major-league professional sports teams are located in San Diego, Anaheim,
Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, and Oakland.
Communications
California, with important entertainment industries, is well supplied
with radio and television stations and also daily newspapers. Among the
more influential dailies are the Los Angeles Times, the Oakland Tribune,
the Sacramento Bee, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle,
and the San Jose Mercury News. The state's first newspaper, the Californian,
was published in 1846 in Monterey.
ECONOMY
California has the most productive economy of any U.S. state. Its modern
economic growth began in the second half of the 19th century, and the
greatest spurt came after 1940. Today, service industries account for
about 75 percent of California's gross state product. In the 1990s, however,
the California economy suffered a downturn. Especially affected were its
defense, banking, and commercial real-estate sectors. A drought, labeled
the worst in 400 years, hurt the agricultural sector.
Agriculture
California's annual cash receipts from farming are consistently far greater
than those of any other U.S. state. California farms vary greatly in size,
but most of them are relatively large. Most of the state's cropland is
irrigated; mechanization is another factor contributing to the state's
agricultural preeminence. A wide variety of farm goods is produced, and
California is the nation's leading, or only, producer of many commodities.
Cattle, milk, cotton, and grapes are among the state's chief sources of
farm income. Other major products are grain (mainly barley, wheat, and
maize), vegetables (notably tomatoes, lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli,
carrots, brussels sprouts, spinach, and celery), other fruit (principally
apricots, peaches, pears, plums, cantaloupes, strawberries, apples, figs,
avocados, and citrus fruit), and nuts (including almonds, walnuts, and
macadamia nuts).
Important farming regions in California include the Imperial Valley, in
which highly mechanized farms produce vegetables, cotton, alfalfa, and
fattened cattle; the Coachella Valley (north of the Salton Sea), noted
for its carrots, table grapes, grapefruit, and dates; the coastal southern
California area, with a large output of citrus fruit, dairy goods, and
vegetables; the Central Valley, producing vegetables, fruit, grain, dairy
goods, nuts, and livestock (cattle, sheep, turkeys); the Salinas Valley,
producing lettuce, poultry, and almonds; the Santa Clara Valley, growing
apricots, pears, cherries, and plums; and the Napa Valley, noted for its
wine grapes. Many of these regions are important suppliers of winter fruits
and vegetables to the entire nation.
Forestry and Fishing
California has large forest-products industries, producing lumber, pulp,
and paper. The Sierra Nevada and the northwest part of the state are the
chief sources of timber; the principal trees cut are Douglas fir, redwood,
and yellow and sugar pine.
Fishing also is a major industry in California, along with fish canning.
San Pedro (a district of Los Angeles) is one of the nation's leading fishing
ports and also has canneries and processing plants. Other important fishing
centers include San Diego and San Francisco. Marine fish make up almost
all of the commercial catch; the chief species caught is tuna.
Mining
Identified with mining since the 1848 gold rush, California usually ranks
among the top three or four states in the annual value of its mineral
output. Of the many minerals produced, the most valuable are petroleum,
cement, natural gas, and sand and gravel. California leads the nation
in the production of asbestos, boron, portland cement, diatomite, pumice,
sand and gravel, natural sodium sulfate, and tungsten. Mineral output
also includes clay, feldspar, magnesium compounds, perlite, potassium
salts, and mercury. Gold, largely responsible for the state's growth in
the mid-19th century, was mined in relatively small quantities in the
late 20th century.
Manufacturing
California ranks first among the states in manufacturing, having expanded
steadily in the 20th century in such areas as food processing early on
and more recently in the electronics industry of "Silicon Valley." The
leading categories of fabricated goods produced in the state are transportation
equipment, processed food, and electrical and electronic goods. The transportation
equipment includes aerospace products (notably airplanes), made principally
in the Los Angeles area and in San Diego; motor vehicles, assembled in
Oakland; and ships, constructed at Long Beach, San Diego, and San Francisco.
The state's food products include canned and frozen fruits and vegetables,
processed meat, canned fish, and beverages (wine, fruit juices). Major
centers of fruit and vegetable processing include the Los Angeles and
San Francisco areas, Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento, San Jose, and Stockton.
Electrical and electronic goods made in California include communications
equipment, household appliances, and motors. The Santa Clara (or "Silicon")
Valley, Sacramento, and the Los Angeles area have numerous firms producing
and developing electronic equipment. Other manufactured goods include
steel; textiles and clothing; refined petroleum; metal, wood, and plastic
products; chemicals; and printed materials. The Los Angeles area is the
nation's chief center for producing motion pictures and television programs.
Tourism
California each year attracts millions of tourists, lured by the state's
equable climate and beautiful scenery, its outdoor recreation opportunities,
and the cultural offerings. Popular urban tourist spots include the motion-picture
and television studios of the Los Angeles area; Disneyland, a large amusement
park at Anaheim; the San Diego zoo and Sea World; and Fisherman's Wharf,
Chinatown, and other parts of San Francisco. Many persons visit the state's
six national parks (Channel Islands National Park, Kings Canyon National
Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Redwood National Park, Sequoia National
Park, Yosemite National Park), and such national monuments as Death Valley
National Monument, Devils Postpile National Monument, and Muir Woods National
Monument.
Transportation
California is well supplied with land, air, and sea transport facilities,
but it has few inland waterways. Motor-vehicle transport is especially
important, and in 1991, California had approximately 22.3 million registered
motor vehicles, far more than any other state. The extensive system of
all-weather roads and highways includes many heavily used limited-access
roadways (mainly in southern California). San Francisco is a terminus
of two famous vehicular bridges, the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco-Oakland
Bay Bridge, closed briefly after being damaged in a 1989 earthquake. Some
railroads also continue to operate.
The state's busiest airports are the Los Angeles and San Francisco international
airports. The several major seaports include Oakland (with one of the
world's largest concentrations of facilities to handle containerized shipping),
San Francisco, and Richmond, on San Francisco Bay; Eureka, on Humboldt
Bay; Los Angeles-Long Beach; and San Diego. The few important inland commercial
waterways include the lower Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, with deepwater
channels connecting the Bay area to Sacramento and Stockton.
Energy
California is the largest U.S. energy market. Extensive development of
renewable resources--hydroelectric, geothermal, wind, solar, and biomass
(such as agricultural wastes)--have limited reliance on conventional sources
such as nuclear, coal, oil, and natural gas. In 1992, nearly 246 billion
kW h was produced for California consumption; 20 percent came from renewable
resources and 15 percent was imported.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
California is governed under a constitution of 1879, as amended; a previous
constitution had been adopted in 1849. The chief executive of the state
is a governor, elected to a 4-year term; the maximum consecutive gubernatorial
terms allowed by the constitution are two. California has a bicameral
legislature, made up of a 40-member Senate and an 80-member Assembly;
senators are elected to 4-year terms and limited to two terms, and assemblymen
are elected to 2-year terms and limited to three terms. State laws can
be passed directly by voters through an initiative, and laws approved
by the legislature can be challenged by voters in a referendum. The highest
tribunal in California is the supreme court, composed of seven justices
appointed by the governor to 12-year terms (and subject to subsequent
voter approval). The state has 58 counties, most of them with a government
headed by a 5-member board of supervisors. A few counties have adopted
charters under the state constitution's home-rule provisions.
Most voters in California consider themselves independent of party affiliation,
and politics at the state and local levels have a fluid quality, although
Democrats have recently controlled the state legislature. On some issues,
such as water diversion, divisions are more pronounced between northern
and southern Californians than between Democrats and Republicans. The
Republicans have dominated the governorship for most of the period since
1900. In contests for the U.S. presidency the Democrats carried the state
from 1932 through 1948, but since then the Republican candidate has usually
won.
HISTORY
When the first Europeans arrived, in the early 16th century, the region
of California was inhabited by an Indian population, scattered in many
small, fairly independent groups that lived mainly as hunter-gatherers.
Among the Indian groups were the Hupa, Pomo, Wishosk, and Yuki, in the
north; the Costano, Miwok, Maidu, Salinan, and Yokut, in the center; the
Mono and Panamint, in the east; and the Chumash, Serrano, and Diegueno,
in the south.
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese navigator exploring for Spain, was
probably the first European to see California. Sailing north from present-day
Mexico, he visited San Diego Bay in September 1542, before continuing
on past San Francisco Bay, which he did not see. The next major voyage
along the coast was made by the English navigator Sir Francis Drake, in
1579. He landed in the San Francisco area and claimed the region of northern
California, which he called Nova Albion, for England. Fearing English
intrusion, the Spanish sent several coastal expeditions, including that
of Sebastian Vizcaino to Monterey Bay in 1602-03. But no European settlements
were established until Captain Gaspar de Portola, the Spanish governor
of Baja California, led an expedition north in 1769-70, partly in order
to offset Russian activity. During the journey forts were established
at San Diego and Monterey, thus asserting a minimum of Spanish control.
Father Junipero Serra went along on the expedition, and in 1769 he founded
a Franciscan mission, San Diego de Alcala, near modern San Diego. This
was the first of a string of 21 missions, ranging to Sonoma (north of
present-day San Francisco), founded by the Franciscans during the next
54 years. The Indians felt the economic and social presence of the Europeans
mainly through the missions, as the Spanish officials tended to neglect
California. The missions controlled much land, and, using Indian labor,
they produced large quantities of cattle hides and tallow (the area's
chief exports at the time) and fruit and vegetables. The Indians living
at the missions were forced to work hard and received few economic rewards;
they were given instruction in Christianity, however, and were taught
some new skills.
California was little affected by the political upheavals in Mexico during
1808-11. In 1812 the Russians established Fort Ross along the northern
coast (near the mouth of the Russian River) as a trading and fur-trapping
center, which they maintained until 1841. In 1821, Mexico gained independence
from Spain, and in 1822, California (known as Alta California) became
a province of the new nation. For a time--about 1825-35--the Mexicans
sought to exert control over California, but they had little success,
and the region generally was neglected thereafter. A major conflict between
the central government of Mexico and California was over the missions.
The Mexican government sought to secularize the missions by selling their
great landholdings to private individuals, and after several false starts
this was accomplished during 1834-40. Many large private estates were
thus established.
During the 1840s a few hundred U.S. citizens moved into California to
farm, hunt, and trade. They were aided by John A. Sutter, a Swiss who
held a vast tract of land at present-day Sacramento. In 1843-46, Captain
John C. Fremont led two U.S. government surveying expeditions into California.
In May 1846 the United States went to war with Mexico over Texas (see
Mexican War). The following month, before news of the outbreak of war
had reached California, a group of U.S. citizens under the influence of
Fremont captured the Mexican presidio at Sonoma and raised a flag with
one star, a picture of a grizzly bear, and the words "California Republic"
(see Bear Flag Republic). This short-lived event is known as the Bear
Flag Revolt. On July 7, 1846, Commodore John D. Sloat claimed California
for the United States by raising the U.S. flag over Monterey. This episode
was followed by the easy conquest of California by Commodore Robert F.
Stockton, General Stephen Watts Kearny, and other U.S. soldiers. California
was officially transferred to the United States by the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo, signed Feb. 2, 1848.
On Jan. 24, 1848, a few days before the treaty was signed, gold had been
found at a sawmill (owned by Sutter) on the South Fork of the American
River, at Coloma. News of the discovery spread rapidly, and a gold rush
was soon under way, bringing thousands of "forty-niners" to stake claims
in northern California. San Francisco grew as a gateway to the area. From
1848 to 1850 the state's white population more than tripled, to 93,000
inhabitants. After heated discussions in the U.S. Congress concerning
the spread of slavery, California was admitted to the Union as a nonslavery
state on Sept. 9, 1850 (see Compromise of 1850); it was the country's
31st state. California's first capital was San Jose; the capital was moved
later to Vallejo and then to Benicia before Sacramento became the permanent
capital in 1854. Although proslavery sentiment was considerable in southern
California, the entire state remained in the Union during the Civil War,
a war that had little direct effect on Californians.
Gold production had peaked in 1852 and thereafter declined rapidly. During
the 1860s agriculture grew in importance as productive fruit- and grain-producing
farms were developed in the Central Valley, and viticulture flourished
in valleys north of San Francisco. Economic growth was furthered by the
completion, in 1869, of the first transcontinental railroad, which linked
Sacramento with the rest of the nation. Four Californians--Charles Crocker,
Mark Hopkins, Collis P. Huntington, and Leland Stanford--helped finance
the railroad (the Central Pacific), and their Southern Pacific Company
exerted great influence over the economy and the political life of the
state in the late 19th century. Some 30,000 Chinese laborers were brought
to California to help build the railroad, and they remained in the state
after its completion. When poor economic conditions in the 1870s led to
a high rate of unemployment, the white settlers were bitter toward the
Chinese, who were willing to work for low wages. Anti-Chinese riots occurred
in San Francisco in 1877. In 1882 the federal government enacted a law
prohibiting further Chinese immigration.
The economy of California improved in the 1880s, and southern California,
especially the Los Angeles area, began a period of rapid growth. Citrus
groves around Los Angeles started to produce large quantities of fruit
in the late 1880s, major petroleum fields were discovered in the same
region beginning in the early 1890s, and the first motion picture produced
in southern California was completed in 1907. In 1906, San Francisco was
devastated by a great earthquake and fire.
California politics, dominated for many years by the Southern Pacific
Company, underwent major reforms in the early 20th century, especially
during the governorship (1911-17) of Hiram W. Johnson, a founder of the
Progressive party. During Johnson's administration the political power
of the Southern Pacific was greatly reduced; the initiative, referendum,
and recall were adopted (1911); a state budget system was created; and
many other reforms were passed to make the state government more responsive
to popular needs. California's economy benefited from the opening (1914)
of the Panama Canal (which greatly shortened the sea route between the
east and west coasts) and from the many factories established in the state
to help meet the requirements of the U.S. effort in World War I. The state's
population grew rapidly in the 1920s, increasing from 3,427,000 in 1920
to 5,677,000 in 1930, as farming and industry were developed. California
was deeply affected by the Great Depression of the 1930s. The state's
high unemployment rate was exacerbated by the influx of many impoverished
farmers from the Dust Bowl region of the American West. Such migrants
were depicted in the novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939) by John Steinbeck,
a California author noted also for his descriptions of life in his native
Salinas Valley. California's economy improved greatly during World War
II, as the state became a major center for building aircraft and ships.
During the war persons of Japanese descent were placed in detention camps
both inside and outside the state, and much of their property was confiscated.
Prosperity continued into the postwar period, and the population increased
at an amazing pace, jumping from 10,586,000 in 1950 to 15,717,000 in 1960.
Most of the growth occurred in the south, where sprawling urban and suburban
areas were linked by numerous limited-access highways. Able governors
like Earl Warren (in office, 1943-53) and Edmund G. "Pat" Brown (1959-67;
see Brown, family) helped Californians meet some of the social and economic
problems that accompanied the rapid growth, although major social protests
occurred in the 1960s.
California's blacks, largely confined to ghetto districts in the Los Angeles
and Oakland metropolitan areas, organized campaigns to end racial discrimination
in housing, education, and employment. In 1965 rioting occurred in the
predominantly black Watts district of Los Angeles, and similar violent
outbursts by blacks occurred in several other California cities in the
mid-1960s. At the same time the state's Mexican-Americans sought to improve
their marginal existence. Cesar E. Chavez attempted to organize migrant
farm laborers, most of whom were of Mexican descent, but in the face of
stiff opposition by farm owners he made little progress until the mid-1970s.
The Free Speech Movement (which began in late 1964) at the University
of California at Berkeley set a pattern for many other campaigns in the
country to increase student influence over the management of institutions
of higher education. Several major protest demonstrations against U.S.
military involvement in Southeast Asia took place in California, mainly
during 1965-71. The state also was a center of youthful counterculture
groups, such as the hippies of Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco in the
mid-1960s.
In the 1970s, under governors Ronald W. Reagan (in office, 1967-75) and
Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr. (1975-83), the son of "Pat" Brown, California
tried to meet such pressing environmental problems as air and water pollution
and threats to the natural beauty of the coastline from development. In
1978, California voters passed an initiative (called Proposition 13) that
mandated a major reduction in property taxes.
In the 1980s Gov. George Deukmejian presided over a generally growing
state economy, but under Pete Wilson, who became governor in 1991, the
state faced a budget shortfall, racial violence in Los Angeles, water-resource
conflicts, and a recession. Recent natural disasters, including mudslides,
fires, and major earthquakes in San Francisco (1989) and Los Angeles (1994),
also have challenged Californians. On an innovative note, California in
1992 became the first state to send simultaneously two women to the U.S.
Senate. In 1994 a third member of the Brown family, Kathleen Brown, ran
unsuccessfully for governor.
Richard F. Logan and Thomas Hirsch
Bibliography: Bean, W. E., California: An Interpretive History, 5th ed.
(1987); Beatty, D. F., et al., Redevelopment in California (1991); Beck,
Warren, and Haase, Ynez, Historical Atlas of California (1974; repr. 1985);
Bell, C. G., and Price, C. M., California Government Today, 4th ed. (1992);
Caushey, John, The California Gold Rush (1974); Delgado, James P., To
California by Sea: A Maritime History of the California Gold Rush (1990);
Gregory, James N., American Exodus: The Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture
in California (1991); Hornbeck, David, California Patterns: A Geographical
and Historical Atlas (1983); Hundley, Norris, The Great Thirst (1992);
Hutchinson, William, California, 2d ed. (1988); Johnson, Stephen, The
Great Central Valley (1992); Miller, C. S., and Hyslop, R. S., California:
The Geography of Diversity (1983); Rogers, E., and Larsen, J. K., Silicon
Valley Fever (1986); Wyatt, D., The Fall into Eden (1986).
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