When the western section of North America was claimed as part of the Spanish Empire, what we know today as California, Nevada, Utah and parts of Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico were claimed by Spain. Following the Mexican War of Independence, it became a territory of Mexico in April 1822 and was renamed Alta California in 1824.

In Part 2, we learned that, in the early 1800s, the Chaguanosos had become known as one of the strongest “soldiers of fortune” gangs in California and that French trapper Peter Lebeque may have been a member—possibly one of the leaders—of this group. Lebeque’s gruesome death from being mauled by a California grizzly at the top of Grapevine Canyon on October 17, 1837, was memorialized in a carving in one of the huge oak trees over his grave, in what is now Fort Tejon Historical Park in Lebec, the town named in his honor.

By Bonnie Kane, Ridge Route Communities Museum Historian

Within the Alta California territory, the Mexican government was in a state of confusion. A strong pro-American revolution movement began to grow. Between 1831 and 1841 the Mexican leadership had changed hands on an average of once a year, and at times the territory would have more than one governor at a time.

John “Charles” Fremont was sent to California in 1845 by President Polk to supposedly do topographical studies. But soon after his arrival, Fremont and his band of sixty “engineers” were leading revolts. The first of those was at Sonoma in June of 1846, where …(please see below to view full stories and photographs)

Photo captions:

John Charles Fremont entered Mexico’s “Alta California” on a surveying expedition, then fomented revolutions throughout the Mexican territory to consolidate it as part of the United States.

Right: Mexico’s General Pico surrendered to Fremont. The U.S. was motivated by the discovery of gold in California.

Above: California became the 31st state of the United States of America in September 1850. The 31-star flag was created to include California’s statehood.

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This is part of the July 23, 2021 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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