Stretching from San Diego to Sonoma, the twenty-one beautiful missions that line the state of California remind us of our nation’s past. Under the Spanish king Charles III, plans were made to extend the Spanish domain into Upper California. Sea and land expeditions composed of Spanish soldiers and Franciscan missionaries were sent from Mexico to Upper California with the intent of colonizing the new land and converting its Indian inhabitants to Christianity. In 1769, after long hardships, the early colonizers reached San Diego where the first fort (presidio) and mission were established to serve as frontier outposts. It was the beginning of the mission system established in Alta California by Franciscan fathers whose names, such as Junípero Serra, Francisco Palóu, Juan Crespí, and Fermín Lasuén are forever linked with the history of the Golden State.
In a time span of 54 years, twenty-one missions and four forts, or presidios, were founded along the coast of Alta California. Some of these sites eventually developed into California’s largest cities, such as San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Sonoma. The mission chain began with the founding of Mission San Diego seven years before the American Declaration of Independence was promulgated in 1776, and came to an end fourteen years before gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in 1848. The mission era ended in 1834 when the newly formed Mexican government began to enforce the secularization law with the aim of confiscating all mission properties and exiling the Spanish Franciscan Friars from Upper California.
Historical Missions Timeline & California Missions Chain
Spanish Missions Founded in Alta California (Image 01) – Source: https://www.wikipedia.org
California Missions Timeline (Image 02) – Source: https://californiamissionsfoundation.org
Missions, Presidios & Pueblos of California © 2012 Pentacle Press (Image 03) – Source: https://www.missionscalifornia.com
California Missions list ordered by Foundation Date
01 San Diego de Alcalá – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on July 16, 1769 by Father Junípero Serra
02 San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on June 3, 1770 by Father Junípero Serra
03 San Antonio de Padua – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on July 14, 1771 by Father Junípero Serra
04 San Gabriel Arcángel – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on September 8, 1771 by Fathers Cambón and Somera
05 San Luis Obispo de Tolosa – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on September 1, 1772 by Father Junípero Serra
06 San Francisco de Asís – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on October 8, 1776 by Fathers Palóu and Cambón
07 San Juan Capistrano – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on November 1, 1776 by Father Junípero Serra
08 Santa Clara de Asís – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on January 12, 1777 by Father Junípero Serra
09 San Buenaventura – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on March 31, 1782 by Father Junípero Serra
10 Santa Barbara – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on December 4, 1786 by Father Fermín Lasuén
11 La Purísima Concepción – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on December 8, 1787 by Father Fermín Lasuén
12 Santa Cruz – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on August 28, 1791 by Father Fermín Lasuén
13 Nuestra Señora de la Soledad – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on October 9, 1791 by Father Fermín Lasuén
14 San José – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on June 11, 1797 by Father Fermín Lasuén
15 San Juan Bautista – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on June 24, 1797 by Father Fermín Lasuén
16 San Miguel Arcángel – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on July 25, 1797 by Father Fermín Lasuén
17 San Fernando Rey de España – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on September 8, 1797 by Father Fermín Lasuén
18 San Luis Rey de Francia – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on June 13, 1798 by Father Fermín Lasuén
19 Santa Inés Virgen y Mártir – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on September 17, 1804 by Father Estevan Tapis
20 San Rafael Arcángel – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on December 14, 1817 by Father Vicente de Sarría
21 San Francisco de Solano – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on July 4, 1823 by Father José Altimira
California Missions list ordered from South to North
01 San Diego de Alcalá – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on July 16, 1769 by Father Junípero Serra
18 San Luis Rey de Francia – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on June 13, 1798 by Father Fermín Lasuén
07 San Juan Capistrano – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on November 1, 1776 by Father Junípero Serra
04 San Gabriel Arcángel – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on September 8, 1771 by Fathers Cambón and Somera
17 San Fernando Rey de España – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on September 8, 1797 by Father Fermín Lasuén
09 San Buenaventura – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on March 31, 1782 by Father Junípero Serra
10 Santa Barbara – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on December 4, 1786 by Father Fermín Lasuén
19 Santa Inés Virgen y Mártir – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on September 17, 1804 by Father Estevan Tapis
11 La Purísima Concepción – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on December 8, 1787 by Father Fermín Lasuén
05 San Luis Obispo de Tolosa – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on September 1, 1772 by Father Junípero Serra
16 San Miguel Arcángel – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on July 25, 1797 by Father Fermín Lasuén
03 San Antonio de Padua – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on July 14, 1771 by Father Junípero Serra
13 Nuestra Señora de la Soledad – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on October 9, 1791 by Father Fermín Lasuén
02 San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on June 3, 1770 by Father Junípero Serra
15 San Juan Bautista – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on June 24, 1797 by Father Fermín Lasuén
12 Santa Cruz – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on August 28, 1791 by Father Fermín Lasuén
08 Santa Clara de Asís – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on January 12, 1777 by Father Junípero Serra
14 San José – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on June 11, 1797 by Father Fermín Lasuén
06 San Francisco de Asís – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on October 8, 1776 by Fathers Palóu and Cambón
20 San Rafael Arcángel – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on December 14, 1817 by Father Vicente de Sarría
21 San Francisco de Solano – Overview | Brief History | In-Depth History – Founded on July 4, 1823 by Father José Altimira
Timeline of the California Mission Period
The Initial Settlement (1768-1770)
To secure Alta California from possible claims by the English and Russians, New Spain organizes a five-party expedition by land and sea. In 1769, The Portolá expedition reaches San Diego.
July 1, 1769 – Governor Don Gaspar de Portolá establishes the Spanish Presidio of San Diego on Presidio Hill, the first permanent European settlement on the Pacific Coast.
July 16, 1769 – Father Junípero Serra founds Mission San Diego de Alcalá on Presidio Hill, the first Spanish mission of Alta California.
June 3, 1770 – The Presidio of Monterey is established and Mission San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo (known at the time as San Carlos Borromeo de Monterey) is founded near the Presidio.
The Early Years (1771-1775)
The new Spanish colonies in Alta California are not yet self-sufficient and heavily depend on supplies from New Spain. Furthermore, the conversion of Indian neophytes is slow. Nonetheless, three new missions are founded.
July 14, 1771 – Mission San Antonio de Padua is founded in the Santa Lucía Mountains, southeast of Monterey, in the land of the Salinan people.
September 8, 1771 – Mission San Gabriel Arcángel is founded along the slopes of the Montebello hills.
1771 – Father Serra decides to relocate Mission San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo five miles south to Carmel Valley, not far from the Indian village of Ekheya, in an attempt to put some distance between the mission and the presidio of Monterey.
May 12, 1772 – The administration of Baja California missions passes to the Dominican Order. The Franciscan missionaries can now focus their full attention on Alta California.
September 1, 1772 – Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is founded in the land of the Chumash people, at the village of Tilhini.
October 17, 1772 – Father Junípero Serra travels to Mexico City to bolster support for the missions of Alta California and to clarify his authority. He will return the next year.
1773 – Mission San Gabriel Arcángel is relocated three miles to the northwest, on the native site of Lisanchanga.
March 22, 1774 – Juan Bautista de Anza reaches Mission San Gabriel and discovers the first overland route to California. He had departed on January 8, 1774, from the presidio of San Ignacio de Tubac, Arizona.
August 1774 – Mission San Diego de Alcalá is relocated to the native village of Nipaquay, five and a half miles inland.
September 26, 1774 – The San Diego military outpost is formally granted the status of Presidio. Sergeant José Francisco Ortega escorts new colonists from Lower California to San Diego Presidio.
August 5, 1775 – The San Carlos is the first ship to enter the Bay of San Francisco. Captain Juan Manuel de Ayala names Isla de los Ángeles (Angel Island) and Isla de los Alcatraces (Alcatraz), which in Spanish means Pelicans.
November 4, 1775 – More than 800 Native peoples coming from 15 villages attack and burn the newly relocated Mission San Diego de Acalá. Father Luis Jayme, the carpenter Urselino, and the blacksmith José Romero die in the attack.
1775 – At the end of the year 1775, the first five missions are not yet self-sufficient. Only about 800 neophytes are living at the missions.
The Years of Significant Expansion (1776-1784)
The founding of four more missions, two pueblos, and presidios at San Francisco and Santa Barbara expand the Spanish presence and influence in Alta California.
1776 – The capital of both Baja (lower) and Alta (upper) California is moved from Loreto to Monterey.
April 1, 1776 – More than 200 colonists and over 1,000 animals arrive at Mission San Gabriel from Tupac, Arizona, following the overland trail established by Juan Bautista de Anza two years earlier. Monterey and the Presidio of San Francisco will be their final destinations.
May 16, 1776 – The control of “Las Californias”, including present-day California, is transferred from the Viceroy of New Mexico to the northern military command of the Interior Provinces, headed by Brigadier Teodoro de Croix.
September 17, 1776 – The strategic importance of the harbor of San Francisco becomes evident and Lieutenant José Joaquin Moraga establishes the Presidio of San Francisco on the site previously chosen by Juan Bautista de Anza. To reinforce their presence in the area, the Spanish also establish a pueblo.
October 8, 1776 – Mission San Francisco de Asis (Dolores Mission) is formally dedicated.
October 1776 – Mission San Diego de Alcalá is rebuilt.
November 1, 1776 – Mission San Juan Capistrano, seventh in the mission chain, is founded.
January 12, 1777 – Mission Santa Clara de Asís is founded on the Ohlone people’s land. The mission ultimately will attract neophytes from the Bay Miwok, Tamyen, and Yokuts.
February 1, 1777 – Felipe de Neve is the first Civil Governor of California from 1777 to 1782. He will take steps to grant the neophytes a more important role in the management of the missions.
July 17, 1781 – The Yuma revolt occurs. Quechan warriors attack the settlements of both Bicuner and Purisima Concepcion in today’s Arizona. They kill over one hundred Spanish men, women, and children, enslave the survivors, and destroy the two Colorado River missions. The overland route from Central Mexico to Alta California is closed.
September 4, 1781 – Forty-four settlers of Native American, African, and European heritage found the Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles, today’s Los Angeles, near the village of Yaanga.
March 31, 1782 – Mission San Buenaventura is founded near the Chumash Indian village of Mitsqanaqa’n.
April 21, 1782 – The Presidio of Santa Barbara is established. This is the only Presidio of Alta California that has been partially restored.
May 1, 1782 – The Serra Chapel at Mission San Juan Capistrano is completed. This is the only chapel that remains in which Father Junípero Serra held mass.
August 28, 1784 – Father Junípero Serra dies at his headquarters at Carmel Mission. He was aged 71.
August 1784 – After Serra’s death, Father Francisco Palóu serves as Father President pro tempore until 1785.
The Mission System is Firmly Established (1785-1799)
The missions start to be self-sufficient and the mission system is by now well established.
1785 – Father Fermín Francisco de Lasuén is appointed second Father President of Alta California.
October 25, 1785 – Warriors from the eight allied Tongva villages set out to kill the mission leaders of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. The rebellion is led by Toypurina, a Native woman of the Tongva community, and Nicholás José, a Gabrieleño living in San Gabriel. The rebellion fails and at least twenty-one rebels are captured, including Toypurina.
1786-1801 – The number of Franciscan missionaries in Alta California averages 25.
December 4, 1786 – The tenth mission in the chain, Santa Barbara, is founded at the Chumash Indian village of Xana’yan.
December 8, 1787 – Mission La Purísima Concepción is founded at the Chumash village of Algsacupi.
1787 – Father Francisco Palóu publishes his work: “Life and Apostolic Labors of the Venerable Father Junípero Serra“.
1790 – The number of neophytes (Native Americans converted to Christianity and living at the missions) in the eleven missions reaches a total of 7,698.
1791 – The Malaspina Expedition anchors in Monterey. The artist of the expedition, José Cardero, draws images of the California Native Indians.
August 28, 1791 – Mission Santa Cruz is founded.
October 9, 1791 – Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad is founded.
1792 – California returns under the direct control of the Viceroy in Mexico City. The main focus of the military shifts to the protection of Alta California against foreign invaders.
1793 – Mission Santa Cruz is relocated to the top of the nearby hill to avoid flooding.
January 25, 1795 – Dedication of the Royal Presidio Chapel at Monterey.
1795 – An epidemic at Mission San Francisco de Asís decimates the neophyte population.
1795-1796 – An influx of immigrants reaches Alta California by ship, attracted by the trade of cattle hides, tallow, and sea otter pelts.
June 11, 1797 – Mission San José is founded in the lands of the Native Ohlones.
June 24, 1797 – Mission San Juan Bautista is founded. At the side of the mission sits the only original Spanish square left in California.
July 24, 1797 – The secular pueblo of Branciforte is established near Mission Santa Cruz.
July 25, 1797 – Mission San Miguel Arcángel is founded at the site called Valica by the local Salinan people.
September 8, 1797 – Mission San Fernando Rey de España is founded on Rancho Los Encinos. The owner of the Rancho, Don Juan Francisco Reyes, donated the land to the Roman Catholic Church and relocated its Rancho to the southern valley.
June 13, 1798 – Mission San Luis Rey de Francia is founded in the native village of Tacayme.
The Golden Age of the Mission Era (1800-1820)
The missions start experiencing their golden age and years of prosperity follow. But dark clouds are already looming over the future of the missions as, beginning in 1810, Mexico starts fighting for its independence from the Spanish Empire.
June 26, 1803 – Father Fermín de Lasuén dies and Father Estevan Tapis takes over as new Father President. He will be Father President until 1812.
September 17, 1804 – Mission Santa Inés is founded in the Santa Inez Valley, near the rancheria of Alajulapu.
1805-1806 – Mission San José is devastated by a smallpox and measles epidemic. The epidemic kills over 150 Indian neophytes.
April 1806 – The Russian explorer Nikolaj Petrovič Rezanov anchors in San Francisco Bay seeking food and supplies for the Alaskan Russian settlement of Novo-Archangel’sk (Sitka).
1810 – The population at the nineteen missions reaches 18,780, a 40% increase compared to 1800.
1810 – The Mexican War of Independence begins. The stream of goods and missionaries from the port of San Blas in Lower California is interrupted for over a decade, until 1821.
October 12, 1812 – The first autopsy ever performed in California is executed on the body of Father Andrés Quintana at Mission Santa Cruz. The results suggest he may have been poisoned. In 1877 though, it became clear that the friar had been strangled to death by a group of neophytes.
December 8, 1812 – A massive earthquake kills forty neophytes and destroys the Great Stone Church at Mission San Juan Capistrano. It will never be rebuilt again.
1813 – Father Narciso Durán publishes his book “Prólogo”, documenting his musical teaching methods. During his stay at Mission San José, Durán organizes and directs an elaborate choir of about 30 converted Indians.
1815 – From 1810 to 1820, the active recruiting and arrival of Miwoks, Yokuts, and Chuillas peoples from the interior of California boost the number of converted Indians living at the missions.
June 13, 1816 – San Antonio de Pala is established as an Asistencia of Mission San Luis Rey de Francia. The new Asistencia is located twenty miles inland from San Luis Rey, upstream on the San Luis Rey River.
December 14, 1817 – Mission San Rafael Arcángel is established as a medical asistencia for the ailing of Native American converts living at the nearby Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores). On October 19, 1822, the medical asistencia will be granted the Status of Mission.
December 1818 – Hipólito de Bouchard, a Frenchman privateer acting on behalf of the Republic of Rio de la Plata (Argentina) attacks the California coast burning both the Presidio of Monterey and Mission San Juan Capistrano.
1818 – Thomas Doak, one of the first American settlers in California, constructs and paints the main altar reredos of Mission San Juan Bautista.
1819-1834 – The Russian-American Company establishes a hunting station on the Farallon Islands.
1820 – The combined population of all California missions reaches its maximum of 21,061. The population at all but three missions has peaked.
California becomes a province of Mexico (1821-1832)
Mexico achieves independence from Spain and Alta California becomes one of its provinces. Trades are flourishing and the Mission System is viable. Even so, resentment against Spanish-borns is growing and pressures to secularize the missions and their lands begin.
September 27, 1821 – Mexico achieves independence from Spain and Alta California becomes a province of the new entity. Missions remain viable and trade flourishes. Nonetheless, pressures to secularize the missions begin.
October 19, 1822 – San Rafael Arcángel is granted full mission status.
1822 – A 240-foot-long Convento is completed at Mission San Fernando Rey de España. The Convento is the largest adobe building in California and the largest original building at any of the California missions. It will be used to accommodate the padres and as a guest house for the missionaries traveling along El Camino Real.
July 4, 1823 – Mission San Francisco de Solano is founded. It is the last in the mission chain and the only one established under Mexican rule.
1823 – Mexico becomes a Republic.
1823 – Las Flores Estancia is established as the second asistencia of Mission San Luis Rey after San Antonio de Pala. Las Flores Estancia is located near Bell Canyon, halfway between Mission San Luis Rey and Mission San Juan Capistrano.
February 21, 1824 – The greatest of all revolts against the mission system, also known as the Chumash Revolt, starts at Mission Santa Inés. A group of well-armed Indians attacks the mission and set fire to many buildings. The revolt spreads to two other nearby missions: La Purísima and Santa Barbara. Mission La Purísima is seized and occupied by Native Indians for nearly a month. At Mission Santa Barbara, after the uprising, the Indian neophytes flee and avoid the mission for six months in fear of retaliation.
1825 – Father Narcisco Durán serves as Father President of the Missions of Alta California for the first time. Father Durán will be Father President for a second time from 1831 to 1838, and for a third time from 1844 to 1846, the year of his death.
1825 – The population of Mission San Luis Rey de Francia reaches 2,869, the highest achieved by any mission. Much of the population lives in settlements outside of the missions, such as San Antonio de Pala and Las Flores asistencias.
1826 – The legendary Jedediah Strong Smith, known as “American Mountain Man”, reaches California by land and visits the Spanish settlements.
July 25, 1826 – Governor José María de Echeandía issues a “Proclamation of Emancipation” decree under which all Indian neophytes who were born at a mission or had lived in it for at least fifteen years, were freed from mission obligations and eligible to become Mexican citizens upon permissions of the Franciscans Fathers and the Presidio Comandante.
1827-1828 – A disruptive measles epidemic kills 951 adults and 751 children over two years. Over 10% of the population living at the missions die because of this epidemic.
1828-1829 – A San José mission neophyte and alcade, known as Estanislao, assembles an army of 500 to 1,000 among neophytes and unconverted Indians and leads one of the biggest Indian uprisings. It will take numerous military expeditions, from 1828 to 1829 before the uprising is quelled.
November 1829 – The Mexican soldiers at the Presidio of Monterey start a revolt over unpaid wages. On November 15, 1829, the rebels reach the Presidio de San Francisco and easily seize it. Father Luis Antonio Martinez of San Luis Obispo is accused of involvement in the 1829 Monterey Presidio revolt but on February 3, 1830, he is eventually cleared of wrongdoing.
February 1829 – Indian Chiefs Marin and Quintin lead an attack against Mission San Rafael Arcángel. Father Juan Amorós is saved by loyal neophytes who hide him in the marshes.
June 16, 1831 – Father Narcisco Durán serves as Father President of the Missions of Alta California for the second time.
1832 – Only 20 Spanish Franciscan missionaries remain in Alta California. At the same time, the total population of neophytes living at the missions is 16,951. The steady decrease in missionaries began in 1815.
Missions are secularized (1833-1838)
The First Mexican Republic passes the Mexican Secularization Act in 1833. The law is executed the following year and, one after the other, within 13 years, most missions are expropriated and their rich lands sold to a few privileged.
January 15, 1833 – Eight Mexican Zacatecan Franciscans arrive in Monterey. They will replace the Spanish-born Franciscans in the northern missions.
August 17, 1833 – The First Mexican Republic passes the Mexican Secularization Act. Under the act, the missions are nationalized and their property is transferred from the Catholic Church to the Mexican authorities. Once applied, the Secularization Act will prove largely unfair towards Native Indians.
1833 – A “Pueblo de Indios” is established near Mission San Juan Capistrano. The new pueblo was intended to host former Missions Indians but they were too few. The experiment failed and mission lands were distributed among new settlers and remaining Indians.
1834-1836 – The secularization of the missions begins. One by one, each mission is appointed a new Administrator. Tradesmen, vaqueros, and some others prosper on the seized lands. Many Indian neophytes abandon the missions. Some of them join the unconverted Indian tribes of the interior. Those who remain at the missions serve as field hands or servants.
1833-1846 – Mission Santa Barbara is the new headquarters in the mission chain.
May 1835 – Father Vicente Francisco de Sarría dies at Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad. Before his death, most of the Indian neophytes had already deserted the mission. The last of his loyal Indian followers carry his body some 25 miles over the hills to Mission San Antonio de Padua, where he is interred.
1835 – Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo is appointed Comandante of the Fourth Military District and Director of Colonization of the Northern Frontier, the highest military command in Northern California. He will die in September of the same year.
1836 – The new locally-born Administrators begin to move friends and relatives into the seized missions. The two Franciscan friars left at Santa Barbara mission, one of them being Father President Narciso Durán, live in small rooms as tenants.
December 1836 – Santa Clara de Asís is the last mission to be secularized.
The Californios period (1839-1845)
While Indian neophytes abandon their missions and disperse, Los Californios, a mixed group of Spanish inheritance born in California, win large grants of land. Meanwhile, Mexico’s governance over California is highly unstable.
July 1, 1839 – Swiss immigrant John Augustus Sutter arrives at Yerba Buena (San Francisco) aboard the Clementine ship. He will become a Mexican citizen and establish Sutter’s Fort in the area that would become Sacramento. He is most known for the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in 1948, which would start the California Gold Rush.
The late 1830s – An increasing number of immigrants reaches Northern California from the United States over the Oregon Trail.
1841 – Richard Henry Dana publishes his book: “Two Years Before the Mast”, a first-hand account of life in California. After the discovery of gold in California, his book will become a best seller.
February 8, 1842 – The Mexican President, Antonio López de Santa Anna, confiscates what is left of the Pious Fund destined at the Missions of California.
June 18, 1841 – John Augustus Sutter receives a land grant of 48,827 acres. The same year he acquires the Russian settlement of Fort Ross, marking an end to Russian presence in California
May 24, 1842 – Father José Ramón Abella dies at Mission Santa Inés. He was the last survivor among the Spanish Franciscan missionaries who came to California in the 18th century.
1842 – The discovery of a small gold deposit near Mission San Fernando Rey de España unleashes treasure hunters. For years, they will ravage the abandoned church, digging holes in floors and walls in search of gold.
1842 – The first bishop of the Diocese of the Californias, Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno, establishes his headquarters at Mission Santa Barbara.
1842 – The ex-missions of San Gabriel Arcángel and San Miguel Arcángel become the first two parishes in California.
1843 – San Buenaventura follows as the third parish in California.
January 1, 1845 – Don Pío de Jesús Pico, the last Mexican governor of Alta California, secures San Fernando Rey for his brother Andrés through a very favorable nine-year lease.
December 29, 1845 – Texas becomes the 28th state in the United States. Formerly part of Mexico, Texas had been an independent country since 1836.
California becomes part of the United States (1846-1853)
The Mexican-American War begins in 1846 and ends in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Meanwhile, California is declared an independent republic for less than a month under the Bear Flag revolt. United States troops occupy California and dismantle the resistance of The Californios. In 1848, the discovery of gold attracts more than 300,000 new settlers to California. In 1850, California becomes the 31st state of the United States. The population of California Native Americans plummets to less than 30,000.
May 13, 1846 – The United States declares war on Mexico. Lt. John Charles Fremont and his group of armed men appear in California.
June 14, 1846 – Over 30 American insurgents arrive at the pueblo of Sonoma and declare California a Republic. The Bear Flag is raised on the town square of Sonoma, directly across from the former mission of San Francisco Solano. The Sonoma Barracks become the headquarters of the rebels. The Bear Flag Republic will last less than a month.
July 7, 1846 – Commodore John D. Sloat arrives at Monterey with the frigate USS Savannah and the two sloops USS Cyane and USS Levant. He captures Monterey and raises the flag of the United States.
1846-1847 – The Californios resist American occupation. San Diego and Los Angeles revolt against American troops.
1847 – The U.S. Army occupies and uses missions San Diego de Alcalá and San Luis Rey de Francia as military outposts during the Mexican-American War.
January 24, 1848 – Gold is discovered at Sutter’s Mill. It is the beginning of the California Gold Rush.
February 2, 1848 – The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ends the Mexican-American War. Under the treaty’s terms, Mexico cedes a vast amount of territory to the United States, including present-day California, in exchange for $15 million.
1848-1855 – The Gold Rush attracts over 300,000 new settlers to California. This massive influx of new immigrants will have a devastating impact on the Indigenous peoples of California, reducing their population by over 80% within two decades. This period is also known as the California Genocide. By the end of the 19th century, diseases, starvation, violence, and direct genocidal attacks have reduced the population of California Native Americans to less than 30,000.
September 9, 1850 – California enters the United States as the 31st state.
1851 – The American Congress passes the Land Act of 1851. A commission is formed to review land titles in California.
February 19, 1853 – The Bishop of Monterey, Joseph Sadoc Alemany y Conill, files a petition for the return to the Catholic church of all former missions lands in California. It will take decades but in the end, most of the former mission buildings and small parts of its original lands will be returned to the Roman Catholic church.