California Conquered: The Annexation of a Mexican Province, 1846-1850This book began as a venture to collect official and unofficial documents relating to the interval of American military rule. There proved to be thousands, the writings of Presidents, executive officers, and congressmen, naval and military personnel, governors, settlers, and citizens-routine, familiar, wheedling, seductive, blustering, commanding. As the quantity grew, they seemed eager to be heard. But the documents exhibit the traits of their makers. Containing neither the whole truth nor nothing but the truth, they offer many-sided versions of what people believed or wanted others to accept; they must be taken with a grain of salt. Long, sometimes garbled, and always incomplete, the record requires assessment, a referee to appraise the evidence and form his own imperfect conclusions. And any curious or dissenting reader may, by consulting the numerous cited sources, make his own interpretations. References, whenever possible, have been made to materials in some printed form, leading an inquirer to a vast array of historical evidence. Everything herein happened, or so the record tells, and if an assumption has been made, it is that men, issues, and events can be interesting in their own right, without exaggeration. "To exaggerate," a knowing urban child recently observed, "means you put in something to make it more exciting" (Los Angeles Times, Dec. 10, 1978). |
Contents
Alta California | 14 |
ANNEXATION | 30 |
California by SeaAlien Advances | 31 |
California by LandAmericans West | 39 |
Antecedents to Conquest | 45 |
Incident at Gavilán | 61 |
First in War | 74 |
The Bears | 97 |
Paradise Regained | 193 |
War and Peace | 219 |
Fight OnKearny Prevails | 244 |
Kearnys Rule | 264 |
Military or CivilMason Governs | 279 |
End of the WarMasons Dilemma | 303 |
Consent of the GovernedRileys Rule | 317 |
Constitutional GovernmentThe Last of the Generals | 338 |
Other editions - View all
California Conquered: The Annexation of a Mexican Province, 1846-1850 Neal Harlow Limited preview - 1989 |
Common terms and phrases
alcaldes ALTA American Andrés Pico Angeles army arrived artillery Bancroft battalion CAL.HIS.QT CAL.STAR CALIFN Califor California camp Captain Castro citizens civil coast command commodore Congress consul Cyane dragoons Dupont Dupont to Mrs.Dupont enemy flag Flores force Fré Frémont FREMONT-1 Gillespie Gillespie's governor GRIFFIN-1 guns Halleck horses hundred ibid ifornia Indians instructions J.Castro J.Y.Mason José Antonio Carrillo Kearny Kearny's land Larkin to Buchanan Leidesdorff letter Lieutenant Los Angeles March Mason Mazatlán McLane Mervine Mexican Mexico miles military mission mont Monterey Montgomery Navy officers orders Oregon party Pico Pío Pico Polk port President proclamation pueblo R.Jones rancho Riley River Sacramento San Diego San Francisco San José San Luis San Pedro Santa Barbara Secretary sent Sherman Shubrick Sloat Sonoma SPENCE Stearns Stevenson Stockton Stockton to Bancroft Sutter Sutter's Fort T.A.C.Jones Texas tion town troops Turner U.S. President United Vallejo Valley vessels volunteers wrote Yerba Buena