-
Father Junípero Serra Established a Mission in San Diego
Serra was a Franciscan priest Over the next few years, 21 missions were established from San Diego to San Francisco. The missions established effective agricultural enterprise aided by the attractive weather and fertile soil, but they were far less successful in bringing together large numbers of Indians on a voluntary basis. -
Mexico Gains Independence from Spain.
After gaining indepence, the Mexican government started handing out large grants called ranchos. Most of these ranchos were very large, up to several thousand acres. Ranchos became distinct and separate independent political, economic, and social units. They were run by families as private fiefs with total control over every aspect of life. -
Stephen Austin Founded First American Colony in Texas
Stephen Austin received a large land grant (18,000 square miles) in return for a promise to bring in settlers. He thus became the first American empresario. -
Antonio López de Santa Anna Declares Himself Dictator of Mexico
Santa Anna had been elected president of Mexico in 1833, but he overturned the Mexican constitution of 1824 and made himself dictator. This move ended any hope that American empresarios had that Texas might became an autonomous state within a federated Mexico. -
Battle of Alamo Ends
Santa Anna's 4,000 strong army defeats 187 defenders who barricaded themselves in the Alamo, a Franciscan mission at San Antonion, Teas. "Remember the Alamo" became the battle cry until the end of the Texas Revolution. -
Battle of San Jacinto
After the Alamo defeat, volunteers from the US South rushed to the aid of the Texan army commanded by Sam Houston. He surprised Santa Anna at San Jacinto. A month later Santa Anna signed a treaty recognizing Texas an independent republic with a boundary at the Rio Grande to the South and West. The Mexican Congress rejected the treaty and the border was disputed. -
Mormons Founded Nauvoo, Illinois
Escaping religious persecution in Missouri, Joseph Smith and the Mormons arrive in Illinois and founded the city of Nauvoo. -
Mexico Gives John Sutter Land In California
This Swiss pioneer trader, had received a large land grant in the Sacramento Valley. He established the New Helvetia colony. James W. Marshall, a carpenter, to help build a sawmill on the American River. There, at Sutter's Mill, Marshall found the first gold nuggets. News of his discovery spread, and thousands of persons rushed to CA. -
Oregon Treaty Signed Between US and Britain
Ended border dispute between Britain and the US in Oregon. American settlers had already passsed the First Organic Laws of Oregon, which made them independent of Britain. They sought annexation by the US. -
Brigham Young and Mormons Arrive at the Great Salt Lake in Utah
After Joseph Smith was murdered by an angry Illinois mob in 1844, Brigham Young took up the leadership of the Church of Latter Day Saints. He led the Mormons to Utah, which at the time was part of Mexico. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
This treaty ended the Mexican-American War. Mexico ceded New Mexico and California to the US for $15 million, established the Rio Grande as the border between Texas and Mexico and promised that the US would assume all claims American citizens had against Mexico. -
Gold Rush in California
Between 1849 and 1850, more than 100,000 people came to CA. Some fortunes were made from gold, but most were made from supplying miners. Levi Strauss made canvas trousers that the miners favored while brothers, Henry Wells and William Fargo offered banking, transportation and mail services. -
Gadsden Purchase
President Franklin Pierce sent James Gadsden, the US ambassador to Mexico, to obtain the 29,670-square-mile area that makes up the southernmost areas of Arizona and New Mexico, paying $10 million for it. This area was needed to help build a southern route for a transcontinental railroad line.
