California’s Golden Landscape............................
What geographic features make California a special place?
Read about California’s four natural regions. Learn how to use maps to locate cities and special places in the state.
Study Your State: Population Density in California
Read & Do: California’s Shaky Ground
2 California’s Native Peoples
How did American Indians adapt to California’s varied geography?
Meet the California Indians who lived in different parts of the state. Examine their daily activities, their shelters, and the foods they ate.
Read & Do: Ishi: The Last Yahi Indian
3 Exploration and Settlement
Why did Europeans first come to California, and what challenges did they face?
Learn which European countries first explored the California coast. Find out why the Europeans came and why some of them chose to settle here.
Read & Do: The Mystery of the Brass Plate.........................
4 The Mission
How did the mission system change California?
Read about the goals of the Spanish missionaries. Explore daily life at the missions, both for priests and for California Indians.
Read & Do: Founding the California Missions
5 Mexican California
What was life like in Mexican California? Discover the colorful world of the huge cattle ranches of Mexican California. Learn to spot the signs of Mexican influence in the state today.
Read & Do: The Treasures of Rancho La Brea
6 California Becomes a State
80
What events led to California becoming a U.S. state? Read about the big changes that came to California in the mid-1800s. Discover which events pushed California to join the United States.
Study Your State: California’s History
Read & Do: Writing the California Constitution
7 The Gold Rush Changes California
How did the Gold Rush change life in California? Join the hopeful gold miners who poured into the state after 1848. Learn what hardships they faced in the new towns and in the gold fields.
Read & Do: Striving for a Better Life
8 Connecting California to the Nation
How did California build stronger links with the rest of the United States?
114
Discover what kept California linked to the larger nation. Follow the Irish and Chinese workers who built a railroad across the Great Plains and the Sierra Nevada.
Read & Do: Wells Fargo Delivers Black Bart to Justice 126
9 The Peopling of California
What did newcomers experience as they joined California’s diverse population?
130
Compare the diverse immigrant groups who came to the state after 1850. Find out about their struggles and successes in California’s growing economy.
Read & Do: An Angel Island Story
140
10 Bringing Water to a Thirsty State
How has California met the water needs of its farms and cities? Read about the problems caused by California’s scarce water supply. Explore the systems that keep water flowing to the state’s farms and cities.
Study Your State: Water in California
Read & Do: The Battle over Hetch Hetchy
11 Surviving Depression and War
What changes happened in California during the 1930s and 1940s?
Discover how Californians survived when hard times hit the country. Learn about the changes that major world events brought to our state.
160
Read & Do: César Chávez: Working for Change 172
12 California’s Cultural Contributions
How has California contributed to popular culture, the arts, and education?
176
Read about the film stars, writers, and architects who helped make California a leader in the arts. Learn about the education system that has grown with the state.
Read & Do: Art, Dreams, and Learning in Oakland
13 Our Country’s Largest Economy.....................
What industries have helped to make California’s economy the largest in the nation?
Visit some major industries across the state. Learn about the jobs people have. Find out about the goods produced by California companies and farms.
Read & Do: The Two Steves and the First Personal Computer
14 Governing California
How are the national, state, and local governments set up, and what do they do?
Explore how local, state, and federal governments work. Compare the powers of the different levels of government and the services they provide.
Read & Do: How Can You Help Make a Law?
15 Keeping California’s Promise
How can a growing California meet people’s needs and also protect the environment?
Read about the challenges facing Californians, now and in the future. Learn what people must do to meet those challenges.
Study Your State: California’s Natural Resources and Natural Hazards
Read & Do: Getting a Head Start on California’s Future
That Unite Us as Americans.......................
Read about the shared ideals of Americans. Discover how American ideals are expressed in the written documents of our country.
The Declaration of Independence: Creating a New Country
Ideals
The Constitution of the United States: Creating a Government
Government Achieves Its Purposes
The Bill of Rights: Protecting the Rights of Individuals
Freedoms
Respect for the Flag
Pledge of Allegiance
of the United States of America
Love You, California
of California
Some National Holidays in the United States
Have a Dream
Problems in Our State
of
of the United
Bill of Rights
Maps
California’s Natural Regions
California
Locating California Cities
Earth’s Climate Zones
Population of California Cities, 2015
California Population Density Map
California’s Six Culture Areas
European Exploration of the Pacific Coast
Route of the Portolá Expedition, 1769–1770
Drake’s Voyage Around the World
California’s Missions and Presidios
Mexico in 1824
Mexican Land Grants in California
Overland Routes into California
Travel Routes for the Forty-Niners
20
Proposals for California’s Borders, 1849 97 Mail Routes, 1860 116
The Transcontinental Railroad, 1869 125 Immigration to California, 1850–1930 139 Rainfall in California
146
California’s Population, 1900 147 Owens River and Colorado River Aqueducts
California Water Features
The Dust Bowl
World War II Military Bases
Silicon Valley
California’s Pacific Trade Links
Primary Sources
Primary sources are created by people who have seen or taken part in the events described. See for yourself what you can learn about history from old photos, advertisements, and artifacts.
Photo of Yurok Indian
22
Photo of Achomawi Indian 23
Photo of Central Valley Indian 24
Photo of Washoe Indians 25
Photo of southern California Indians 26
Photo of Mojave Indians 27
Photo of Hupa Indian 28
Photos of Ishi and related artifacts, 1911................................ 30–33
Map of North America, 1698 36
Painting of California Indians at the San Francisco mission
53
Passage from Gaspar de Portolá’s daily log 61
Passage from Juan Crespí of Portolá’s expedition, August 1769 62
Passage from Juan Bautista de Anza’s written account of his expedition, March 1775
63
Diseño showing Rancho Olompali 67
Photo of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and family
68
Excerpt from Richard Henry Dana Jr.’s Two Years Before the Mast about tallow trade 70 Excerpt from Richard Henry Dana Jr.’s Two Years Before the Mast about the fandango 74 Excerpt from Walter Colton’s Three Years in California 75
Photo of teeth from saber-toothed cat and kitten 78
Photo of Bear Republic Flag, 1846 82
Photo of Pío Jesus Pico 87
Photo of James Beckwourth 89
Photo of John Sutter’s sawmill 100
Excerpt from Louise Clappe about mining claims 106
Photo of The Emigrants Guide to California by Joseph E. Ware 107
Photo of San Francisco Bay, 1850s 108
Photo of Biddy Mason 113
Photo of stagecoach on mail route, 1850s 116
Excerpt from Mark Twain’s Roughing It about mail routes
116
Photo of Samuel Morse’s telegraph 117
Photo of transcontinental railroad survey team, 1850s
118
Photo of transcontinental railroad in Sierra Nevada 119
Photo of Union Pacific Railroad construction................................ 120
Photo of Central Pacific Railroad construction 121
Photo of complete transcontinental railroad, Utah 1869
123
Excerpt from Mark Twain’s Roughing It about traveling on the railroad 124
Photo of Wells Fargo stagecoach
126
Photo of Wells Fargo treasure box 127
Poem by Black Bart
128
Photo of Reward poster for Black Bart 128
Photo from Wells Fargo film, 1937
129
Photo of Charles E. Boles 129
Photo from Angel Island 131
Photo of San Francisco’s Chinatown 135
Photo of Italian fisherman 137
Photo of Levi Strauss & Co. 138
Photo of Angel Island, 1910 140
Photo of Chinese immigrants on Angel Island.............................. 141
Poem found on walls at Angel Island 142
Photo of Owens River project
151
Photo of John Muir 156
Photo of Hetch Hetchy Valley, early 1900s
157
Photo of Great Depression taken by Dorothea Lange 161
Excerpt about Great Depression, Chicago 1933 162
Photo of food lines in San Francisco, 1933 163
Photo of Great Depression makeshift camp, Los Angeles 163
Photo of buried farm in Dust Bowl 165
Photo of family in Dust Bowl 165
Excerpt from Trice Masters about leaving Dust Bowl for California 165
Excerpt from Al Zampa about Golden Gate Bridge conditions, 1930s 166
Photo of Shasta Dam construction 167
Excerpt from Sybil Lewis about factory work, Los Angeles ......... 169
Photos of women working in U.S. government factories, 1940s 169 Excerpt from Jeanne Wakatsuki about Japanese internment camps 170
Photo of Japanese Internment camp 171
Photo of César Chávez 172
Photo of migrant farmworker family, 1930s 173
Photo of Atari Asteroids Tournament in Pasadena, 1981............. 177
Photo of John Wayne on True Grit film set, 1969 178
Photos of Lucille Ball, 1950s
179
Photo of California’s migrant camp taken by Dorothea Lange 180
Photo of Jack London, 1950s
182
Photo of desegregated students in San Francisco, 1946 183
Photo of Martin Luther King Jr. 188
Poem from Marcus A. Foster School fifth grader, 2003 189
Photo of Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and John Sculley in San Francisco, 1984
200
Photo of first computers, 1940s .201
Photo of Apple II computer
.202
Photo of Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, 1992 .207
Photo of tribal government delegates, 1923
.213