Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Portuguese navigator Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo and his Spanish crew become the first Europeans
to sight the mainland of New Spain's west coast, anchoring in today's San Diego Bay.
1769
Spain attempts to colonize California when Padre Junípero Serra and Captain Gaspar de Portolá
lead an expedition to establish the first Catholic missions in Alta California, starting in San Diego.
1781
Spanish governor Felipe de Neve and a tiny band of settlers set out from Mission San Gabriel and
trek just 9 miles away to found Los Angeles.
1821
Mexican independence ends Spanish colonial dreams. Mexico inherits 21 Catholic missions in
various states of disrepair, but quickly reorganizes Alta California into ranchos(land grants).
1826-32
Teenage Kit Carson helps blaze the Santa Fe Trail, which eventually leads to Los Angeles through
900 miles of rattlesnake-filled high desert and plains guarded by Native American tribes.
1848
After winning the Mexican-American War and signing the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the US
takes control of Alta California, just as gold is discovered in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
1850
After debate about whether it would be a slaveholding or free state (Congress chooses the latter),
California enters the Union. Its first constitution is written in both Spanish and English.
1869
A golden spike is nailed in Utah, completing the first transcontinental railroad linking California
with the East Coast. Gold is uncovered outside San Diego, unleashing a mini mining frenzy.
