Miscellaneous Documents and Reports

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  1839 – California: A History of Upper and Lower California from Their First Discovery to the Present Time, Alexander Forbes

  The first full account in English to relate exclusively to California, this book covers the history, climate, soil, natural productions, agriculture, and commerce, as well as the establishment of the missions and the conditions of the “free and domesticated” Indians. It includes an appendix on steam navigation in the Pacific.

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  1844 - The History of Oregon and California and Other Territories, Robert Greenhow

  Writing principally about the portion of North America border on the Pacific Ocean between the 40^th and 54^th parallels of latitude (Oregon), Greenhow found it necessary to also include the regions known as California that extended southward from the Columbia River to the Californian Gulf. Recognizing that the territories were becoming increasingly more important due to the advancement of the population of adjoining countries towards the territories; from the constant increase of the trade and navigation of several countries claiming powers in the Pacific. The difficulty of effecting an amicable partition of the territories was becoming more urgent. Greenhow’s objective was to show the nature, origin and extent of the various claims.

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  1846 - Life in California: A Description of the Country and the Missionary Establishments; A Historical Account of the Origin, Customs and Traditions of the Indians of Alta-California, Translated from Original Spanish Manuscript

  This 1846 book, written by Alfred Robinson during a residence of several years in Alta California, provides an account of the history of Alta California along with the author’s personal observations about his travels throughout California. Topics include the first attempt of the Spaniards to colonize Alta California as well as the author’s description of ports, cities, missions and country life in California. Annexed to this publication is a translation of Friar Geronimo Boscana’s “Chinigchinich: A Historical Account of the Origin, Customs, and Traditions of the Indians at the Missionary Establishment of St. Juan Capistrano, Alta California; Called the Acagchemem Nation.”

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  1847 - Alta California: Embracing Notices of the Climate, Soil, and Agricultural Products of Northern Mexico and the Pacific seaboard; also, a History of the Military and Naval Operations of the United States Directed Against the Territories of Northern Mexico, in the Year 1846-'47; with Documents Declaratory of the Policy of the Present Administration of the National Government in regard to the Annexation of Conquered Territory, and the Opinion of the Hon. James Buchanan on the Wilmot Proviso; by Thomas W. Streeter

  The 1847 publication briefly address climate soil and agriculture in Alta and Baja California in chapter I. The following eight chapters consist of communications from the U.S. Government consisting of instructions in the event Mexico declared war, justification of and motives for war, various reports to Washington, communications with Mexican officials in Alta California, accounts of the military operations in California, the articles of capitulation entered into at Rancho of Cowanga on January 13, 1847, all of which are interspersed with personal observations and comments by the author. The final chapter deals with the question of whether slavery would be allowed in California, the policy of the South and its motive for a slave market and emigrants to California and Northern Mexico.

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  1849 - California Constitution

  The original Constitution for California was adopted at the California Constitutional Convention on October 10, 1849, and ratified on November 13, 1849. The United States Congress in 1848 failed to set up any government for California either territorial or state, and adjourning early in 1849 without taking any action. BVT Brigadier-General Bennet Riley, then the Military Governor, issued a proclamation calling for the establishment of a state constitution or a territorial government. A new constitution was adopted in 1879.

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  1849 - The Emigrant's Guide to New Mexico, California, and Oregon, John Disturnell

  The author, noting the desire for correct information in relation to the various routes, provided a detailed description and lists of the provisions and equipment needed for each option, distances involved and different routes (over land or via sea) that an emigrant in 1849 could travel to reach the U.S. Territories in the West: New Mexico, California and Oregon.

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  1850 - Report of the debates in the Convention of California, on the formation of the state constitution, in September and October, 1849

  The 1850 Report of the debates of the California State Constitutional Convention (September and October 1849) comprises the official records of the convention. John Ross Browne, official reporter for the Convention, provided transcripts of the proclamation calling the convention, proceedings of the convention, text of the state constitution adopted by the delegates, and official correspondence regarding the convention and the institution of state government under that constitution.

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  1850 – Report on the Subject of Land Titles in California made in Pursuance of Instructions from the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Interior, by William Carey Jones: Together with a Translation of the Principal Laws on that Subject, and Some Other Papers Relating Thereto

  An 1850 report prepared by William Carey Jones at the request of the Secretaries of State and Interior. In the first half of the report, Jones described the method by which land titles were created from the first inception to the perfect title as practiced by Mexico within the Province of California, as well as the history of the issuance of land grants subsequent to the independence of Mexico from Spain and the process by which that was accomplished. Jones provides a list of records and memoranda of grants found in the government archives of Monterey. The report addressed the issue of whether large grants, as the missions, whether they title to them be in the assignees, or whether they had reverted, and vested in the sovereign. Jones also discussed the establishment of missions in remote provinces as part of the colonial system of Spain, status and condition of the missions at the time of the report. Jones addressed the issue raised concerning “large grants,” other than the ecclesiastical grants; grants of islands, keys and promontories; grants of lands covering a portion of the gold, quicksilver and other mineral mines; whether they were surveyed and occupied under the government of Spain or Mexico; and when publicity was first given to such grants. The second half of the report details the various ways land grants had been issued under the Spanish and Mexican laws. The last portion of the report provides an English translation of some of the principal Spanish and Mexican laws and orders relating to land grants.

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  1852, February 3 - Report of Secretary of Interior Communicating Instructions to California Land Commissioners

  The 1852 report from the Secretary of the Interior transmitting to the United States Senate the September 11, 1851, instructions given to the California land commissioners appointed pursuant to the act of Congress approved on March 3, 1851, entitled, “An act to ascertain and settle the private land claims in the State of California.” In addition to settling and recognizing bona fide valid titles, the instructions made note that: “The growth and prosperity of California materially depends upon a speeding and just settlement of the claims to land within her limits and the separation of all private property from the public domain, so that the public lands in that State may be disposed of as Congress may hereafter direct, without danger of conflict in title, or interference with the rights of individuals.” The Secretary indicated the Commissioners in deciding the validity of claims would be governed by the Treaty of Guadalupe, Hidalgo pointing specifically to the eighth and ninth articles of the treaty. Also included was a copy of the instructions that had been transmitted to the surveyor general of California on September 11, 1851.

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  1861 - Drake's Compilation of Spanish Grants

  An 1861 publication compiled by Eugene B. Drake containing Jimeno's and Hartnell's indexes of Mexican land concessions, from 1830 to 1846; the Toma de Razon, or, registry of titles, for 1844-'45; approvals of land grants by the Territorial Deputation and Departmental Assembly of California, from 1835 to 1846, and a list of unclaimed grants. The compilation of indices was compiled from the Spanish archives in the U.S. Surveyor-general's office.

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  1862 - Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, Volume 1, Ogden Hoffman, District Judge

  This report covers all of the opinions delivered by Judge Hoffman during the June 1853 to June 1858 terms of the Northern District Court of California relating to land cases. It includes a list of the Governors of California from its first settlement together with an early history of Upper California. The Appendix contains a table of all land claims presented to the Board of Land Commissioners including the number of each Commission docket number (GLO), District Court case number, corresponding number from the Jimeño Index, the name of the claimant, the original grantee, the date of the grant, the name of the Rancho and the Governor who granted it, a statement concerning the disposition of the matter, the number of acres surveyed, and whether a patent was issued.

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  1864 - Report of the California State Agricultural Society for 1863

  1864 report on various subjects pertaining to the California State Agricultural Society in 1863, copies of some of the bulletins issued by the Society during the year, and a review of the physical conditions and characteristics of most of the counties of the State, with statistics showing the farm acreage, the assessable wealth, and industrial resources for those counties.

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  1866 - Report of the California State Agricultural Society for 1864 and1865

  1866 report on various subjects pertaining to the California State Agricultural Society in 1864 and 1865, copies of some of the bulletins issued by the Society during the year, and a review of the physical conditions and characteristics of most of the counties of the State, with statistics showing the farm acreage, the assessable wealth, and industrial resources for those counties.

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  1870 - Report of the California State Agricultural Society for 1868 and 1869

  1870 report on various subjects pertaining to the California State Agricultural Society in 1868 and 1869, copies of some of the bulletins issued by the Society during the year, and a review of the physical conditions and characteristics of most of the counties of the State, with statistics showing the farm acreage, the assessable wealth, and industrial resources for those counties.

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  1870 - The Indians of California, Chever, Edward E.

  This May 1, 1870, article was read originally before the Essex Institute on February 21, 1870. Chever's five years amongst the California Indians and his familiarity with the language of the tribes provided him with a sympathetic insight into the lives of the California Indians who had been demoralized by contact with the Whites. The Indians described were the Sesum, Hocktem, Yubum, Hololipi, Willem and Tankum who inhabited the valley of Northern California between the Sierra Nevada and the Coastal Range.

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  1878 - Report of the California State Agricultural Society for 1877

  1878 report on various subjects pertaining to the California State Agricultural Society in 1877, copies of some of the bulletins issued by the Society during the year, and a review of the physical conditions and characteristics of most of the counties of the State, with statistics showing the farm acreage, the assessable wealth, and industrial resources for those counties.

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  1879 - Droughts in California in 1805 and 1817, Mariano G. Vallejo

  A handwritten transcription of a brief narrative by Mariano G. Vallejo (original in Spanish) describing the droughts of 1805 and 1817 experienced in California and the impact it had upon the people and land.

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  1879 - Report of the California State Agricultural Society for 1878

  1879 report on various subjects pertaining to the California State Agricultural Society in 1878, copies of some of the bulletins issued by the Society during the year, and a review of the physical conditions and characteristics of most of the counties of the State, with statistics showing the farm acreage, the assessable wealth, and industrial resources for those counties.

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  1880 - Report of the California State Agricultural Society for 1879

  1880 report on various subjects pertaining to the California State Agricultural Society in 1879, copies of some of the bulletins issued by the Society during the year, and a review of the physical conditions and characteristics of most of the counties of the State, with statistics showing the farm acreage, the assessable wealth, and industrial resources for those counties.

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  1880 - Report of the California State Agricultural Society for 1880

  1880 report on various subjects pertaining to the California State Agricultural Society in 1880, copies of some of the bulletins issued by the Society during the year, and a review of the physical conditions and characteristics of most of the counties of the State, with statistics showing the farm acreage, the assessable wealth, and industrial resources for those counties.

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  1881 - History of the state of California from the Period of the Conquest by Spain to Her Occupation by the United States, John Frost

  Originally published in 1851 without the Appendix and with a chapter on the natural history of California, this 1881 edition covers the entire pre-United States history of California in pages 7 through 36. The remainder of the book focuses on California history following 1847 through 1853 (pages 36 through 300) with a significant emphasis on gold, mining, agriculture and other resources; the formation of the state government; routes to California; the Californians; and California Indians. This later edition excluded the natural history chapter and added a new one concerning events in California from its admission into the United States to the beginning of 1853. The Appendix (A through M) contains the original California State Constitution along with numerous official documents.

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  1881 - Report of the California State Agricultural Society for 1881

  1881 report on various subjects pertaining to the California State Agricultural Society in 1881, copies of some of the bulletins issued by the Society during the year, and a review of the physical conditions and characteristics of most of the counties of the State, with statistics showing the farm acreage, the assessable wealth, and industrial resources for those counties.

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  1881 - State Viticultural Commission - First Annual Report

  The first report submitted to the California Legislature in 1881 in accordance with the an Act for the Promotion of the Viticultural Industries of the State approved April 15, 1880. The report contained several reports from Commissioners to the State Board of Viticultural Commissioners, the President's report, the Treasurer's report, Secretary's report, board minutes, reports of various committees, lectures on the Phylloxera, the curing of rains in Spain and the maintenance of vineyards, papers on the manufacture and use of Bi-Sulphine of Carbon, as well as several translations of the French regard the habits and ravages of Phylloxera and pruning. The Act for Promotion of the Viticultural Industries was included in the report.

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  1883 - A popular history of California _ from the earliest period of its discovery to the present time, Lucia Norman

  Published originally in 1867, this second edition included events that transpired during the intervening years (1867-1883). Topics covered included, but not limited to, were a eescription of California, it’s discovery, the sufferings of Cortez and his Followers, Spaniards neglect of California, the commerce of Spain disrupted by Privateers, Viscaino’s second expedition, Father Salva-Tierra at San Dionysio, the insurrection of the Pericues, earliest settlements in Upper California, the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco, establishment of missions, Mission Delores, the state of the converted Indians, Captain John A. Sutter, Stockton subjugation of California, California ceded to the United States by Mexico, discovery of gold, California towns, Indian wars, descriptions of California landscape, mining, establishment of the Vigilance Committee, land claims, establishment of schools and churches, trade with China and other countries, railroads, Chinese, Hoodlum Riots, Pickhandle Brigade, Kearney, organization of Workingmen’s Party, the Amador War, Modoc War, development and exportation of wheat, hydraulic mining, interference with farmers’ occupation by slickens (unproductive sludge from the mining process).

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  1883 - History of Santa Barbara County

  This 1883 publication by Thompson & West, Oakland, California, provides a diverse account about individuals, events occurring during the early years of American occupation of California, and life in California including, but not limited to, pre-Spanish occupants, Spanish-Mexican occupancy, agriculture, discovery of gold, county government, Spanish grants, education, industry, politics.