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Alta California
(Upper California) was formed in 1804 when the province
of California, then a part of the Spanish colony of New
Spain, was divided in two along the line separating the
Franciscan missions in the north from the Dominican missions
in the south. The southern part became the territory of
Baja California. The two territories were also alternatively
called Nueva California (New California; Upper California)
and Vieja California (Old California; Lower California).
Alta
California—covering the land that belongs
to the modern-day US states of California, Nevada, Utah,
northern Arizona, western Colorado, and southwestern Wyoming—gained
independence from Spain in 1821 upon conclusion of the Mexican
War of Independence. After the war, the region was included
in short-lived First Empire (that Spain deemed illegal in
1822) but was not recognized as one of the newly independent
United Mexican States. (The 1824 Constitution refers to
Alta California as one of the territories.) Mexico lost
control of the territory as a result of the Mexican-American
War (1846–1848).
Upon the declaration of war by the
US Congress, partly in response to events in Texas after
its annexation by the United States and partly in response
to calls from Northern California's American residents who
were striving for independence from Mexico, US Army and
US Navy forces entered into the territory and overpowered
the remaining Mexican military units. In Southern California,
the Californios formed a defensive army and were victorious
after the Siege of Los Angeles and at the Battle of San
Pascual, and the Battle of Dominguez Rancho, but fought
indecisive encounters at the Battle of Rio San Gabriel and
the Battle of La Mesa; they formally surrendered with the
signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga on January 13, 1847. California
was ceded to the United States in 1848 by the signing of
the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
The last Mexican Governor of California
was Pío Pico, who served until 1846.
In the second
half of the nineteenth century, there was a San Francisco-based
newspaper called The Daily Alta California (or The Alta
Californian). Mark Twain's first widely successful book.
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