This Day in History

July 4, 1846:

Independence Day in Sonoma

  

This text comes from our fiifth to seventh grade textbook, From Sea to Shining Sea: The Story of America. For ordering information on this text and our other books, please click here.

The Americans who had settled in California were not happy living under Mexican laws and government. Since the Americans had settled in California without permission, they were worried that the Mexicans might force them to leave.

An 1846 map of the West,
showing Texas' disputed territorial claims
and the putative extent of Mexican California (in pink)

Besides, like the Texians, Americans in California wanted to live under the laws of the United States. They thought, as well, that the Mexicans had no right to California, since, the settlers believed, it was the destiny of the United States to possess the land. So it was that at least some of the American settlers were looking for an opportunity to revolt against Mexico, just as the Texians had done several years earlier.

The opportunity came in early June 1846. News had reached Frémont, who was then at Sutter's fort, that General Castro had sent some of his soldiers to a ranch near Sonoma to gather 200 horses. The ranch was owned by a wealthy Mexican Californian named Mariano Vallejo. The Americans thought that Castro was gathering the horses in order to attack them. To stop Castro, an American named Ezekiel Merritt rode out with some of Frémont's men to capture the horses from the Mexican soldiers. After capturing the horses, Merritt returned with them to Frémont's camp. There, gathering 21 men, Merritt again rode out, this time toward Sonoma.

Mariano Vallejo, about 1841

In the early morning hours of Sunday, June 14, Mariano Vallejo awoke to find his house surrounded by Ezekiel Merritt and his men. The Americans were a mean-looking group, and Vallejo decided he had no choice but to surrender to them. Merritt made Vallejo a prisoner and led him to Frémont at Sutter's fort.

The capture of Mariano Vallejo was the beginning of a revolt, led by an American settler named William Ide. Ide declared that California was now an independent country. He also made a flag for this new country; it was white, with one red stripe along the bottom and a red star in the upper left-hand corner. To the right of the star was the image of a grizzly bear, under which were written the words, "California Republic." Because of this flag, Ide's revolt became known as the Bear Flag Revolt. Ide raised this flag over the plaza (or public square) in Sonoma on the same day Mariano Vallejo was taken prisoner by Merritt.

The original design of California's "Bear 

Flag." (Some at the time of the flag's 

adoption thought the top right image looked more like  a pig than a bear.)

General Castro heard of the revolt three days after the raising of the bear flag and began gathering an army to crush the rebellion. Meanwhile, Frémont left Sutter's fort and came to Sonoma, where he took command of the "Bears," as the Americans were called. On July 4, Frémont and the Bears celebrated American Independence day in Sonoma with the booming of a cannon, a Spanish dance, and the reading of the Declaration of Independence.

In joining the Bears, Frémont had not had the open support of the United States government. Like the Texians, the Americans in California had carried out their revolt all by themselves. Perhaps Castro could have crushed the Bear Flag Revolt, but on July 7, 1846, everything changed. Commodore John Drake Sloat, who commanded the Pacific squadron of the United States Navy, sailed into Monterey harbor and took control of the Mexican capital of California. The fact that an American naval commander did this could mean only one thing: the United States and Mexico were at war.

Commodore Sloat raises the American flag over Monterey.