History History

More than 20,000 years ago, North America and Asia were connected by a land bridge: Beringia, where the Bering Strait now lies. This is what allowed nomadic Siberian hunters to migrate: over the centuries, they spread out over the territory of present-day Alaska and adapted to it. Several ethnic groups, distinct by their physical appearance, language and way of life, descended from there and settled all over the continent, including the United States. The result is a country with a very ancient population, with the Great West in the lead. Because it is in California, in Santa Rosa Island - off the coast of Santa Barbara - that the oldest bones of North America were found, those of "Arlington Springs Man", dating from some 13 000 years.

On October 12, the Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus "discovered" the New World, in what is now the Bahamas archipelago, southeast of what we now know as Florida. The indigenous population of North America at the time is estimated at 2.3 million people, of which 13% - 300,000 - were in California. In all, there would have been nearly 200 Native American languages in the United States before colonization, half of which would have been spoken on the South Pacific Coast.

Once Mexico was conquered, the Spaniard Hernán Cortés sent a first expedition to present-day California.

Following Francisco de Ulloa's exploration of the Gulf of California in 1539, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed along the coast and "discovered" San Diego Bay. The first European to set foot in the Golden State, he encountered an inhospitable coastline and wilderness. Isolated by the Sierra Nevada mountains and the ocean, California was inhabited by numerous small Amerindian communities with varied dialects, living by gathering, hunting and fishing. Although welcoming, they had neither the gold nor the riches that the conquistadors sought.

The explorer Martín de Aguilar reached the Oregon coast, at what is now Coos Bay. Since it would have been too expensive to deal with such an ungrateful land, the King of Spain decided to focus on the Philippines: the western United States would only be a stage in the journey around the world that would lead to Asia. Thus, California will remain practically on the sidelines, even if it will continue to interest the great navigators.

This Spanish soldier (1716-1786) was the first European to visit San Francisco Bay, on an expedition from San Diego. After "missing their turn" at Monterey Bay, the explorers he led eventually reached what is now Pacifica, just south of San Francisco. They camped on a beach near which now stands a statue of Gaspar de Portolà.

1769 also marked the construction of the first of the 21 missions in the Golden State today. It was led by Father Junípero Serra, in San Diego, high above what is now Old Town. Until his death in 1784, he oversaw the founding of 9 other monuments. Then, 39 years later, the last Californian mission was erected, in Sonoma, in 1823. Together, the settlements form the Camino Real. These pillars of colonization had disastrous consequences for the local populations: some were put to forced labor, and quickly perished, affected by the new germs brought by the Europeans.

In September, the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza had the Presidio de San Francisco built - a military post that had become a park - and the following month, the San Francisco de Asís mission, also known as the Dolores mission, was established. The Spanish crown had authorized three years earlier the acquisition of land by Spanish individuals already living in missions or presidios, and the soldiers were the first to benefit from this offer: they were the ones who created the ranchos of San Francisco, acquiring the imported cattle. The society was organized on this basis and remained essentially agricultural and not very prosperous until the discovery of gold.

Moreover, 1776 was a decisive year for the whole continent: the declaration of independence of the United States was proclaimed on July 4. In other words, the first decolonized nation in the world was born.

On September 4, a group of 14 families - a total of 44 people of Native American, African and European heritage - established a farming community 200 km north of San Diego: "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula" - "The Village of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of Porciúncula". L.A. was born. With the arrival of new settlers and Spanish soldiers sent to Mexico on their civilian retreat, the area grew to become the main urban center in the southern part of the region.

Mexico declares its independence from Spain and takes over Alta California, which takes Monterey as its capital. The territory included the present states of California, Nevada and Utah, as well as parts of Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. The government favored the destruction of several missions, while it continued the oppression of the Native Americans undertaken by the Spanish settlers. In spite of this political change, the Californians maintained their way of life around the ranchos, which grew. They would eventually become a pillar of this society cut off from Mexico and the United States by the mountains.

88,000 Amerindians were baptized by the Church and 31,000 continued to live under the tutelage of the conquistadors. In the same year, Mexico ordered the immediate secularization of the missions and their transfer into the hands of the natives... who would come up against the laws and their dependence on the system. Thus, they will see the establishments return to the great landowners, before being plundered and abandoned.

In 1836, pioneers Marcus and Narcissa Whitman crossed the South Pass at the Continental Divide south of Yellowstone Park, Wyoming, on their way to Oregon where they settled. This route became known as the Oregon Trail, and in 1843 alone, nearly 1,000 pioneers used the trail to reach the Pacific coast, with 300,000 to follow

After the financial crisis of 1837 - or "Panic of 1837" - which lasted several years, many farmers and businessmen were in debt. At the same time, politicians were pushing Americans to settle in the West in order to massively occupy this territory: the idea of a nation stretching from coast to coast became a shared dream for many, an idea soon enshrined in the messianic notion of "manifest destiny". Then, in 1842, pioneer Kit Carson guided officer John C. Frémont along the Oregon Trail: it was thanks to his exploration and mapping work that migration to the Pacific intensified. However, while the Mexican government tolerated the growing number of American arrivals, it denied them the right to own property.

The United States declared war on Mexico on May 13, 1846, one year after annexing Texas, which had gained independence in 1836.

On June 14, a group of some 30 Americans headed for Sonoma, a small town some 70 km north of San Francisco. Ready to fight, they finally accepted the surrender of military commander Mariano Vallejo over a brandy. For the next 25 days, California would be an independent nation, The California Republic. A flag made of a red-painted cotton sheet and depicting a grizzly bear was hoisted: this independence movement took the name Bear Flag Revolt. The U.S. army quickly occupied several presidios, including San Francisco on July¹: California passed into U.S. hands.

The war with Mexico came to an end on February 2, 1848, with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: the border between the two countries was established at the Rio Grande. Mexico sold the territory north of the river and California for $15 million.

On January 24, carpenter James W. Marshall discovered gold by chance in a sawmill in Coloma, on the banks of the South Fork American River, some 80 km east of Sacramento. By the end of the year, some 10,000 prospectors were taking part in the California Gold Rush, which lasted until 1855. Gold seekers from China, Europe, Australia and South America soon mingled with the United States, making a major contribution to the development of San Francisco... But also to the last genocides of Native Americans. In all, 300,000 people were displaced by the gold rush.

California is officially part of the United States.

The California Land Act required the rancheros to legally prove their right to the lands that had been offered to them by the Spanish and then Mexican governments. Objective: to establish the domination of the Americans on the West of the United States by dispossessing the small landowners.

The first oil drilling in California took place in Petrolia, 400 kilometers north of San Francisco. This was a decisive event in the development of Los Angeles: once it had become the main economic resource, oil would generate two phenomena that were inseparable from the city... The car and smog, the cloud of pollution that today veils the City of Angels.

Its inauguration is celebrated in Utah, just north of Great Salt Lake. The arrival of the transcontinental railroad in San Francisco made its population explode: little by little, fortunes were established there and sought to form a respectable society of great industrialists.

Between the gold rush and the need for labor to complete the railroad, the Chinese community has grown steadily since 1849. In Los Angeles in particular, racial tensions became intrinsic to multiculturalism: one day, a mob of several hundred white men came to what is now Downtown, motivated by hatred. They beat to death, shot and hanged every Chinese person they encountered. In total, they murdered 18 men.

The world's first cable car is put into operation in San Francisco. This invention by Andrew Smith Hallidie made the hills around the Barbary Coast accessible: members of the new high society rose to Nob Hill and Russian Hill, far from the "little people" of the plain.

The signing of the Chinese Exclusion Act on May 6 removed the right of citizenship from Chinese already in the United States and prohibited immigration to those living in their country of origin.

The same year, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association was founded in San Francisco. Its goal was to defend the rights of the community and to set up support programs.

Successive mayors and leading figures decided to turn San Francisco into the "Paris of the West", a place of refinement and elegance. This period saw the construction of the Victorian villas that can still be seen today, each more impressive than the last.

While the city was at its peak, it was shaken by an earthquake estimated at at least 7.8 on the Richter scale. This resulted in devastating fires that lasted for several days, killing more than 3,000 people and destroying more than 80% of San Francisco. The day after the disaster, all of Downtown had to be rebuilt: the neighborhood quickly became a gigantic construction site.

From the beginning of the 1910s, the film studios left New York for Los Angeles. The reason: its climate, the diversity of the state's landscapes, its wide open spaces and the sunlight, which made it possible to shoot on location all year round. Soon, Californian studios were created: this was the birth of Hollywood.

From that year on, Los Angeles began to be covered with oil wells. Thus, the Dantesque networks of freeways were built that criss-crossed the City of Angels, while the suburbs grew. The agglomeration quickly reached 10 million inhabitants.

California adopts the flag raised in the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846.

The Panama-Pacific International Exposition was held from February 20 to December 4, giving the city the opportunity to show itself in its best light, despite the disaster of 1906. Marina District was created especially to host the event.

Construction of this historic highway - the very first to link Chicago and Los Angeles - continued until 1985. It played an essential role in the development of the United States, first as the most popular route of exodus for the Okies, the itinerant Oklahoma farmers driven out by landowners - and fleeing the Dust Bowl - in the 1930s. It was then widely used during the Second World War, in particular to transport heavy materials and soldiers. The economy and tourism were the first to benefit from this dazzling construction: a multitude of motels, gas stations and businesses of all kinds sprang up like mushrooms along the road.

The New York Stock Exchange experienced "Black Thursday" on October 24. This stock market crash of unprecedented proportions, which lasted six days, marked the beginning of the Great Depression, considered the greatest economic crisis of the 20th century. The Depression severely curtailed the expansion of the 1920s and caused many direct victims such as farmers and small landowners. It was intensified by the Dust Bowl, the name given to a region straddling Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas, which was affected by a period of intense drought in the 1930s. This phenomenon contributed to the exodus of Okies to California.

With the abolition of Prohibition - which had been in effect since 1920 and affected all activities related to alcohol - the Napa, Sonoma and Russian River valleys began to take an interest in viticulture: California became the country's leading producer of wine. It is also the leading state in terms of agricultural production.

On August 19, the notorious American gangster Al Capone - or Scarface - is transferred to Alcatraz prison, located on the island of the same name in San Francisco Bay.

In the same year, socialist writer Upton Sinclair, future Pulitzer Prize winner - in 1943, for Dragon's Teeth - runs for governor of California under the banner of his End Poverty in California party. Essentially made up of Hollywood's elite and studio bosses, his detractors waged a smear campaign against him. Presented as being in favor of a communist coup d'état, he was ousted from the election.

The writer received the award for his novel The Grapes of Wrath, published the previous year. By denouncing the discrimination suffered by the Okies forced to migrate to California, he made a significant contribution to raising awareness of this chapter in the history of the American West. Considered a "giant of letters", the author was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962, "for his realistic and imaginative writing, combining both sympathetic humor and acute social perception".

Japan carried out a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the American base located in Hawaii: this was the beginning of the Pacific War. California, with its state of the art aeronautics and weapons industries, was actively involved in the war. Thus, Fort MacArthur was ready to confront the enemy in San Pedro, the port district of Los Angeles.

The entry of the United States into the war marked a difficult time for the Japanese community, the majority of which was established in Japantown, San Francisco. ByExecutive Order 9066 of February 19, President Franklin D. Roosevelt decreed the internment of all Japanese and Japanese Americans and their transfer to camps throughout the country. Some 120,000 people were affected, two-thirds of whom were born here.

Faced with the Supreme Court's decision, Franklin D. Roosevelt was forced to suspendExecutive Order 9066 in December. The prisoners were released and offered temporary housing, while all the camps were closed by 1946.

The United Nations Charter was signed on June 26 in San Francisco: it created the United Nations. Moreover, the end of the war marked the return to sustainable growth for the international economy.

The world conflict was followed by an incredible period of economic growth, which lasted three decades. Boosted by the war effort, it is maintained with the implementation of major works: highways, irrigation ... All sectors are running at full speed. California prospered, taking with it the rest of the country, and even the Western world, and became the most powerful state on the continent.

The release of Jack Kerouac's book On the Road marked the "official" beginning of the Beat Generation, a literary and artistic movement that would become a turning point in American history. Along with Allen Ginsberg - author of the poem Howl, in 1956 - and William S. Burroughs - best known for the novel The Naked Feast, published in 1959 - the writer would become the precursor of sexual liberation and the questioning of the way of life of the time. Gradually, artists began to gather in San Francisco's North Beach district.

Accompanied by 500 other young people, 21-year-old Mario Savio organized a demonstration to abolish the free speech restrictions - inherited from the 1950s and the prevailing anti-communism - that were imposed on students at the University of California. The protests took place on the campus of Berkeley, a city in the San Francisco metropolitan area: it was the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement. Influenced by the "New Left" and linked to the anti-Vietnam War protests and civil rights struggles, the FSM would grow and shape political engagement on college campuses.

The passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act repeals all exclusionary laws against the Chinese community: foreign nationals can now enter the country freely.

With rents rising sharply in San Francisco's North Beach, Beat Generation artists are converging on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. It was here that they would meet up with the hippie youth who had come from all over the country to attend the Monterey Pop Festival in June. In all, over 100,000 people spent the summer together, partying, playing folk and rock music, taking drugs, falling in love and rejecting institutions and the Vietnam War. It was here that the expression "Flower Power" was born.

On May 15, police opened fire on a crowd of young people demonstrating to keep People's Park, a community garden used by UC Berkeley and neighborhood residents, open. More than a hundred people - including police officers - were injured, one man was blinded and another died a few days later, shot in the face and neck by the police. He was James Rector, a 25-year-old student. The authorities reacted as they would have done in wartime: martial law was declared, a curfew imposed and national guards were sent to occupy the city of Berkeley while a helicopter bombed the campus with tear gas.

Tired of police raids tinged with violence and humiliation, LGBTQI+ people create a small haven of peace in San Francisco, in the Castro district. Little by little, a community is formed thanks to support groups and associations: a militant core is formed around Harvey Milk, who arrived in the city in 1972.

After several unsuccessful attempts to gain political office, this gay rights activist was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors - the equivalent of a city councilor in France. He became known for having sponsored a bill prohibiting discrimination in the allocation of employment and public housing. He was assassinated in 1978, at the age of 48, along with Mayor George Moscone, who had enacted the bill. His story will give rise to the biographical film Harvey Milk (2008), in which he is played by Sean Penn. The following year, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

California's economic health is boosted by the rise of new technologies. A hub of cutting-edge industries, Silicon Valley attracts engineers, entrepreneurs and major IT companies: it was here that the Internet - or the "World Wide Web" - was born in 1991. Numerous start-ups were set up overnight in a new modern gold rush, with dynamic young people as young as 25 heading up huge sums of money. It was euphoria: the speculative machine was launched.

The bubble finally burst in March, in the form of a first crash: it was the fall of technology stocks. In an instant, former millionaires found themselves destitute, thousands of start-ups closed and entrepreneurs had no other solution than to knock on the door of more traditional employers.

Austrian-American bodybuilder and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger - best known for his role in the Terminator saga - became governor of California. The election of the Republican will advance the state's environmental agenda, which is its main focus.

On November 8, Californians said no to Arnold Schwarzenegger's referendum to expand his power. Among his proposals: cutting budget spending, extending the probationary period for teachers from three to five years before hiring them for life, or limiting the power of union officials to finance parties.

The Global Warming Solutions Act , passed by the California legislature on August 31, is a major historic event in the fight against pollution. A major first in the United States, it aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. This was a real achievement, as the country was then led by the Bush administration, known for its refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

On November 7 of the same year, Arnold Schwarzenegger was re-elected governor of California. He proposed to extend health coverage, as his state had more than 6 million uninsured people.

The California Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriage on May 15. Five and a half months after thousands of couples began uniting, Proposition 8 - also known as the "November 4 referendum" - wins 52.24% of the vote. It once again outlawed marriage for all.

On the same day, Democrat Barack Obama becomes President of the United States.

California is on the verge of bankruptcy, heavily impacted by the international financial crisis, itself the result of the subprime crisis of July 2007. Nevertheless, it remains today the richest state in the country, because of its industries and its attractiveness.

Although federal judge Vaughn Walker declared Proposition 8 unconstitutional in August, same-sex marriage remains on hold in California.

Democrat Jerry Brown became governor of California on January 3.

On November 6, Barack Obama was re-elected President of the United States.

On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Proposition 8's advocates: the appeals court lifted the stay with immediate effect, allowing same-sex marriages to resume in California.

Jerry Brown is re-elected at age 75, becoming the oldest remaining U.S. governor.

Faced with the worst drought in his state's history, Jerry Brown ordered a 25 percent water reduction measure.

On November 9, Republican billionaire Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. He will be known for his outbursts, both on Twitter and in interviews, and his more-than-conservative positions, particularly on the carrying of weapons and abortion, being "profoundly pro-life".

Although the governor of California announced in April that the five-year drought was over, the entire western United States - including California, Arizona and Nevada - was ravaged by some 30 fires three months later.

In May of the same year, suspicions of collusion with Russia during the election campaign hovered over Donald Trump. While the president dismissed the FBI director in charge of the investigation, a Californian congressman filed a resolution of impeachment against him two months later, in the face of new incriminating revelations.

The city of Los Angeles, the only candidate for the 2028 Summer Olympics, was awarded the Games on September 13.

Less than two weeks later, on October¹, a horror scene unfolded in Las Vegas: a man shot into a crowd from his hotel room during an outdoor country music festival on the Strip. With at least 58 people dead and nearly 530 injured, it was the worst mass killing in the country's history.

The same month, a new series of fires ravaged California. More than 40 people were killed and hundreds were missing, while more than 80,000 hectares of forest and more than 3,500 buildings were destroyed. The wine regions north of San Francisco were particularly affected; Donald Trump declared a state of natural disaster.

On June 5, Democrat London Breed was elected mayor of San Francisco in an election in which she defeated Mark Leno, who aspired to become the first gay mayor of the city, the birthplace of LGBTQI+ rights. She is the first black woman to hold such a high profile position in the United States.

A little over a month later, a terrible wildfire season began. It reached its peak with the Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive fire in California history, with 85 deaths, 62,053 hectares decimated and the town of Paradise - 140 km north of Sacramento - ravaged. It will be totally extinguished on November 25, after having started on the 8th.

In response to the global coronavirus epidemic, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a lockdown on March 19, one of the first states in the country to adopt measures similar to those imposed in Europe. The crisis is accentuating social inequalities: precarious workers in the southern Golden State are being laid off en masse, the number of homeless people is multiplying... Meanwhile, Hollywood celebrities are annoying the general public. The video posted by Arnold Schwarzenegger bears witness to this. In it, the actor and politician tells young people not to leave their homes... all from his hot tub, cigar in hand.

On November 3, Joe Biden was elected the ^46th President of the United States, a victory that Donald Trump struggled to recognize, insisting that "the election was rigged".

On January 20, Alex Padilla became the first Latino to represent California in the Senate.

From July 13 to October 25, the wildfire called "Dixie Fire" ravages more than 389,837 acres of Northern California, placing it second on the sad podium of the largest fires in recent state history.

After a destructive drought, California will be ravaged by floods in 2023. The torrential rainfall at the start of the year, well above historical averages, will precede a succession of storms, including the infamous Hilary, which unleashed torrential rains and strong gusts across the American West from August 16 to 21.

Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of the Golden State, makes a name for himself several times in 2023. On September 15, California launched a lawsuit against five oil giants: Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips and Chevron. At issue: their role in global warming. "For over fifty years, Big Oil has lied to us, hiding the fact that they have known for a long time how dangerous the fossil fuels they produce are for our planet", accuses the politician. His objective: to obtain the creation of a fund to deal with future damage.

In the same month, Gavin Newsom signed a succession of measures aimed at tightening gun control, ranging from additional taxes for gun owners to bans in "sensitive areas", and "micro-marking" of all semi-automatics sold or transferred in California by 2028.