Before Alta California became part of the Mexican state, around 30 Spanish land concessions had already been processed throughout Alta. The Mexican government and Spanish-speaking Californians were growing increasingly suspicious of the motives of U. S. Americans.
In 1844, John Charles Frémont led a group of Army surveying engineers who accidentally crossed the Sierras into California and traveled along the San Joaquin Valley before returning home. In 1845, a commodore in the United States Navy, misinformed about relations between his country and Mexico, sailed to the port of Monterrey and declared victory in a non-existent war. Frémont returned in December 1845, apparently to inspect the passes through the Sierras used by American emigrant trains. By the time Stevenson's unit arrived in California, there was little to do other than being prepared to fight any possible insurrection by local Mexicans.
Frémont and his men enlisted in official military operations, and the Republic of California ceased to exist. In the early years of the California gold rush, placer mining methods were used, from sweeping to long cradles and rockers or timpani, to diverting water from an entire river to a lock next to the river, and then digging for gold in the gravel to the rocky bottom of the river. These galleons, after crossing most of the Pacific Ocean, would arrive from the coast of California 60 to more than 120 days later somewhere near Cape Mendocino, about 300 miles (480 km) north of San Francisco, at about 40° latitude. With the expedition was Father Junipero Serra, a Franciscan father who would have a tremendous influence on the colonization of California through the establishment of missions. The Panama and Nicaragua routes provided a shortcut from the East Coast to California and rapid maritime passenger trade developed, with fast paddle steamships from cities on the East Coast, New Orleans, Louisiana and Havana, Cuba to the Caribbean mouth of the Chagres River in Panama and the mouth of.
of the San Juan River in Nicaragua. After Portolá's expedition from 1769 to 1770, Spanish missionaries began to establish 21 missions in California on or near the coast of Alta (Alta) California, starting with the San Diego de Alcalá Mission, near the location of today's city of San Diego, California. It was soon discovered that some types of spring wheat could be planted in fall in California and that mild winter with its rains would allow good harvests to be harvested in spring without watering. Some 6,000 wagons carrying about 40,000 more fortune seekers moved west that year along the California Route. From 1847 to 1850, California had military governors appointed by California's senior military commander. On June 15th 1846 some thirty settlers mostly American citizens organized a revolt and seized the small garrison of California in Sonoma without firing a single shot and declared a new government called Republic of California.
New York Volunteer companies deployed from San Francisco in Alta California to La Paz Mexico in Baja California. A large non-coastal land concession was granted to John Sutter who in 1839 established a large land concession near future city Sacramento California which he called Nueva Helvetia (New Switzerland). The constitutions of states closely adhered to format and governmental functions set forth in original U. S Constitution of 1789. Almost all cargo to California was carried by regular sailing ships they were slow but cheapest way to ship cargo.
The state was under command of military governor Colonel Richard Barnes Mason who had only about 600 soldiers to govern California many these soldiers deserted to go to gold fields.
