In the 1760s, concerned that the English or the Russians might claim California, the Spanish government decided to colonize the region. Instrumental in this effort was Jose de Galvez, who as inspector general of New Spain (Mexico) organized the first Californian settlements. Galvez sent an expedition to Alta California, as the Spanish called the area, in 1769, establishing a precarious foothold and presidio at San Diego. The Spanish also explored up the California coast nearly to San Francisco Bay. Over the next few years, Franciscan fathers built a series of missions and the Spanish founded three other presidios: Monterey (1770), San Francisco (1776), and Santa Barbara (1782). Never more than a backwater frontier of the Spanish-American empire, the Hispanic population of California had reached about 3,200 by 1821.

California's early years were difficult for the colony, which remained dependent on supplies from Mexico. From 1774 to 1776, the Spanish sent out several reconnaissance parties to expand California's boundaries and explore the possibility of land communication with Sonora in Mexico and the settlement at Santa Fe in New Mexico. Communication with New Mexico across what is now the state of Arizona appeared unfeasible. An overland trail was discovered to Sonora, but it required maintaining an outpost at the juncture of the Colorado and Gila rivers. When the Yuma Indians destroyed that outpost in 1781, California again became almost entirely dependent on communication by sea. Spanish explorers also traveled in the Pacific Ocean as far north as Alaska, establishing Spain's claim to the area of the current northwest United States and coastal British Columbia.

By the early 1780s, California was becoming more self-sufficient with expanding cattle herds and developing agriculture. In recognition of the growing importance of Alta California, the Spanish Crown ordered the provincial seat of government to be moved from Baja California to Monterey in 1776. The Franciscan missions contributed to this success; they converted thousands of Native Americans to Christianity and used Indians for labor on the missions. As many as 23,000 California Indians lived in the missions by 1821, but runaways and high mortality constantly put a strain on the missions' native populations. Conditions for all California Indians deteriorated over the course of Spanish colonization, with the region's diverse native population declining from about 300,000 to 200,000 between 1769 and 1821.

Although never overly successful, Spanish California helped to forge the Hispanic culture of the Southwest that was sustained by Mexico until the region was conquered by the United States in the Mexican War (1846-48). Contact with the United States before 1815 was minimal; by that date a few vessels from the United States had reached the Californian shore as merchants began to trade in the Pacific.

Bibliography:

1) Steven W. Hackel, Children of Coyote, Missionaries of St. Francis: Indian-Spanish Relations in Colonial California, 1769-1850 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005).

2) David J. Weber, The Spanish Frontier in North America (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1992).

Free term papers are not written to satisfy your specific instructions. You can use our professional writing services to buy a custom written research paper, term paper, or essay on American Revolution at affordable price. CustomTermPapers is the best solution for those who seek help in writing term papers, essays, and research papers related to American Revolution and other relevant topics.