NARRATOR: The Spanish sailed up the California coast as early
as 1542.
But it wasn't until the 18th century
that they began constructing a series of missions here.
They built their sixth mission in what's now San Francisco.
It was given the name Mission de San Francisco de Asis.
In 1918, a much larger basilica was built next door.
The Spaniards used their missions
to convert Native Americans to Christianity,
and help the Spanish settle and dominate the region.
The town that grew up around the old mission
went on to become San Francisco, which was named after this now
tiny Spanish church.
But the Spanish didn't hold on to California for long.
In 1821, Mexico won its independence from Spain.
The vast Spanish colony of Alta, California,
soon became a province of Mexico.
In 1839, a Swiss immigrant named John Sutter arrived and managed
to convince the Mexican governor to give him
almost 50,000 acres of land to create a settlement he called
New Switzerland.
He also convinced Indians from the area
to help him build a fort, which came
to be known as Sutter's Fort, and a major destination
for American settlers, who started
arriving in Alta, California.
But over time, Mexican authorities
became suspicious of the Americans
and threatened to kick them out if they
didn't become Mexican citizens.
In June 1846, fearful that they were about to be expelled,
a few Americans in the region decided to revolt.
They launched an assault on the town of Sonoma.
Calling themselves osos, Spanish for bears,
they took a Mexican general hostage,
seized control of a local barracks here,
and raised their own flag with the image
of a grizzly bear on it and the words "California Republic."
Their action would be known as the Bear Flag Revolt.
Today, the California state flag has
the image of a grizzly bear on it
and still reads California Republic
to honor those early American settlers which
stood their ground here on California soil.
But their self-declared republic lasted less than a month.
US President James K. Polk desperately
wanted California for the US, and so he
tried to buy it from Mexico for $20 million.
The Mexicans refused to sell, which
was one reason the US went to war with Mexico in May 1846.
During that war, California continued
to lure American settlers, even though the journey
they had to take to get here could be treacherous.
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