30th April - Sonoma - Outpost of Californian History

Our visit to Sonoma brought into focus a bit more of Californias history. El Camino Reale is the Royal Road that joins all the Missions on the West Coast which were built between 1683 and 1823. The road itself was started to be paved around 1900 and became U.S.101.
Sonoma Town Square is large,about 200 yards on each side, with a park in the middle. It is the site of the last, and most northerly, of the 21 Missions built in California. Built in 1823 it was the only Mission to be started by the Mexicans, it became properly established by 1830, but was sold off in 1834 by the Mexican Govt. Then taken over in 1836 by the Mexican army as the famous (?) Mexican General Vallejo made it his Northern Border Garrison, to defend Mexico from the Russians, would you believe, who had developed a number of fur trade communities to Northern California (Fort Ross up through Oregon).
This was a very confused time in Californian history, though it was part of Mexico the population was very small, several thousand, and it was  long way away from the Mexican President (who between 1821 and 1846 changed 40 times). By 1846 the garrison was down to about 30 men when on June 14th 1846 the 'Black Bear Incident' took place, the town was taken over by the Black Bear Party - group of American settler who raised a flag in the square, with a black bear on it, captured General Vallejo and declared establishment of the free and independent Republic of California. This was part of a bloodless rebellion that led to California becoming independent in 1847, a move which was strengthened by the discovery of gold in 1848 and a consequential increase in population to more than 100,000. It then became a part of the USA, being declared 31st State in 1850.
The mission itself was the simplest of any of the Mission buildings we had seen and as a building quite unremarkable.