California became a state as a result of the war between Mexico and the United States, 1846-1848. Food, supplies and passengers were the main cargo arriving in California; but there was only a limited return trade for returning passengers, mail and gold. However, at the beginning of the Civil War, California sided with the North and provided him with materials and soldiers. The first European explorers, flying the flags of Spain and England, sailed along the California coast from the early 16th century to the middle of the 18th century, but no European settlements were established. British seafaring captain James Cook, halfway through his third and final exploration voyage in 1778, sailed along the west coast of North America aboard HMS Resolution, mapping the coast from California to the Bering Strait.
A new era began in California when ranch life flourished and American hunters began to enter the territory. Today's California state flag is based on this original bear flag and still contains the words California Republic. In retaliation, Mariposa County Sheriff James Burney led the local militia in an undecided confrontation with the natives on Jan. 11, 1851 on a mountainside near present-day Oakhurst, California.
In 1769, the Spanish Visitor General, José de Gálvez, planned a five-part expedition, consisting of three units by sea and two by land, to begin to settle in Alta California. A staple food for most indigenous peoples in inland California was acorns, which were dried, peeled, ground into flour, soaked in water to leach tannin, and cooked. The 1970s saw the end of private passenger railroads in California, the creation of a national passenger railroad (Amtrak) and the opening of the BART rail system in the Bay Area. Almost all cargo to California was transported on regular sailing boats, they were slow but the cheapest way to ship cargo.
The New York Volunteer companies were deployed from San Francisco in Alta California to La Paz, Mexico, in Baja California. After 1850, the Panama Railroad (finished 185) was already crossing the Isthmus of Panama, making it easier to access and exit California in about 40 days. California became the 31st state in the United States in the 1850 Commitment and played a small role in the American Civil War. Upon learning of the Bear Flag Revolt in Sonoma, California, and the arrival of the 2600-ton, 600-man Royal Navy flagship HMS Collingwood under Sir George S.
The first merchant ships from the United States, England and Russia began to appear in California before 1816.
