California: Gold, Giant Trees, and a 25-Day Republic

State #31 | September 9, 1850

California is one of those states that feels like several different worlds rolled into one.

It has foggy coastlines, sunny beaches, enormous cities, fertile valleys, snowy mountains, scorching deserts, and trees so large they make people look like tiny decorations at their base.

California also holds a small place in our own story. I lived in Benicia when I was a little girl, and John was born in Los Angeles, although he lived there for less than a year.

What makes my childhood connection especially interesting now is discovering that Benicia was once California’s capital. But we will get to that shortly—because California’s story begins with a mythical island, passes through several different governments, and includes an independent republic that barely had time to unpack.

A State Named for a Place That Did Not Exist

California may have started as a place in a book before it became a place on a map.

The most widely accepted explanation is that the name came from a Spanish adventure novel published during the early 1500s. The story described a mythical island called California, ruled by a powerful queen named Calafia.

The imaginary island was said to be filled with gold and located near paradise.

When Spanish explorers reached this part of North America, they believed the Baja California peninsula might be an island and began using the name from the novel.

They were wrong about the island—but the part about the gold turned out to be surprisingly close.

Long Before the Gold Rush

California’s story did not begin with Spanish explorers or American settlers.

Indigenous people had lived throughout the region for thousands of years, developing distinct communities, languages, traditions, and ways of living suited to California’s widely varied landscapes.

Spanish colonization began in earnest during the late 1700s. Between 1769 and 1823, Franciscan missionaries established 21 missions along the California coast, stretching from San Diego to Sonoma.

That part of California history also brings back one of my own childhood memories. I remember making a mission out of sugar cubes and frosting for a school project.

But the real history of the missions is far more complicated than that childhood project could capture. Indigenous people experienced disease, forced labor, displacement, and severe disruption to their families and cultures.

California later became part of Mexico after the country gained its independence from Spain. Mission lands were divided into large ranchos, and the cattle, hide, and tallow trades helped shape California’s economy.

Then, during the 1840s, control of California changed again.

The Republic That Barely Had Time to Unpack

In June 1846, a group of American settlers in Sonoma rebelled against Mexican rule and raised a homemade flag featuring a bear and a red star.

They proclaimed the independent California Republic.

It lasted only 25 days.

The United States was already at war with Mexico, and American military forces soon took control of the area. The Bear Flag was replaced by the American flag, ending California’s brief experiment with independence.

Although the republic disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared, the bear did not. A version of the original Bear Flag became California’s official state flag in 1911.

California may not have spent much time as an independent republic, but it certainly knew how to leave behind a memorable logo.

Then Someone Found Gold

On January 24, 1848, James Marshall discovered flakes of gold while building a sawmill for John Sutter near Coloma.

Just days later, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War and officially transferred California to the United States.

Once news of the discovery spread, people began arriving from across the country and around the world. The prospectors who flooded into California during 1849 became known as the “Forty-Niners.”

Mining camps appeared almost overnight. San Francisco grew rapidly, businesses expanded, and California’s population changed dramatically.

The Gold Rush created fortunes, but it also had serious consequences. Indigenous communities faced increased violence and displacement, while mining altered rivers, forests, and other parts of the landscape.

California moved toward statehood almost as quickly as people moved toward the goldfields. It never became an organized United States territory. Instead, it went directly from former Mexican territory to statehood.

On September 9, 1850, California entered the Union as the 31st state and a free state as part of the Compromise of 1850.

Perhaps California has always been in a hurry.

Today, people can follow part of that history along Highway 49 on a self-guided Gold Rush Country driving tour, which travels through Auburn, Placerville, Coloma, and other historic sites in the Sierra foothills.

A Capital That Could Not Sit Still

California’s early government had a difficult time deciding where to settle.

Between 1849 and 1854, four cities served as the state capital: San Jose, Vallejo, Benicia, and Sacramento.

Benicia became California’s third seat of government on February 9, 1853. Lawmakers met there until February 25, 1854, when the capital moved permanently to Sacramento.

The former capitol building still stands and is now part of Benicia Capitol State Historic Park. It is the only surviving California capitol building from the years before Sacramento.

I love knowing that the town where I lived as a little girl once housed the entire California state government—even if Benicia’s time as the capital was fairly short.

It is one of those places with far more history than its size might suggest.

A State Built in Extremes

California does not seem to do anything halfway.

Mount Whitney is the highest point in the contiguous United States. Not far away, Badwater Basin in Death Valley sits 282 feet below sea level, making it the lowest point in North America.

Then there are the trees.

California’s coast redwoods are the tallest trees in the world, while its giant sequoias are the largest by volume. The General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park is not the tallest or the widest tree, but its enormous trunk contains more wood than any other known tree on Earth.

Sequoia National Park was established in 1890, making it the country’s second-oldest national park. It was also the first national park created specifically to protect a living organism—the giant sequoia.

For those who want to experience California’s natural scale without planning all the driving themselves, a small-group Yosemite and Giant Sequoias day trip from San Francisco combines some of Yosemite’s most famous scenery with a visit to a giant sequoia grove.

Add in Yosemite’s granite cliffs, the vineyards of Napa and Sonoma, the cliffs of the Pacific coast, the deserts of Southern California, and the volcanic landscape around Lassen Peak, and it becomes difficult to describe California as having just one personality.

California Is Several Vacations Hiding Inside One State

California is much too large and varied to treat as one simple trip.

Northern California offers San Francisco, wine country, redwood forests, Gold Rush towns, and historic communities like Benicia.

Wine country can easily become a California trip of its own. For a taste of both regions without having to choose a designated driver, a full-day Napa and Sonoma wine-country tour from San Francisco includes transportation and visits to wineries in both valleys.

The central coast brings smaller seaside towns, rugged ocean views, and a slower pace. Farther inland are Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and the Sierra Nevada.

Southern California has Los Angeles, Hollywood, San Diego, desert landscapes, and the beaches most people picture when they hear the word California.

Trying to see everything during one visit could easily turn into spending most of your vacation looking through a car windshield. California works better when you choose a region or theme and give yourself time to enjoy it.

The rest of the state will still be there when you are ready to return.

Once you decide which part of California you want to explore, you can browse more California tours and activities through Viator for additional ideas.

A Few More Golden California Facts

• California’s state motto is Eureka, a Greek word meaning “I have found it.”
• “The Golden State” became California’s official nickname in 1968.
• The California grizzly is the state animal—even though grizzlies have been extinct in California since the 1920s. California is also the only state with an extinct animal on both its flag and seal.
• Denim is California’s official state fabric. Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patented their riveted work pants in 1873, and they became especially popular with miners and laborers.
• West Coast Swing is California’s official state dance, while square dancing is its official folk dance. Both received their designations in 1988.
• California even recognizes two official ghost towns: Bodie is the State Gold Rush Ghost Town, while Calico is the State Silver Rush Ghost Town.

From Our World to Yours

California has played a small part in both of our beginnings. I spent part of my childhood in Benicia, while John was born in Los Angeles before his family moved away.

Neither of us stayed long enough to claim the full California experience, but it is still fun knowing that the state is part of our story.

From a mythical island and a 25-day republic to a world-changing Gold Rush, a wandering capital, and some of the largest trees on Earth, California has never been short on stories.

And in Brock’s World, that’s the truth—with a Golden State twist. 🐻