Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/63

CALIFORNIA. following is the population by decades: 1850, 92,000; 1860, 379,900: 1870, 560,200; 1880, 864,700; 1890, 1,208,100; 1900, 1,485,000. (For population by counties, see table on back of the map.) The per cent. of increase for the last decade (22.9) was greater than that for the whole country. Of fifty-seven counties, all but eleven increased in population. About one-fourth of the population of the State is foreign born, the Irish, Germans, and English, in the order named, being most numerous. The State has a Mongolian population about equal to that of the rest of the United States, the Chinese numbering 45,700 and the Japanese 10,150. The former have greatly decreased in numbers, and the latter increased, during the last decade. Fifty-five per cent. of the population are males, the large predominance of this sex among the Mongolians being partly responsible for this result. The Indians number 15,300, and the negroes 11,000. Most of the Indians are taxed, and have made considerable progress in civilized life. The most decided increase during the decade was on the part of the natives born of foreign parents, this class exceeding 21 per cent. of the total population.

There are 9.5 individuals to the square mile, and a decided tendency is manifested to segregate in cities. There are twenty-four places having a population above 4000, their inhabitants constituting 48.9 per cent. of the total population, though in seven States the percentage is higher. The following are the leading cities: San Francisco, 342,700; Los Angeles, 102,400; Oakland City, 66,900; Sacramento, 29,200; San José, 21,500; San Diego, 17,700; Stockton, 17,500; Alameda, 13,400; Berkeley, 13,200; Fresno, 12,400. Indians.—The Indians in 1900 numbered 7654, who were located on twenty-six reservations—namely, Hupa Valley, Round Valley, Tule River, Yuma, and twenty-two mission reservations. They are from a large number of tribes, and represent at least fourteen different linguistic stocks. At least one-half of them can speak enough English to carry on ordinary conversation, and the greater number wear citizens' clothing. They are, as a rule, self-supporting, rations being issued only to the old and infirm. In some of the reservations, not only stock-raising, but farming and fruit-growing, have attained a considerable development. The Indians of the Yuma Reservation are the most primitive in the State, living principally upon fish and the mesquit-bean, which abound on the reservation.

. The name California first appears in a Spanish romance, published in 1510, as that of an island lying somewhere in the western sea near the equator. The term was originally applied to what is now Lower California, which was visited by the Spanish as early as 1533. Later the name was extended to the whole western coast of North America below the parallel of 42°, and the distinction of Upper and Lower California was introduced. The first exploration within the limits of the State was done in 1542 and 1543, when Cabrillo visited the coast and islands of the Santa Barbara region. In 1579 Sir Francis Drake sailed as far as the forty-third degree of latitude, and named the country New Albion, but did not, as is generally supposed, enter the Bay of San Francisco. In 1602 and 1603 Vizcaino explored the bays of San Diego

and Monterey, and sailed as far north as Point Reyes. The Spanish attempted to civilize the country by the establishment of missions along the coast. In 1769 the first mission in California proper was erected at San Diego by the Franciscans, and by 1823, when the last and most northerly station had been planted at Sonoma, these religious houses had grown to 21 in number, and acquired great wealth in olive, orange, and grape plantations, and cattle and horse ranches. The Indians were early converted to Christianity, gradually weaned from their nomadic and barbaric state, and induced to lead a settled life. They were taught farming and other civilized pursuits and became in time a peaceful and industrious people. The Spanish Government, which intended eventually to turn the mission estates into administrative districts, never acknowledged the title of the priests to the land, and in 1777 began the founding of pueblos or towns. Upper California was divided into the four provinces of San Diego, Santa Barbara, Monterey, and San Francisco. After the Mexican Revolution of 1821, the missions began to decline. The Indians were partly emancipated in 1826, and the process of secularization, which began in 1833, was completed by 1845. Commerce with foreign nations, which was at first forbidden, became very large after 1822. In 1826 the first American immigrant wagon train entered California. In 1840 Monterey was made the capital, and a year later the Russians, who had maintained a trading-post north of Bodega Bay since 1812, abandoned it.

Under the Mexican Republic California enjoyed virtual autonomy, and after 1840 its independence was seen to be inevitable. A silent conflict arose between those who favored ultimate annexation to the United States and the large class of property-owners who were inclined to favor the establishment of a British protectorate. In the southern part of the State, Larkin, the United States consul, was secretly endeavoring to stir up a revolt against Mexico and to bring about the extension of the jurisdiction of the United States over the country. But before his schemes had attained full maturity, a rising of the American settlers in northern California took place. On June 14, 1846, a small party of Americans, aided by John C. Frémont, who was then in California at the head of an exploring expedition, seized the town of Sonoma, raised the Bear Flag, and on the fourth of July proclaimed the independence of California. Commodore Sloat, acting under orders from the United States Government, which was then preparing to go to war with Mexico, seized Monterey and Yerba Buena (San Francisco), and the conquest of the country was completed by Commodore Stockton. Colonel Frémont, and General Kearney. On August 15, 1846, California was declared a Territory of the United States.

The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill, near Coloma, on January 24, 1848, gave an impetus to immigration from all parts of the globe. The great body of gold-seekers, ‘the Argonauts,’ arrived in 1849, and by the end of the year the population exceeded 100,000. Nearly all the newcomers were unmarried men, in haste to get rich. Hence the organization of an authoritative body, responsible for public order, was neglected or hindered by the influx of lawless characters. There ensued reckless speculation,