Editing Sonoma, California (section)

==History==
When the first [[Spaniards]] arrived, the area was near the northeast corner of the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] / [[Aboriginal peoples]] (Indians) of the [[Miwok|Coast Miwok]] territory,<ref>SSHP-GP p.11</ref> with [[Pomo|Southern Pomo]] to the northwest, [[Wappo]] to the northeast, [[Suisun people|Suisunes]] and [[Patwin]] peoples to the east.<ref name="S/PSHPA">S/PSHPA</ref><ref>CIMCC</ref>

===Mission era===
{{main|Mission San Francisco Solano}}
[[File:San_Francisco_Solano_(Oriana_Day).png|thumb|left|Sonoma's origins trace to 1823, when [[Mission San Francisco Solano]] of the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]], was founded under the direction of Governor [[Luis Antonio Argüello]] of [[Alta California]] (Upper California) of the [[Viceroyalty]] of [[New Spain]] of the [[Kingdom of Spain]] / [[Spanish Empire]].]]
[[Mission San Francisco Solano]] is the direct predecessor to the founding of the town of Sonoma. The mission, the only to be constructed not by the Spanish but by the later [[Mexico|Mexican]] authorities seeking independence and succeeding to the Royal Spanish [[Viceroyalty]] at that time, was built as part of a larger plan Governor [[Luis Antonio Argüello]] had devised to fortify the Spanish presence north of the [[San Francisco Bay]] and thus deter [[Russian Empire]] ([[Russia]]) encroachment southward from further north in [[Russian America]] (where they'd established a presence back in the [[1740s]], a half-century before) into the  Pacific Ocean coastal region.<ref>Bancroft p. 496</ref> [[Franciscans|Franciscan]] padre / priest  [[José Altimira]] worked with Governor Argüello to plan the mission, against the desires of [[José Francisco de Paula Señan]], then the President-General of the [[Spanish missions in California]], who disapproved of secular government intervention into religious matters.

A decade later in 1833 the [[Congress of the Union]] ([[Mexican Congress]]) passed the [[Mexican secularization act of 1833]], ending Roman Catholic Church mission stewardship and control of huge tracts of associated lands in California, one goal being to diminish the church's highly influential standing in California's economy and political system.<ref>Smilie p. 34</ref> Then Governor [[José Figueroa]] appointed [[Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo]], then the Commandant of the [[Presidio of San Francisco]], as administrator (''comisionado'') to oversee the closing of Mission San Francisco Solano and its conversion into a civilian town.<ref>Bancroft III:720</ref>

===General Vallejo era===
{{further|Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo}}

[[File:"General Vallejo Reviewing His Troops in Sonoma, 1846".jpg|thumb|right|General [[Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo|Mariano G. Vallejo]] reviewing his Mexican Army troops in [[Sonoma Plaza]], 1846. The building with a tower is General Vallejo's residence, the ''Casa Grande'', and to the right are the [[Sonoma Barracks]].]]

Governor Figueroa had received instructions from the Mexican Congress further south in the [[capital city]] of [[Mexico City]] to establish a strong presence in the region north of the [[San Francisco Bay]] to protect the area from encroachments of foreigners.<ref>Bancroft 3:246</ref> An immediate concern was the further south and  eastward movement to the interior of the [[Russian America Company]] from their settlements at [[Fort Ross, California|Fort Ross]] and [[Bodega Bay]] on the [[Northern California]] coastline.<ref name="Smilie p.54">Smilie p.54</ref>

Figueroa's next step in implementing his instructions was to name Lieutenant Vallejo as Military Commander of the Northern Frontier and to order the Army units of officers / soldiers, arms and materiel supplies at the [[Presidio of San Francisco]] moved to the site of the recently secularized [[Mission San Francisco Solano]]. The [[Sonoma Barracks]] were then built to house the troops. Until the building was habitable, the soldiers were housed in the buildings of the old Mission.<ref>Stammerjohan p.25</ref> In 1834, [[George C. Yount]], the first [[European American]] permanent settler in the [[Napa Valley]], north of [[San Francisco Bay]], was employed as a carpenter by Mexican Army General Vallejo.

The Governor granted Lieutenant Vallejo the initial lands (approximately {{convert|44000|acre|km2|0}}) of [[Rancho Petaluma]] immediately west of Sonoma. Vallejo was also named Director of Colonization which meant that he could initiate land grants for other colonists (subject to the approval of the governor) and the ''diputación'' (Alta California's nominal assembly / [[legislature]]).<ref>Smilie p. 50</ref>

Vallejo had also been instructed by Governor Figueroa to establish a pueblo at the site of the old Mission. In 1835, with the assistance of [[William A. Richardson]], he laid out a grid, in accordance with the Spanish [[Laws of the Indies]], of the streets, building lots, central plaza and broad main avenue of the newly planned ''Pueblo de Sonoma''.<ref>Bancroft III:721</ref>

Although Sonoma had been founded as a [[pueblo]] in 1835, it still remained under military control, lacking the political structures of civilian municipal [[self-government]] of other [[Alta California]] pueblos. In 1843, now Lieutenant Colonel Vallejo wrote to the Governor recommending that a civil government be organized for Sonoma. A town council (''ayuntamiento'') was established in 1844 and [[Jacob P. Leese|Jacobo Leese]] was named first ''[[alcalde]]'', and [[Cayetano Juárez]] second ''[[alcalde]]''.<ref>Bancroft IV: 678 note 16</ref>

===Bear Flag Revolt===
{{main|Bear Flag Revolt}}
[[File:Raising_of_the_Bear_Flag_over_Sonoma,_June_14,_1846.jpg|thumb|The raising of the [[Flag of California|Bear Flag]] and proclamation of the new independent [[California Republic]] in Sonoma Plaza, following the so-called [[Bear Flag Revolt]] on June 14, 1846.]]
[[File:Lowering_the_Bear_Flag,_Raising_the_U.S._Flag_in_Sonoma_(1846).png|thumb|right|[[Joseph Warren Revere (general)|Joseph Revere]] of the [[United States Navy]] lowering the California Republic [[Bear Flag]] and raising the "Stars and Stripes" of the [[Flag of the United States|American flag]]]]

Before dawn on Sunday, June 14, 1846, thirty-three [[United States|Americans]], already in rebellion against the [[Alta California]] provincial government of [[Mexico]], arrived in Sonoma. Some of the group had traveled from the camp of [[United States Army]] Brevet Captain [[John C. Frémont]] (1813-1890), who had entered California illegally from across the [[Great Plains]] and through the [[Rocky Mountains]] chain from the east in late 1845 with his exploration and mapping expedition. Others had joined along the way. As the number of immigrants arriving in California had swelled, the Mexican government barred them from buying or renting land and threatened them with expulsion because they had entered without official permission.<ref>Bancroft; IV: 598-608</ref><ref>Richman p 308</ref> Mexican officials were concerned about the coming [[Mexican–American War]] of 1846-1848, with the [[United States]] coupled with the growing influx of American and other European immigrants into California, both by overland wagon trains from the east and by ship on the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] and [[Pacific Ocean]].<ref>Hague p.118</ref>
[[File:Sonoma,_1846.jpg|left|thumb|Sonoma in 1846<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sonoma Democrat 9 September 1885 — California Digital Newspaper Collection |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SD18850909.2.2&e=------188-en--20--1081--txt-txIN-Bear+flag------- |access-date=2025-01-04 |website=cdnc.ucr.edu}}</ref>]]
A group of rebellious Americans had departed from Captain Frémont's military camp on June 10 and captured a herd of 170 Mexican government-owned horses being moved by Californio / Mexican Army soldiers from San Rafael and Sonoma to Alta California's Commandante General José Castro in Santa Clara.<ref>Ide p. 112-3</ref> The insurgents next determined to seize the weapons, gunpowder and materiel stored in the [[Sonoma Barracks]] and to deny Sonoma to the Californios as a rallying point north of the San Francisco Bay.<ref name="Bancroft V:109">Bancroft V:109</ref>

Meeting no resistance, they approached the home of General Vallejo, who invited the [[filibuster (military)|filibuster]]s' leaders into his home to negotiate terms. However, when the agreement was presented to those outside they refused to endorse and accept it. Rather than releasing the Mexican officers under parole, they insisted they be held as hostages. [[William Ide]] (1796-1852), gave an impassioned speech urging the rebels to stay in Sonoma and start a new republic.<ref>Harlow p. 102</ref> Afterwards, Vallejo and his three associates were taken as prisoners and placed on horseback and taken to Captain Frémont.<ref>Bancroft V:117</ref>

The [[Sonoma Barracks]] became the headquarters for the remaining twenty-four rebels, who within a few days created their [[Flag of California|Bear Flag]]. After the flag was raised Californios called the insurgents ''Los Osos'' (The Bears) because of their flag and in derision of their often scruffy appearance. The rebels embraced the expression, and their uprising became known as the Bear Flag Revolt.<ref>SSHP-GP p. 82</ref> There were some small unit skirmishes between the Bears and the Californios but no major confrontations.

After hearing reports that General [[José Castro]] was preparing to attack Sonoma, Frémont left Sutter's Fort with his forces for Sonoma. There he called a meeting with "the Bears" and united his forces with the revolters to form a single military unit. Frémont then took the majority of the men back to Sutter's Fort and left fifty men to defend Sonoma. The Bear Flag Revolt ended and the [[California Republic]] ceased to exist on July 9 when Lieutenant [[Joseph Warren Revere (general)|Joseph Warren Revere]] of the U.S. Navy raised the United States flag in front of the [[Sonoma Barracks]].<ref>Bancroft V:185-86</ref>

===Post-Conquest era===
[[File:The Plaza of Sonoma, ca.1874.jpg|thumb|left|View of [[Sonoma Plaza]], {{circa|1874}}]]

Following the American [[Conquest of California]] and the advent of the [[California Gold Rush]], local businesses prospered with the business brought by the soldiers as well as miners traveling to and from the gold fields. The prosperity and optimism about Sonoma's future promoted land speculation which was particularly problematic because of the cloudy records regarding land ownership.

Vallejo had granted land by virtue of his office as Director of Colonization before the pueblo was organized. Among the traditional duties of Alta California's ''alcaldes'' was the selling of town lots. Political factions backed different Sonoma ''alcaldes'' (John H. Nash, supported by American immigrants, and [[Lilburn Boggs]] (1796-1860), supported by Vallejo and the [[Californios]]) made the situation more complex.<ref>Parmelee p. 90-93</ref> Some property was sold more than once.<ref>Bancroft V:668-670</ref> A valid land sale depended on proof of the seller's [[chain of title]]. Over thirty subsequent years of lawsuits and land disputes were required before land owners in Sonoma were able to obtain clear titles.<ref>Parmelee p. 94</ref>
[[File:P15763coll2 5298 large (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|[[Sonoma Valley Unified School District|Sonoma Valley High School]], 1910]]
When the [[California interim government, 1846–1850|California interim government and U.S. military occupation]] beginning 1846, finally ended after four years in 1850, when California was admitted as the 31st [[U.S. state|state]] to the federal Union by act of the U.S. Congress, approved by the [[President of the United States|President]], on September 9, 1850, Sonoma was then named the first [[county seat]] town for [[Sonoma County, California|Sonoma County]]. About that time the flow of miners had slowed and the U.S. Army was soon leaving Sonoma. Business in Sonoma moved into an economic recession in 1851.<ref>Parmelee p. 101</ref> Surrounding towns such as Petaluma and Santa Rosa were developing and gaining population much faster than Sonoma. An 1854 special election then moved the county seat and courthouse and its legal work and entailed economic activity to [[Santa Rosa, California|Santa Rosa]].

===Contemporary era===
The [[Sonoma City Hall]], located in the center of the Sonoma Plaza, was dedicated on September 9, 1908.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/santa-rosa-republican-dedication-of-city/151542395/ "Celebration At Sonoma Was Splendid Success Wednesday, Dedication of City Hall"]. ''Santa Rosa Republican''. Santa Rosa, California. September 9, 1908. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-07-15.</ref>

The [[United States Navy]] operated a rest center at the Mission Inn through [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/USN-Act/CA.html|title=U.S. Naval Activities World War II by State|publisher=Patrick Clancey|access-date=March 19, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110907053516/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/USN-Act/CA.html|archive-date=September 7, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

Parts of [[Wes Craven]]'s ''[[Scream (1996 film)|Scream]]'' (1996) were filmed in the city, with shots of the Sonoma Community Center masked as Westboro High School.<ref name="InsideStoryScream">{{Cite video|people=Daniel Farrands (Director) Thommy Hutson (Writer)|title=Scream: The Inside Story|medium=TV|publisher=[[The Biography Channel]] Video|location=United States|date=April 6, 2011}}</ref>

The center of town, known as the Plaza, is home to a particularly vibrant Farmers Market on Tuesdays during season.