Editing Sonoma County, California (section)

==History==
The [[Pomo people|Pomo]], [[Coast Miwok]] and [[Wappo]] peoples were the earliest human settlers of Sonoma County, between 8000 and 5000 BC, effectively living within the natural carrying capacity of the land. Archaeological evidence of these First people includes a number of occurrences of [[rock carving]]s, especially in southern Sonoma County; these carvings often take the form of [[pecked curvilinear nucleated]] design.

[[File:Russian chapel at Fort Ross (2016).jpg|thumb|left|[[Fort Ross, California|Fort Ross]] was established by the Russians in 1812.]]
[[Spanish people|Spaniards]], [[Russians]], and other [[Ethnic groups in Europe|Europeans]] claimed and settled in the county from the late 16th to mid-19th century, seeking timber, fur, and farmland.<ref name="Picture_This">{{cite web |title=Early California: pre-1769–1840s: Russian Presence |url=http://picturethis.museumca.org/timeline/early-california-pre-1769-1840s/russian-presence/info |website=Picture This |publisher=Oakland Museum of California}}</ref> The Russians were the first newcomers to establish a permanent foothold in Sonoma County, with the [[Russian-American Company]] establishing [[Fort Ross, California|Fort Ross]] on the Sonoma Coast in 1812. This settlement and its outlying Russian settlements came to include a population of several hundred Russian and [[Aleut people|Aleut]] settlers and a stockaded fort with artillery. However, the Russians abandoned it in 1841 and sold the fort to [[John Sutter]], settler and Mexican [[land grant]]ee of [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]].<ref name="Russians_sold">{{cite web |title=Russians establish Fort Ross in California |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/russians-establish-fort-ross |website=History.com |date=November 16, 2009 |quote=After making unsuccessful attempts to interest both the British and Mexicans in the fort, the Russians finally found a buyer in John Sutter.}}</ref>

[[File:"General Vallejo Reviewing His Troops in Sonoma, 1846".jpg|thumb|left|300px|General [[Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo]] reviewing his troops in [[Sonoma, California|Sonoma]], 1846]]
The [[Mission San Francisco Solano]], founded in 1823 as the last and northernmost of 21 [[Spanish Missions of California|California missions]], is in the present [[Sonoma, California|City of Sonoma]], at the northern end of [[El Camino Real (California)|El Camino Real]]. [[Presidio of Sonoma|El Presidio de Sonoma]], or Sonoma Barracks (part of Spain's ''[[Spanish missions in California#Military districts|Fourth Military District]]''), was established in 1836 by Comandante General [[Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo]]. His duties included keeping an eye on the Russian traders at Fort Ross, secularizing the Mission, maintaining cooperation with the Native Americans of the entire region, and doling out the lands for large estates and ranches. The City of Sonoma was the site of the [[California Republic|Bear Flag Revolt]] in 1846.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/bear-flag-revolt |title=Bear Flag Revolt |website=Encyclopedia.com |date= 2008 |access-date= July 23, 2018}}</ref>

Sonoma was one of the original counties when California became a state in 1850,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.counties.org/county-history |title=California County History |work=CSAC.org |publisher=California State Association of Counties |date=2014 |access-date=September 22, 2015 }}</ref> with its [[county seat]] originally the town (now city) of Sonoma. However, by the early 1850s, Sonoma had declined in importance in both commerce and population, its county buildings were crumbling, and it was relatively remote. As a result, elements in the newer, rapidly growing towns of [[Petaluma, California|Petaluma]], Santa Rosa, and [[Healdsburg, California|Healdsburg]] began vying to move the county seat to their towns. The dispute ultimately was between the bigger, richer commercial town of Petaluma and the more centrally located, growing agricultural center of Santa Rosa. The fate was decided following an election for the state legislature in which James Bennett of Santa Rosa defeated [[Joseph Hooker]] of Sonoma and introduced a bill that resulted in Santa Rosa being confirmed as county seat in 1854.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.calarchives4u.com/history/sonoma/1880-382.htm |title=Sonoma County History |website=Calarchives4u.com |access-date=July 17, 2014 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319220837/http://www.calarchives4u.com/history/sonoma/1880-382.htm |archive-date=March 19, 2014 }}</ref> Allegedly, several Santa Rosans, not caring to wait, decided to take action and, one night, rode down the Sonoma Valley to Sonoma, took the county seals and records, and brought them to Santa Rosa.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://users.ap.net/~chenae/socohist.html |publisher=AccessPort |website=ap.net |title=History of Sonoma County |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107010823/http://users.ap.net/~chenae/socohist.html |archive-date=January 7, 2012 }}</ref> Some of the county's land{{which|date=January 2020}} was annexed from [[Mendocino County, California|Mendocino County]] between 1850 and 1860.

Early post-1847 settlement and development focused primarily on the city of Sonoma, then the region's sole town and a common transit and resting point in overland travel between the region and Sacramento and the gold fields to the east. However, after 1850, a settlement that soon became the city of Petaluma began to grow naturally near the farthest navigable point inland up the [[Petaluma River]]. Originally a hunting camp used to obtain game to sell in other markets, by 1854 Petaluma had grown into a bustling center of trade, taking advantage of its position on the river near a region of highly productive agricultural land that was being settled. Soon, other inland towns, notably Santa Rosa and Healdsburg began to develop similarly due to their locations along riparian areas in prime agricultural flatland. However, their development initially lagged behind Petaluma which, until the arrival of railroads in the 1860s, remained the primary commercial, transit, and break-of-bulk point for people and goods in the region. After the arrival of the [[San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad]] in 1870, Santa Rosa began to boom, soon equalling and then surpassing Petaluma as the region's population and commercial center. The railroad bypassed Petaluma for southern connections to [[ferries of San Francisco Bay]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2015}}

Six nations have claimed Sonoma County from 1542 to the present:{{Citation needed|date=February 2015}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|[[File:Flag of New Spain.svg|border|40px]]
|[[Spanish Empire]], 1542, by sea, voyage of [[Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo]] as far as the [[Russian River (California)|Russian River]]. Later validated by voyage of [[Sebastián Vizcaíno]], 1602.
|-
|[[File:Flag of England.svg|border|40px]]
|[[Kingdom of England]], June 1579, voyage of the ''[[Golden Hind]]'' under Captain [[Francis Drake]] at [[Bodega Bay]] (exact location disputed).
|-
|[[File:Flag of Spain (1785-1873 and 1875-1931).svg|border|40px]]
|[[Spanish Empire]], October 1775, the ''Sonora'' at Bodega Bay, under Lt. [[Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra]], until 1821, when [[Mexico]] gained independence from Spain.
|-
|[[File:Flag of Russia.svg|border|40px]]
|[[Russian Empire]], by Russian-American Company expedition led by [[Fort Ross|Ivan Alexandrovich Kuskov]], the founder of Fort Ross and, from 1812 to 1821, its colonial administrator. Note: There is an overlap of rule with the Mexican Empire (next item), until the Russians sold Fort Ross in 1841 to John Sutter, before leaving the area in 1842.
|-
|[[File:Flag of Mexico (1821-1823).svg|border|40px]]
|[[First Mexican Empire]], August 1821, under [[Agustín de Iturbide|Emperor Agustin Iturbide]] (October 1822, probable time new flag raised in California), until 1823.
|-
|[[File:Flag of Mexico (1823-1864, 1867-1893).svg|border|40px]]
|[[Mexico|Mexican Republic]], 1823 until June 1846.
|-
|[[File:1stBearFlag.svg|border|40px]]
|[[California Republic]], June 14, 1846, until July 9, 1846.
|-
|[[File:Flag of the United States.svg|border|40px]]
|United States of America, [[History of California|July 9, 1846]] to present.
|}

Sonoma County was severely shaken by the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake]]. The displacements along the [[Fault (geology)|fault]] averaged {{convert|15|ft|m}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sonoma-county.org/prmd/docs/gp/98gp-07.htm|title=Sonoma County General Plan – Public Safety Element|date=October 11, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080120064454/http://www.sonoma-county.org/prmd/docs/gp/98gp-07.htm|archive-date=January 20, 2008}}</ref>

In October 2017, the county was greatly affected by the [[Tubbs Fire]]<ref name="Jones">{{cite web|last1=Jones|first1=Kevin L.|title=Bernie Krause's Equipment, Decades of Musical Memorabilia Lost in Fires|url=https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2017/10/11/bernie-krauses-equipment-decades-of-musical-memorabilia-lost-in-fires/|website=KQED Arts|access-date=October 12, 2017|language=en-us|date=October 11, 2017}}</ref> and the [[October 2017 Northern California wildfires|Nuns Fire]]. In late October and early November 2019, the [[Kincade Fire]] burned {{convert|77,758|acre|ha|0|abbr=on}}, almost all in Sonoma County. In August and September 2020, the Walbridge Fire burned {{convert|55209|acre|ha|0|abbr=on}} in the western part of the county; then in September–October the Glass fire affected the city of Santa Rosa and ultimately destroying 1,000+ buildings<ref>{{Cite web|last=SFGATE|first=Amanda Bartlett|date=September 28, 2020|title=Everything you need to know about the Glass Fire|url=https://www.sfgate.com/california-wildfires/article/What-you-need-to-know-about-the-Glass-Fire-15604419.php|access-date=October 26, 2020|website=SFGATE|language=en-US}}</ref> The county also had a wildfire in the 1870s that is compared to the Hanley fire and Tubbs fire because they burned in the same path.

The Sonoma County Landmarks Commission recognizes nearly 200 formal [[Sonoma County landmarks|historical landmarks]] and the Sonoma County Historical Society counts 380 landmarks recognized by several agencies.