Editing Alta California (section)

===Spanish colonization (1769–1821)===
{{Further information|Spanish missions in California|Ranchos of California}}
[[File:SpanishMissionsinCA.png|left|thumb|The 21 [[Spanish missions in Alta California]] (outline of the present state of California).]]

The [[Portolá expedition]] was the first European land-entry expedition into the area that is now California. The missionaries and soldiers encountered numerous [[Indigenous peoples of California|Indigenous peoples of the area]], who became the primary subjects of the expanding [[Jesuit]] and [[Franciscan]] missions that were already established in [[Baja California]] and [[Baja California Sur]].<ref name="Robinson79">{{cite book | author = Robinson, William Wilcox | year = 1979 | title = Land in California: The Story of Mission Lands, Ranchos, Squatters, Mining Claims, Railroad Grants, Land Scrip, Homesteads | location = Berkeley| publisher = University of California Press | series = Chronicles of California, Volume 419: Management of public lands in the United States | page = [https://archive.org/details/landincalifornia00robi/page/29 29] | isbn = 0520038754 | url = https://archive.org/details/landincalifornia00robi | url-access = registration | access-date = 30 May 2016 }}</ref><ref name="RyanBreschini10">{{cite web |author=Ryan, Mary Ellen |author2=Breschini, Gary S. |name-list-style=amp |year=2010 |title=Secularization and the Ranchos, 1826–1846 |url=http://mchsmuseum.com/secularization.html |access-date=30 May 2016 |publisher=Monterey County Historical Society |location=Salinas, CA}}</ref> The expedition first established the [[Presidio of San Diego]] at the site of the [[Kumeyaay]] village of [[Kosa'aay]], which became the first European settlement in the present state of California. At first contact, the villagers provided food and water for the expedition, who were suffering from [[scurvy]] and [[water deprivation]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kosa'aay (Cosoy) History |url=http://www.cosoy.org/History.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607221122/http://www.cosoy.org/History.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=June 7, 2010 |access-date=2020-08-28 |website=www.cosoy.org}}</ref>

The first Alta California mission was founded that same year adjacent to the village [[Mission San Diego de Alcalá]], founded by the [[Franciscans|Franciscan]] friar [[Junípero Serra]] and [[Gaspar de Portolá]] in [[San Diego]] in 1769.<ref>Starr, ''California: A History'', 35–36. Rawls and Bean, ''California: An Interpretive History'', 37–39.</ref> Similar to the site of this mission, subsequent missions and presidios were often founded at the site of Indigenous villages. [[Mission San Gabriel Arcángel]] was founded at the [[Tongva]] village [[Toviscanga]]<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Peet |first=Stephen Denison |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ar0RAAAAYAAJ |title=The American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal |publisher=Jameson & Morse |year=1881–82 |editor-last=Gatschet |editor-first=Alb. S. |page=73}}</ref> and the [[Pueblo de Los Ángeles]] at the village of [[Yaanga]].<ref name=":72">{{Cite web |last=Masters |first=Nathan |date=June 27, 2012 |title=El Aliso: Ancient Sycamore Was Silent Witness to Four Centuries of L.A. History |url=https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/el-aliso-ancient-sycamore-was-silent-witness-to-four-centuries-of-la-history |website=KCET}}</ref> The first settlers of Los Angeles were African and [[mulatto]] Catholics, including at least ten of the recently re-discovered [[Los Angeles Pobladores|Los Pobladores]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-12-02 |title=History |url=https://lacounty.gov/government/about-la-county/history/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201011204846/https://lacounty.gov/government/about-la-county/history/ |archive-date=2020-10-11 |access-date=2020-10-12 |website=County of Los Angeles  |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Mission San Juan Capistrano]] was founded at the [[Acjachemen]] village of [[Acjacheme]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Woodward |first=Lisa Louise |title=The Acjachemen of San Juan Capistrano: The History, Language and Politics of an Indigenous California Community |publisher=University of California, Davis |year=2007 |pages=3, 8}}</ref> [[Mission San Fernando Rey de España|Mission San Fernando]] was founded at [[Achooykomenga]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=John R. |date=1997 |title=The Indians of Mission San Fernando |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41172612 |journal=Southern California Quarterly |volume=79 |issue=3 |pages=249–290 |doi=10.2307/41172612 |jstor=41172612 |issn=0038-3929}}</ref>

As the Spanish and civilian settlers further intruded into Indigenous lands and imposed their practices, ideas of property, and religion onto them backed by the force of soldiers and settlers, Indigenous peoples formed rebellions on Spanish missions and settlements.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Kling |first=David W. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1143823194 |title=A history of Christian conversion |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-006262-0 |location=New York |pages=344–345 |oclc=1143823194 |quote=Apart from a tiny minority who gave the clearest evidence of meaningful conversion... Overall, outright rejection and chronic resistance characterized the Indian response. [...] The Franciscans admitted as much, recording repeatedly the difficulty of convincing adult Indians to accept any aspect of Catholicism.}}</ref> A major rebellion at Mission San Gabriel in 1785 was led by the [[Medicine Woman|medicine woman]] [[Toypurina]].<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal |last=Hackel |first=S. W. |date=2003-10-01 |title=Sources of Rebellion: Indian Testimony and the Mission San Gabriel Uprising of 1785 |journal=Ethnohistory |language=en |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=643–669 |doi=10.1215/00141801-50-4-643 |issn=0014-1801 |s2cid=161256567}}</ref> Runaways from the missions were common, where abuse, malnourishment, and overworking were common features of daily life.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Pritzker |first=Barry |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/42683042 |title=A Native American encyclopedia : history, culture, and peoples |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |others=Barry Pritzker |isbn=0-19-513877-5 |location=Oxford |page=114 |oclc=42683042}}</ref> Runaways would sometimes find shelter at more distant villages, such as a group of runaways who found refuge at the [[Vanyume]] village of [[Wá'peat]], the chief of which refused to give them up.<ref name=":04">{{Cite book |last1=Sutton |first1=Mark Q. |url=https://www.pcas.org/documents/5323DesertSerrano.pdf |title=The Desert Serrano of the Mojave River |last2=Earle |first2=David D. |publisher=Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly |year=2017 |page=8}}</ref><ref name=":13">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRErAQAAIAAJ |title=Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, Volumes 25–26 |publisher=Malki Museum |year=2005 |page=19}}</ref> Many children died young at the missions. One missionary reported that 3 of every 4 children born at Mission San Gabriel died before reaching the age of two.<ref name=":17">{{Cite journal |last=Singleton |first=Heather Valdez |date=2004 |title=Surviving Urbanization: The Gabrieleno, 1850–1928 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1409498 |journal=Wíčazo Ša Review |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=49–59 |doi=10.1353/wic.2004.0026 |jstor=1409498|s2cid=161847670}}</ref>

The precolonial Indigenous population of California is estimated to have numbered around 340,000 people, who were diverse culturally and linguistically.<ref name=":1">{{Citation |last1=Jones |first1=Terry L. |title=The Native California Commons: Ethnographic and Archaeological Perspectives on Land Control, Resource Use, and Management |date=June 22, 2019 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15800-2_12 |work=Global Perspectives on Long Term Community Resource Management |volume=11 |pages=255–280 |editor-last=Lozny |editor-first=Ludomir R. |series=Studies in Human Ecology and Adaptation |place= |publisher=Springer, Cham |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-15800-2_12 |isbn=978-3-030-15800-2 |access-date=2021-12-04 |last2=Codding |first2=Brian F. |editor2-last=McGovern |editor2-first=Thomas H. |s2cid=197573059}}</ref> From 1769 to 1832, at least 87,787 baptisms and 63,789 deaths of [[Indigenous peoples of California|Indigenous peoples]] occurred, demonstrating [[Spanish missions in California#Death rate at the missions|the immense death rate]] at the missions in Alta California.<ref name=":18">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/37418391 |title=Encomium musicae : essays in memory of Robert J. Snow |date=2002 |publisher=Pendragon Press |others=Robert J. Snow, David Crawford, George Grayson Wagstaff |isbn=0-945193-83-1 |location=Hillsdale, NY |page=129 |oclc=37418391}}</ref> [[Conversion to Christianity]] at the colonial missions was often resisted by Indigenous peoples in Alta California.<ref name=":73">{{Cite book |last=Kling |first=David W. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1143823194 |title=A history of Christian conversion |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-006262-0 |location=New York |pages=344–345 |oclc=1143823194 |quote=Apart from a tiny minority who gave the clearest evidence of meaningful conversion... Overall, outright rejection and chronic resistance characterized the Indian response. [...] The Franciscans admitted as much, recording repeatedly the difficulty of convincing adult Indians to accept any aspect of Catholicism.}}</ref> Many missionaries in the province wrote of their frustrations with teaching Indigenous people to internalize Catholic scripture and practice. Many Indigenous people learned to navigate religious expectations at the missions with complex social behaviors in order to maintain their cultural and religious practices.<ref name=":73" />

====Establishment of ranchos====
In 1784, the Spanish established the first rancho, [[Rancho San Pedro]], as a 48,000 acre site for [[cattle grazing]]. Nine ranchos were subsequently established before 1800.<ref name="Robinson">{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=William Wilcox |title=Land in California |publisher=Ayer Co. |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-405-11352-9}}</ref> Spanish, and later Mexican, governments rewarded retired ''[[soldado de cuera|soldados de cuera]]'' with large land grants, known as ''ranchos'', for the raising of [[cattle]] and [[sheep]]. Hides and [[tallow]] from the livestock were the primary exports of California until the mid-19th century. Similar to the missions, the construction, ranching and domestic work on these vast estates was primarily done by [[Indigenous peoples of California|Indigenous peoples]], who learned to speak Spanish and ride horses. Under Spanish and Mexican rule, the ranchos prospered and grew. ''Rancheros'' (cattle ranchers) and ''pobladores'' (townspeople) evolved into the unique [[Californio]] culture.[[File:Mission_San_Carlos_Borromeo_de_Carmelo_(Oriana_Day,_c.1877–84).jpg|thumb|left|[[Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo]], established in 1770, was the headquarters of the [[Spanish missions in California|Californian mission system]] from 1797 until 1833.]]
By law, mission land and property were to pass to the Indigenous population after a period of about ten years, when the Indigenous people would become Spanish subjects. In the interim period, the Franciscans were to act as mission administrators who held the land in trust for the Indigenous residents. The Franciscans, however, prolonged their control over the missions even after control of Alta California passed from Spain to independent Mexico, and continued to run the missions until they were secularized, beginning in 1833. The transfer of property never occurred under the Franciscans.<ref>Beebe, 2001, p. 71</ref><ref>Fink, 1972, pp. 63–64.</ref>

As the number of Spanish settlers grew in Alta California, the boundaries and natural resources of the mission properties became disputed. Conflicts between the Crown and the Church arose over land. State and ecclesiastical bureaucrats debated over authority of the missions.<ref>Milliken, 1995, p. 2 footnote.</ref> The Franciscan priests of [[Mission Santa Clara de Asís]] sent a petition to the governor in 1782 which stated that the [[Mission Indians]] owned both the land and cattle and represented the [[Ohlone people|Ohlone]] against the Spanish settlers in nearby San José.<ref>Milliken, 1995, pp. 72–73</ref> The priests reported that Indians' crops were being damaged by the pueblo settlers' livestock and that the settlers' livestock was also "getting mixed up with the livestock belonging to the Indians from the mission" causing losses. They advocated that the Indigenous people be allowed to own property and have the right to defend it.<ref>Milliken, 1995, p. 73, quoting Murguia and Pena [1782] 1955:400.</ref>

====Province of Alta California====
In 1804, due to the growth of the Spanish population in new northern settlements, the province of Las Californias was divided just south of San Diego, following mission president Francisco Palóu's division between the Dominican and Franciscan jurisdictions. Governor [[Diego de Borica]] is credited with defining the border between Alta (upper) and [[Baja California#History|Baja (lower) California]]'s as [[Palóu Line|Palóu's division]], while the division became the political reality under [[José Joaquín de Arrillaga]], who would become the first governor of Alta California.<ref name="booksDdb">{{cite book |last=Field |first=Maria Antonia |title=Chimes of Mission Bells |publisher=Philopolis Press |year=1914 |location=San Francisco |chapter=California under Spanish Rule |chapter-url=http://www.books-about-california.com/Pages/Chimes_of_Mission_Bells/Chimes_of_Mission_Chap_04.html }}</ref><ref>Bancroft, H. H. (1970). History of California: Vol. II, 1801–1824, pp. 20–21. Santa Barbara Calif.: Wallace Hebberd. (Note: Bancroft translated the names of the two new provinces as "Antigua" and "Nueva", but Richman uses Baja and Alta – as on the 1847 map of Mexico.)</ref>

The ''cortes'' (legislature) of [[New Spain]] issued a decree in 1813 for at least partial secularization that affected all missions in America and was to apply to all outposts that had operated for ten years or more; however, the decree was never enforced in California.

The [[Adams–Onís Treaty]] of 1819, between the United States and Spain, established the northern limit of Alta California at latitude 42°N, which remains the boundary between the states of California, Nevada and Utah (to the south) and Oregon and Idaho (to the north) to this day. Mexico won independence in 1821, and Alta California became a territory of Mexico the next year.