Editing California (section)

===Spanish period===
{{Main|Province of Las Californias|Spanish missions in California}}
[[File:The landing of Cabrillo on California (detail from mural by Daniel Sayre Groesbeck at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse).jpg|thumb|left|Portuguese explorer [[Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo]] claiming California for the [[Spanish Empire]] in 1542]]

The first Europeans to explore the [[coast of California]] were the members of a [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] maritime expedition led by Portuguese captain [[Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo]] in 1542. Cabrillo was commissioned by [[Antonio de Mendoza]], the [[Viceroy of New Spain]], to lead an expedition up the Pacific coast in search of trade opportunities; they entered [[San Diego Bay]] on September 28, 1542, and reached at least as far north as [[San Miguel Island]].{{sfn|Rolle|1998|pp=20–21}} Privateer and explorer [[Francis Drake]] explored and claimed an undefined portion of the California coast in 1579, landing north of the future city of [[San Francisco]]. The first Asians to set foot on what would be the United States occurred in 1587, when [[Overseas Filipino|Filipino]] sailors arrived in Spanish ships at [[Morro Bay, California|Morro Bay]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Tillman |first1=Linda C. |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=vSKAAAAAQBAJ|page=202}} |title=The Handbook of Research on Educational Leadership for Equity and Diversity |last2=Scheurich |first2=James Joseph |date=August 21, 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-12843-2 |page=202}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Huping Ling |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=K-DdvbJM_gQC|page=109}} |title=Asian America: Forming New Communities, Expanding Boundaries |date=April 29, 2009 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0-8135-4867-8 |page=109}}</ref> Coincidentally the [[Agustin de Legaspi|descendants of the Muslim]] Caliph [[Hasan ibn Ali]] in formerly [[Kingdom of Maynila#Establishment by Sultan Bolkiah and the Sultanate of Brunei (c. 1500)|Islamic Manila]] and had converted, then mixed Christianity with Islam, upon Spanish conquest, [[Tondo Conspiracy#Aftermath|transited through California (Named after a Caliph)]] on their way to [[Guerrero, Mexico]]{{sfn|Rolle|1998|p=24}} where they played a future role in the [[Philippine Military Activities in the Americas|wars of independence]]. [[Sebastián Vizcaíno]] explored and mapped the coast of California in 1602 for [[New Spain]], putting ashore in [[Monterey, California|Monterey]].{{sfn|Rolle|1998|p=26}} Despite the on-the-ground explorations of California in the 16th century, Rodríguez's [[island of California|idea of California as an island]] persisted. Such depictions appeared on many European maps well into the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=California as an Island in Maps—Online Exhibits |url=https://exhibits.stanford.edu/california-as-an-island |access-date=June 15, 2016 |website=Stanford University Libraries|date=December 7, 2015 }}</ref>

The [[Portolá expedition]] of 1769–70 was a pivotal event in the Spanish colonization of California, resulting in the establishment of numerous missions, [[presidio]]s, and [[pueblos]]. The military and civil contingent of the expedition was led by [[Gaspar de Portolá]], who traveled over land from [[Sonora]] into California, while the religious component was headed by [[Junípero Serra]], who came by sea from [[Baja California]]. In 1769, Portolá and Serra established [[Mission San Diego de Alcalá]] and the [[Presidio of San Diego]], the first religious and military settlements founded by the Spanish in California. By the end of the expedition in 1770, they would establish the [[Presidio of Monterey]] and [[Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo]] on Monterey Bay.

[[File:Father Serra Celebrates Mass at Monterey by Léon Trousset.jpg|thumb|left|[[Junípero Serra]] conducting the first [[Mass in the Catholic Church|Mass]] in [[Monterey Bay]] in 1770]]

After the Portolà expedition, Spanish [[missionary|missionaries]] led by Father-President Serra set out to establish 21 [[Spanish missions of California]] along [[El Camino Real (California)|El Camino Real]] ("The Royal Road") and along the California coast, 16 sites of which having been chosen during the Portolá expedition. Numerous major cities in California grew out of missions, including [[San Francisco]] ([[Mission San Francisco de Asís]]), [[San Diego]] ([[Mission San Diego de Alcalá]]), [[Ventura, California|Ventura]] ([[Mission San Buenaventura]]), and [[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara]] ([[Mission Santa Barbara]]), among others.

[[Juan Bautista de Anza]] led a similarly important expedition throughout California in 1775–76, which would extend deeper into the interior and north of California. The Anza expedition selected numerous sites for missions, presidios, and pueblos, which subsequently would be established by settlers. [[Gabriel Moraga]], a member of the expedition, would also christen many of California's prominent rivers with their names in 1775–1776, such as the [[Sacramento River]] and the [[San Joaquin River]]. After the expedition, Gabriel's son, [[José Joaquín Moraga]], would found the pueblo of [[San Jose, California|San Jose]] in 1777, making it the first civilian-established city in California.
[[File:San_Juan_Capistrano,_California_(c._1806).jpg|thumb|right|The Spanish founded [[Mission San Juan Capistrano]] in 1776, the third to be established of [[Spanish missions in California|California's missions]].]]
During this same period, sailors from the [[Russian Empire]] explored along the northern coast of California. In 1812, the [[Russian-American Company]] established a trading post and small fortification at [[Fort Ross]] on the [[North Coast (California)|North Coast]].<ref name="Historical Atlas of California">Historical Atlas of California</ref>{{sfn|Rolle|1998|pp=51–52}} Fort Ross was primarily used to supply [[Russian America|Russia's Alaskan colonies]] with food supplies. The settlement did not meet much success, failing to attract settlers or establish long term trade viability, and was abandoned by 1841.

During the [[War of Mexican Independence]], Alta California was largely unaffected and uninvolved in the revolution,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.csun.edu/~sg4002/courses/417/readings/mexican.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222030913/http://www.csun.edu/~sg4002/courses/417/readings/mexican.pdf |archive-date=February 22, 2016 |url-status=live|title=California State University, Northridge - Mexican California: The Heyday of the Ranchos}}</ref> though many [[Californio]]s supported independence from [[Spain]], which many believed had neglected California and limited its development.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/california-first-person-narratives/articles-and-essays/early-california-history/mexican-california/|title=Mexican California &#124; Early California History: An Overview &#124; Articles and Essays &#124; California as I Saw It: First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900 &#124; Digital Collections &#124; Library of Congress|website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA}}</ref> Spain's trade monopoly on California had limited local trade prospects. Following Mexican independence, California ports were freely able to trade with foreign merchants. Governor [[Pablo Vicente de Solá]] presided over the transition from [[New Spain|Spanish colonial rule]] to independent Mexican rule.