The Bear Flag Revolt was another of the comic-opera events in California history that later chauvinists have attempted to imbue with patriotic significance. On Wikipedia, some NorCal editors have moved the "Bear Flag Revolt" article to the more portentious title "Bear Flag Republic", even though there was never any actual political entity. The Revolt is mainly notable as the unofficial beginning of the Mexican-American War in California. Some important early northern California persons could be discussed here, including Vallejo, Castro and Sutter, but we'll save that for another time. Here's the original post:
Names on the Signs: The Bear Flag (published Sep. 15, 2011)
In the first half of the 1840s, political
turmoil continued to grow in California. Many Californios dreamed of independence from
the far-away government of Mexico. Meanwhile, increasing numbers of American
immigrants had a different dream: to make California part of the United States.
Some of the newcomers found work at Isaac Graham’s Zayante sawmill or at Joseph Majors’ Rancho San Agustin
(Scotts Valley) grist mill. Then, in 1846, a harbinger of big
changes for California came to Santa Cruz; John C. Fremont.
Fremont was leading his third surveying expedition to the far
west, with legendary wilderness guide Kit Carson, when the start
of the Mexican-American
War was triggered by U.S. annexation of the Texas Republic in 1845. It took awhile for the conflict to spread to
the Pacific coast, but by the time the Fremont party arrived at Sutter’s Fort in early
1846, tensions were high. Fremont’s subsequent movements in California were hard to reconcile with a peaceful surveying
mission. He sought out places where there were concentrations of Americans –
like Rancho Zayante. It soon became apparent that he was recruiting
volunteer soldiers for what became known as the California Battalion.
The older frontiersmen like Graham and Majors decided to stay home this time, but at
least two of their adventurous younger employees answered the call and marched
with Fremont to Sonoma in support of the Bear Flag Revolt. William Blackburn
became a 2nd Lt. in the new unit, and Paul Sweet also enlisted. These two
men had only been in the area a short time, but returned after the war to
become prominent locals. We’ll probably have more to say about both of them in
future installments.
None of these pioneers got a statue in the park in
Santa Cruz, let alone a city name like Fremont
, but you can find their names on a few signs. The
best local tribute to Fremont can be found in Henry Cowell Redwoods State
Park.
There’s a local legend that Fremont, during his 1846 visit, camped inside the lightning-hollowed
base of one of the Big Trees. So they named the tree after him and put up a
nice bronze plaque. There’s also a Fremont Avenue up the river in Glen Arbor.
A few years after the war, Paul Sweet
moved out to the upper Arana Creek area. To get to
his old homestead, you travel on Paul Sweet Road. William Blackburn acquired and farmed much of the downtown Santa Cruz area south of Laurel Street.
His house, built in 1854, is one of the oldest surviving wood-frame structures
in the county. He also built a sawmill up Branciforte Creek, in an area still
shown on USGS maps as Blackburn Gulch (next to today’s Jarvis Road).
In the aftermath of the Mexican-American War (or the Conquest of Alta
California, if you look at it from the Mexican perspective), California became a United States possession. The Bear Flag Republic lasted only twenty-five days before Fremont’s troops raised the Stars and Stripes. The Bear Flag
itself, however, became [in modified form] the flag of the brand-new State of California in 1850.
