n 1846, a group of American settlers in and around Sonoma rebelled against Mexican rule during

the Bear Flag Revolt. Afterwards, rebels raised the Bear Flag (featuring a bear, a star, a red stripe
and the words "California Republic") at Sonoma. The Republic's only president was William B.
Ide,[55] who played a pivotal role during the Bear Flag Revolt. This revolt by American settlers served
as a prelude to the later American military invasion of California, and was closely coordinated with
nearby American military commanders.
The California Republic was short lived;[56] the same year marked the outbreak of the Mexican–
American War (1846–48).[57] When Commodore John D. Sloat of the United States Navy sailed
into Monterey Bay and began the military occupation of California by the United States, Northern
California capitulated in less than a month to the United States forces.[58] After a series of defensive
battles in Southern California, the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed by the Californios on January 13,
1847, securing American control in California.[59]

Early American statehood period

See also: Admission to the Union and List of U.S. states by date of admission to the UnionCalifornia
Gold RushCalifornia being Admitted to the Union under the Compromise of 1850

Merchant ships at San Francisco harbor; c. 1850–51

Guidon of the California 100 Company (Company A) during the Civil War

Depiction of the 1869 completion of the first transcontinental railway. The Last Spike (1881) by Thomas Hill.

Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (February 2, 1848) that ended the war, the westernmost
portion of the annexed Mexican territory of Alta California soon became the American state of
California, and the remainder of the old territory was then subdivided into the new American
Territories of Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Utah. The lightly populated and arid lower region of old
Baja California remained as a part of Mexico. In 1846, the total settler population of the western part
of the old Alta California had been estimated to be no more than 8,000, plus about 100,000 Native
Americans, down from about 300,000 before Hispanic settlement in 1769.[60]
In 1848, only one week before the official American annexation of the area, gold was discovered in
California, this being an event which was to forever alter both the state's demographics and its
finances. Soon afterward, a massive influx of immigration into the area resulted, as prospectors and
miners arrived by the thousands. The population burgeoned with United States citizens, Europeans,
Chinese and other immigrants during the great California Gold Rush. By the time of California's
application for statehood in 1850, the settler population of California had multiplied to 100,000. By
1854, more than 300,000 settlers had come.[61] Between 1847 and 1870, the population of San
Francisco increased from 500 to 150,000.[62] California was suddenly no longer a sparsely populated
backwater, but seemingly overnight it had grown into a major population center.