History of California

1. History of California Part One 10,000 BCE through 1776 CE

2. 25,000 – 10,000 Before the Common Era (BCE formerly known as BC) • Peoples of northeast Asia followed herds of Caribou, bison, and mammoth across the present Bering Strait, then moved south along ice-free corridors into the American continents • 12,500 BCE – Santa Barbara’s Channel islands were settled

3. 9,000 BCE Remains of a young woman and “Los Angeles Man” found at the La Brea Tar Pits date to this approximate time

4. 7300 BCE • Carbon-dating have shown that Chumash Indians settled the Southern California coast about this date • In 2000 BCE, evidence exists that larger numbers of people settled on the coasts, fewer inland. Alliances and warfare are also evident in archaeological findings

5. 200-500 Common Era (CE -formerly known as AD) • Tongya, or Gabrielinos come down from the Mojave and settle in the Los Angeles basin, displacing relatives of the Chumash • 458 CE – Emperor Hui Shan from China sailed the Pacific and possibly reached the California Coast with redwood trees

6. 1510-1540 CE • Ships from Tehuantepec in Mexico land a La Paz Harbor in Baja, CA; 20 of the landing party are killed by local residents • 1535 – Hernando Cortez plants a colony at La Paz and explores up the coast • 1539 – Francisco de Ulloa explores • 1540 – Hernando de Alarcon from Spain is the first European to stand on CA soil

7. 1542 (A big year in CA History) • Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo from Portugal explores CA landing on San Diego and “discovering” • Catalina Islands • San Pedro • Santa Monica, and • the Channel Islands

8. 1579 - 1669 • 1579 - Sir Francis Drake claimed San Francisco bay area for England • 1602 – Sebastian Vizcaino from Spain explores Monterey Bay • 1665 – Padre Junipero Serra is the emissary of crazy man Jose de Galvez, Visitor General of New Spain • 1669- Gaspar de Portolo, Governor of the Californias established a colony at San Diego and presidio at Monterey Bay, which became Alta California’s capital