It was in middle of the Mexican-American war when many Americans revolted against the rule of Mexico over areas like Texas and California. The revolt lasted under 30 days, at which point the U.S. Army came and occupied the area.
On this day June 14th, in 1846, the Californian Republic is proclaimed. This was actually never a Republic as it was not recognized, no formal government was created, and no government recognized them. In fact most of California had no idea that it had been turned into a Republic. It was proclaimed in Sonoma and its flag was a bear.
It was not until 1911 that Governor Hiram Johnson made the Bear the official flag of California. Sonoma is located in Northern California is part of the San Francisco Bay. According to 2010 census, the city’s population is 483,878. Sonoma has over 250 wineries, and it is within close proximity to wine central, Napa Valley. There is archeological evidence for settlers 8000BC- 5000BC as there was rock carvings discovered. A number of nations claimed Sonoma for themselves, but the Russians were the first Europeans to settle there in 1812.