Photo Credits

Cover ©Spencer Grant/Photo Edit; P.2 inset by Laurie Murphy; P.2-3 ©Christie's Images / Bridgeman Art Library; P.4 ©New York Historical Society / Bridgeman Art Library; P.S ©Lowell Georgia/Corbis; P.6 by Laurie Murpy; P.7 ©Steve Vidler/Superstock; P.B-9 ©AP Wide World Photos; P.10 inset ©Tom Myers; P.10-ll ©Jan Butchofsky-Houser/Corbis; P.12-13 Courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley; P.13 inset ©Lynsey Addario/Corbis; P.14 inset ©Tom Myers; P.14-15 ©Golden State Museum, Sacramento; P.16 ©Sally Meyers

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Art Director: Laurie Murphy Designers: Sufjan Stevens, Susan Low, Colleen Pidel Photo Editors: Jacqui Wong, Tracy Armstead, Dian Lofton Executive Editors: Lorin Driggs, Susan Even to

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... Mount Sh asta

~ Sacram ento " =/ '- A . R ' Valle jo........_ - "-!:Y ~· r1can tver

Benicia - c!',... San Francisco • ..... ._,

San Jose • ~~ .. ,. • Monterey ~

PACIFIC OCEAN

Sacramento River Valley

CALIFORNIA

• Los Angeles

• San Diego

River Facts

• In 1808 a Spanish explorer named Gabriel Moraga traveled to a valley. He gave the valley its name, Sacramento, which means "sacrament," or "holy," in Spanish. He believed that it was a special place because of its beautiful and rich land.

• The Sacramento River begins as a stream on top of Mount Shasta.

• During very heavy flooding, the Sacramento River, located northwest of the city, actually flows upstream. You might call it a backward river.

• More than half of all Californians depend on the Sacramento and American rivers for their drinking water.

Let's Explore By the early 1800s northern California was still unsettled.

In 1834 Johann Suter (YOH•hahn SOO•ter) left his home in Switzerland and set off for the United States. Along the way, he changed his name to John Sutter. Sutter wanted to get to California, which belonged to Mexico. Sutter knew that the Mexican governrnent was giving away land to people who prom­ised to start a settlement.

Sutter journeyed to the city of Monterey, the capital of California under Mexican rule.

There the Mexican governor told Sutter to look for land to settle in the Sacramento Valley. If Sutter could build a settlement, the land would be his.

On August 12, 1839, Sutter began building Sutter's Fort where the Sacramento and American rivers meet.

By 1840 Sutter had 25 people living in his settlem ent. At last his dream came true-he

owned California land!

John Sutter called his settlement New Helvetia (hel•VEE-shuh), which means "New

Switzerland." Sutter welcom.ed settlers who came from the eastern part of the United States. By 1847 New Helvetia had many busi­nesses such as farming, shipping, and trading.

In 1848 everything really changed at Sutter's settlement. James Marshall, a carpenter, saw som ething shining in a river beside the sawmill being built nearby. M arshall had found gold at Sutter's Mill!

4

Marshall and other people tried to keep the discovery secret. But before long thousands of people rushed to the area. Businesses at the fort grew. But Sutter was in debt. To make money, Sutter's son sold pieces of land near a landing place on the Sacramento River. There Sam Brannan set up a store called the Embarcadero (em•bar•kuh•DAY•roh). Brannan's store was the beginning of the city of Sacramento. By 1850 n1.ore than 6,000 people lived in Sacran1.ento.

Reconstruction at Sutter's Fort began in 1891 and continues today.

5

California Central In 1849, government leaders met in Monterey. They drew the

boundaries for Sacramento and officially named the city. They also voted to make San Jose (hoh•ZAY) the capital of California. On September 9, 1850, California became the thirty-first state in the Union.

When government officials met in San Jose, they weren't happy. The city was difficult to reach. There were not enough places to eat and sleep. One official offered to build a capital city at Vallejo (vuh•LAY•hoh). The others agreed that this was a good idea.

Vallejo was not ready when the officials next met, so they headed to Sacramento. A year later Vallejo was still not ready. Many of Sacramento's buildings were destroyed by a fire that year. So the offi­cials met in Benicia (buh•NEE•shuh). By 1854 the officials were able to meet in Sacramento again. The people of Sacramento offered to build a state capitol. Sacramento became the permanent capital of California.

Work began on the capitol building in 1860. The architect in charge had promised that it would take only $500,000 to build it. Six years later, after floods and construction problems slowed the work, he was replaced. By the time the building was finished, in 1874, the costs added up to $2.5 million.

Places to Visit in Sacramento

The trees that fill Capitol Park come from all over the world. You'll even find one that's been to outer space. One of the red­woods in the park grew from a seed that circled the moon on the Apollo 13 spacecraft.

Inside the Capitol Today, California's 80 state assembly members and 40 senators make

up the legislative branch of the state government. They meet in the capitol building. There they write bills for new laws. They then vote to decide if the bill should become a law.

Through the years, many im.portant laws have been passed inside the capitol. Every law begins with the same words, "The people of the State of California do enact as follows." In 1911 the "Right of Citizen's Initiative, Recall, and ReferendmTl" gave all citizens the right to propose new laws and to remove elected officials from office. In 2003 California voters recalled Governor Gray Davis and voted in his replacem_ent, Arnold Schwarzenegger. There had been 31 attempts to recall California governors since 1911. But this was the first time a governor was actually recalled.

TFI< FAST FACTS

• It is the speaker of the assembly's job to lead the assembly and to work with other state leaders and the federal government in Washington, D.C.

• The lieutenant governor is president of the assembly. He or she can vote if there is a tie.

• The state treasurer collects taxes and manages the state's money.

• California legislators work by com­mittee. The committee members listen to and debate a bill. The com­mittee hearings are open to the public. If the committee approves the bill, it is then passed on to the whole senate or assembly for voting.

• Today, California lawmakers use technology at the capitol, including computers and closed-circuit TVs.

The senate and the assembly make up one branch of California's government. The executive branch is another part of the state government. The governor is the leader of the executive branch. It is the governor's job to make sure that all of California's laws are obeyed. The governor is head of the state's armed forces. The governor acts as a link between the state and federal governments. And the governor approves or rejects the bills that the senate and assembly pass.

The governor chooses people to serve in his or her own Cabinet. These experts advise the governor on different top­ics, such as n'loney, education, and trade.

The third branch of California's government is the judi­cial branch. The judicial branch explains California's laws. The court applies the state's laws to the facts of each case that it hears. California's court system has three levels-superior courts, courts of appeal, and the state supreme court. The supreme court is the highest court in the state.

Located in Old Sacramento, the B.F. Hastings building has been home to the western end point of the Pony Express and the original California supreme court. Today, the Wells Fargo History Museum is located there.

California Governors

• From 1903 until1967, 13 California governors and their families lived in the Governor's Mansion (above), which is now a historical landmark.

• Peter Burnett was the first California governor. He was elected in 1849, before California was even a state. His first annual speech was criticized by the legislature, and Burnett resigned shortly afterward.

• Ronald Reagan, the thirty-third governor of California, is the only California governor who became President of the United States.

We the People All three branches of the government work to protect the rights of

California's people. California has more people than any other state in the United States.

From its earliest days Sacramento has been filled with people of different backgrounds. Sutter's settlement included people from the Sandwich Islands (present-day Hawaii), American Indians, and settlers of European background.

During the gold rush, Asians, African Americans, and Mexicans went high into the hills to search for this precious metal. By 1852 about 25,000 Chinese people had arrived in California. Many worked in the mines. One mining area was worked completely by African Americans, some enslaved and some free. In 1856 it became the city of Folsom.

Asian railroad workers made up most of the laborers on the Central Pacific Railroad. This railroad, together with the Union Pacific Railroad, formed the first transcontinental railroad. It crossed the continent to link the Atlantic coast with the Pacific coast.

Today Sacramento's population is one of the most varied in the United States. The city's population is about 38 percent white, 23 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, 22 percent Latino, 12 percent African American, 1 percent American Indian or Alaska Native, and 4 percent other.

A Living History The right to assemble, to petition, and to speak are some

of the rights of California's people. These rights and others are protected by the California Constitution. Visitors to Sacramento's Golden State Museum can see words from the state constitution carved onto a towering wall.

The museum brings to life the people, places, and his­tory of California. At the museun1, you can travel through time to see what life was like for California's settlers.You can learn about the many people who came to California with dreams of a better life.

The six-story Constitution Wall is in Sacramento's Golden State Museum, just a block away from the California state capitol building. The underlying theme of the wall is the people's rights.

For many years, members of the National Pony Express have re-enacted the Pony Express cross-country trail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California. They carry commemorative letters with gold-rush stamps in a square leather pouch that fits under their saddles.

Sacramento has grown from a tiny settlement to the center of California's government. Senators and assembly members are busy writing, debating, and voting on bills for new laws. The governor meets with people from around the country and the world. Supreme court judges decide how the laws affect people's lives.

Sacramento is also the center of much of California's history. The gold rush, the Pony Express, and the first transcontinental railroad all began here. Today, in addition to being a center for business and government, it is one of California's main tourist areas. John Sutter would certainly be surprised to see how his settlement became an important state capital.

Think and Respond G) Name the two rivers that meet in Sacramento.

0 What role did the California gold rush play in the growth of the city of Sacramento?

® Who makes up the legislative branch of Cali­fornia's state government? What is their job?

0 Who is the leader of the executive branch of California's state government? What does he or she do?

® If you were to visit Sacramento, which of the buildings mentioned in this Reader would you most like to see? Why?

Make an Illustrated Time Line Make an illustrated time line of the history of Sacramento. Conduct research in the library or on the Internet to add to the time line other events and people not mentioned in this Reader.

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