Articles

From Vallejo to Sesquicentennial

July 1, 2010

When Mariano Vallejo began his administration of the pueblo, presidio and the old mission lands, he found a need to build houses and shops, deal with the Indians who lived in and around the mission, house and keep his little troop battle-ready, continue development of crops, grape vines, simple industry, cattle, sheep and poultry, and [...]

The ‘real’ Bear Flag Story – Part II

June 22, 2010

It did not take long for the initial euphoria of the Bear Flaggers’ experiment in independence to turn into bloody conflict. On June 19, 1846, just five days into the life of the California Republic, two of the youngest Flaggers, Thomas Cowie and George Fowler, went scouting toward Santa Rosa, home of Mariano Vallejo’s mother-in-law, [...]

The ‘real’ Bear Flag Story – Part I

June 22, 2010

Almost every Sonoman knows the story. Early in the morning on June 14, 1846, 163 years ago come next Monday, 33 (more or less) dusty riders came whooping their way to the Plaza. The noise woke the sleeping General Mariano Vallejo, commandante for California, a state of the Republic of Mexico. The event will be [...]

Eyewitness Hates the Bear Flaggers

May 31, 2010

An unhappy eyewitness to the arrival of the 33 American riders who galloped into the Sonoma Plaza on June 14, 1846, was Rosalia Vallejo Leese, sister of Gen. Mariano Vallejo and wife of Jacob Leese, the American-born Alcalde of Sonoma. Señora Leese and Jacob lived in their adobe home, a portion of which still stands [...]

Sonoma Soldiers Among Early California Gold Miners

May 3, 2010

Merchant and promoter Sam Brannan rode through the streets of San Francisco, waving a jar of gold dust and shouting, “Gold has been discovered on the American River.” This was followed by an article in the four-page Californian newspaper, co-founded by Bear Flagger Dr. Robert Semple, which matter-of-factly reported on March 15, 1848, that “gold [...]

Sonoma Once Fought Downtown Fire with Wine

May 3, 2010

Sitting in the center of the new Sonoma Fire Department museum is a remarkable piece of equipment, a “pumper” capable of spraying water on spreading fires, bought by the volunteer fire department more than a century ago. There are no harnesses, shafts or yokes for horses, for it was to be hauled by human power. [...]

How the Railroad Came to Sonoma

May 3, 2010

Exactly 130 years ago this week, during a wintry December night in 1879, in the street in front of the Sonoma Mission, there were strange sounds and moving lantern lights. Any Sonoman who was awake could hear the clank of sledge hammers on metal, the grunts and muffled voices of workmen in the dark, and [...]

William A Richardson lays out Sonoma

May 1, 2009

When 27-year-old Lieutenant Mariano Vallejo was ordered by the provincial Governor not only to secularize the extensive Sonoma mission lands, he was also given orders to create a “pueblo,” an actual town. The pueblo of Sonoma would be the sixth such official town in California, after San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Monterey and San [...]

Sonoma’s Gem: The Sebastiani Theatre Reaches 75

March 30, 2009

(First of a two-part history) Samuele Sebastiani insisted on “nothing but the best” when he decided to create a state of the art movie theater constructed on a lot he owned across First Street East from the Sonoma Plaza. It was 1932—the depth of the Great Depression—and the founder of the Sebastiani wine dynasty started [...]

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