mated there were twelve thousand white persons in California, in January, 1848, when that discovery was made.

General Mason, who visited the diggings at Coloma, in June, 1848, in his report to the War Department on the subject, estimates there were two thousand Americans and Europeans, and two thousand Indians, at work there; and it is known that there were a great many others washing and prospecting for gold at other localities, at that time.

There are many facts connected with the acquisition of California by the United States, which will probably never be brought to light, till some future Bancroft or Prescott shall be poring over the musty archives of the nation, in search of circumstances to explain the events of its past history. Few of such events will be more difficult of explanation than the fact, that the discovery of gold at Coloma-the event of the age-occurred on the 19th of January, and the treaty by which the country was ceded to the United States, was signed on the 2d of March, 1848, neither of the contracting parties being aware of the great discovery!

Equally difficult will it be to explain how it happened that the Pacific Mail Steamship Company's vessels, the contract for running which, made as early as 1846, required the first to be ready for service in October, 1848, about the time when the news of the gold discovery reached New York, and emigrants were most anxious to get to California as quickly as possible; for it is a remarkable coincidence that the first vessel of that line, the California, arrived at San Francisco with the first party of gold-seekers from the Atlantic States, on the last of February, 1849, followed by the Oregon, March 31st, and by the Panama in the month of June.

Many of the men who have figured most conspicuously in the subsequent history of the State, arrived on board these three steamers, on their first voyage.

By the end of June, 1849, the discovery had become generally known in Europe, China, Australia, the Sandwich Islands, and Central America; and vessels full of eager passengers were constantly arriving from those countries. During that month, nearly two hundred squarerigged vessels lay in the harbor of San Francisco, deserted by officers, crews, and passengers, who had all gone to the mines.

The following is a correct list of the Governors of California, from the date of its settlement by the Spaniards, until it became a State in the American Union:

The government of California, after it came into possession of the United States, was vested in the commander of the national forces in the country, for the time being. Commodore John D. Sloat, on taking possession of Monterey, July 7th, 1846, issued a proclamation, as Governor of the territory. The Federal and State courts recognize the date of the issuance of this proclamation, as being the date on which the United States obtained possession of the country. Commodore Sloat acted as Governor until August 17th, 1846, when Commodore Robert F. Stockton was proclaimed his successor, who appointed Colonel John C. Fremont, in January, 1847. Fremont was afterwards tried by courtmartial, for accepting the office, which belonged to General Stephen W. Kearny, by virtue of his being commander of the forces. General Kearney proclaimed himself governor March 1st, 1847, and afterwards. appointed Colonel Richard B. Mason on the 31st of May, 1847, who held office until April 13th, 1849, when General Bennet Riley was appointed military governor.

General Riley, aware that public sentiment was opposed to military rule, on the 3d of June, 1849, issued a proclamation calling a convention, to meet at Monterey on the 1st of September, to frame a State

constitution. This convention, consisted of forty-eight members, assembled, pursuant to this proclamation, and organized on the 4th of September, 1849, by electing Dr. Robert Semple president; W. G. Marcy, secretary; Caleb Lyon (afterwards Governor of Idaho) and J. G. Field, assistant secretaries; W. E. P. Hartnell, interpreter, (to translate the proceedings to the native Californian delegates, who did not understand the English language); and J. Ross Browne, the wellknown author, as official reporter.

A constitution was adopted and signed by the delegates, on the 13th of October, and submitted to the people for ratification on November, 13th, 1849, when 12,064 votes were polled in favor of its adoption, 811 against it, and 1,200 were set aside for informality. Peter H. Burnett was elected governor, under this constitution, in December, 1849. Being ready to assume the position of a State in the Union, application for admission was made, in due form. After a long and acrimonious struggle in Congress, between the advocates of slavery and free soil, which lasted from December 22d, 1849, until September 7th, 1850, California was admitted as a State on the 9th of September, 1850.

The following are the dates on which the several divisions of the territory were taken possession of by the United States: Monterey, July 7th, 1846; San Francisco, July 9th; Sonoma, July 10th; and Sutter's Fort, July 12th.

THE COMMERCE OF CALIFORNIA WHILE UNDER THE SPANISH AND MEXICAN RULE.

The commerce of California, while under Spanish and Mexican authority, when compared with what it has become since it has been subject to the dominion of the United States, affords a striking illustration of the predominating traits in the Anglo-Saxon and Spanish characters.

The Spaniards and their descendants, had for three centuries been in possession of the entire Pacific coast, from Valdavia, in latitude 40° south, to the boundary of California, in latitude 42° north, embracing a line of more than five thousand miles of coast, indented with a number of the finest harbors in the world, and bordering a country capable of producing in abundance an almost endless list of articles, for which both Europe and Asia afforded a market, including the most extensive mines of gold and silver then known, with no scarcity of materials or labor for ship-building, or any other purpose; yet they

never established a vigorous commerce. Controlling the important trade of the Western Islands, from 1568 to 1815, which obliged them to send their richly laden galleons to the coast of California-a necessity that, as early as 1565, led one of their navigators, Andres de Urdenata, to discover the northwest trade winds, which wafts a vessel from Asia almost to the Golden Gate of California-though following the track of these favoring winds for more than a century, they did not increase their commerce. In the year 1835, there were not more than thirty vessels belonging to all the states and nations of Spanish origin, from Valdavia to Oregon.

Compare this with the career of the United States. Within a century of their existence, they have created a commerce extending over every land and sea, and perfected arrangements for its further extension, unexcelled by those of any other nation. Railroads, steamships, and telegraphs, as appliances of commerce, are more extensively employed by the Anglo-Saxon race in America, than by any other nation ; and in no portion of their dominion have these appliances been more effectively employed than in California.

These remarks are not introduced in a spirit of self-laudation, or to express any feeling of disrespect to our Spanish and Mexican fellowcitizens or neighbors, but to account for the extraordinary expansion of the commerce of California, and to explain the basis on which our calculations of its future extension is founded. Within twenty years after obtaining possession of the country by the Anglo-Saxons, this commerce has been expanded from an annual cargo or two of hides and tallow, exported to,barter for a few thousand dollars' worth of coarse manufactured goods, until the value of the exports of products and manufactures—exclusive of the precious metals-exceeds $20,000,000, annually, and the imports of merchandise amount to $60,000,000. From a few scows, to transport the hides and tallow from the missions to San Francisco or San Diego, the local marine has increased until there are nearly 1,000 vessels, including 125 steamers, chiefly owned by the merchants of San Francisco; and hundreds of the finest ships of the mercantile marine of the United States are employed in the California trade, which has also created lines of swift and capacious steamers, connecting the State with China, Japan, Europe, the Atlantic States and Australia, via the Isthmus of Panama; the Sandwich Islands, British Columbia, Oregon, and Mexico.

These facts and figures prove that less than 500,000 of the AngloSaxon race, possessing less than 700 miles of the Pacific coast-line, within less than twenty years, have created a greater commerce than

did all the nations of Spanish origin, possessing 5000 miles of that coast, in three hundred years. If such a commerce has been created in so short a time, by so small a population, is it unreasonable to anticipate an immense increase, when the enterprising artizans and manufacturers of the Atlantic States and Europe, being informed of the advantages California offers, as a field for their labor and skill, shall make their homes here, and increase its products and manufactures ?

Prior to the arrival of a few citizens of the United States, commerce was unknown in California. The missionaries produced all they required to supply the wants of themselves and their Indian neophytes, and were too much opposed to the introduction of strangers to encourage any communication with the rest of the world.

Mr. Gilroy, who has resided in California since 1814, states that for several years after his arrival, the whole trade and commerce of the country consisted of the shipment of a cargo of tallow, once a year, to Callao, in a Spanish vessel, which in return brought a few cotton goods and miscellaneous articles for the missionaries.

In 1822, after Mexico had declared its independence of Spain, there was a slight increase in the commerce of California. In that year, an English firm at Lima (Peru) established a branch of its business at Monterey, for the purchase of hides and tallow; and vessels from Chili, Peru, and Mexico, made occasional trips for a cargo of these articles. American vessels, trading with the settlers on the Columbia river, finding that the missionaries of California had something to sell, visited San Francisco, Monterey, and San Diego, about this time. Whale ships were quite numerous on the coast, as early as 1820, and occasionally visited the California ports for fresh provisions and water, and bartered for them. It was through the visits of these American vessels that the value of California products became known to the world.

Between 1822 and 1832, the exports from California had increased from a single cargo until they were estimated at 30,000 hides, 7,000 quintals of tallow, 500 bales of furs, and 2,000 bushels of wheat annually. In 1834, this branch of trade was greatly increased by the missionaries killing immense numbers of their cattle, in anticipation of the movement for secularizing the missions, which was already inaugurated by the Mexican Government. In this year, the Fathers slaughtered upwards of 100,000 cattle, to obtain their hides and tallow. At this time a new branch of trade was introduced by Thomas O. Larkin, and other Americans residing at Monterey. Vessels were