When the first
Spaniards arrived, the area was near the northeast corner of the
Native Americans /
Aboriginal peoples (Indians) of the
Coast Miwok territory, with
Southern Pomo to the northwest,
Wappo to the northeast,
Suisun and
Patwin peoples to the east.
Mission era of the
Roman Catholic Church, was founded under the direction of Governor
Luis Antonio Argüello of
Alta California (Upper California) of the
Viceroyalty of
New Spain of the
Kingdom of Spain /
Spanish Empire.
Mission San Francisco Solano is the direct predecessor to the founding of the town of Sonoma. The mission, the only to be constructed not by the Spanish but by the later
Mexican authorities seeking independence and succeeding to the Royal Spanish
Viceroyalty at that time, was built as part of a larger plan Governor
Luis Antonio Argüello had devised to fortify the Spanish presence north of the
San Francisco Bay and thus deter
Russian Empire (
Russia) encroachment southward from further north in
Russian America (where they'd established a presence back in the 1740s, a half-century before) into the Pacific Ocean coastal region.
Franciscan padre / priest José Altimira worked with Governor Argüello to plan the mission, against the desires of
José Francisco de Paula Señan, then the President-General of the
Spanish missions in California, who disapproved of secular government intervention into religious matters. A decade later, the
Congress of the Union (
Mexican Congress) passed the
Mexican secularization act of 1833, ending Roman Catholic Church mission stewardship and control of huge tracts of associated lands in California, one goal being to diminish the church's highly influential standing in California's economy and political system. Then Governor
José Figueroa appointed
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, then the Commandant of the
Presidio of San Francisco, as administrator (
comisionado) to oversee the closing of Mission San Francisco Solano and its conversion into a civilian town.
General Vallejo era reviewing his Mexican Army troops in
Sonoma Plaza, 1846. The building with a tower is General Vallejo's residence, the
Casa Grande, and to the right are the
Sonoma Barracks. Governor Figueroa had received instructions from the Mexican Congress further south in the
capital city of
Mexico City to establish a strong presence in the region north of the
San Francisco Bay to protect the area from encroachments of foreigners. An immediate concern was the further south and eastward movement to the interior of the
Russian America Company from their settlements at
Fort Ross and
Bodega Bay on the
Northern California coastline. Figueroa's next step in implementing his instructions was to name Lieutenant Vallejo as Military Commander of the Northern Frontier and to order the Army units of officers / soldiers, arms and materiel supplies at the
Presidio of San Francisco moved to the site of the recently secularized
Mission San Francisco Solano. The
Sonoma Barracks were then built to house the troops. Until the building was habitable, the soldiers were housed in the buildings of the old Mission. In 1834,
George C. Yount, the first
European American permanent settler in the
Napa Valley, north of
San Francisco Bay, was employed as a carpenter by Mexican Army General Vallejo. The Governor granted Lieutenant Vallejo the initial lands (approximately ) of
Rancho Petaluma immediately west of Sonoma. Vallejo was also named Director of Colonization which meant that he could initiate land grants for other colonists (subject to the approval of the governor) and the
diputación (Alta California's nominal assembly /
legislature). Vallejo had also been instructed by Governor Figueroa to establish a pueblo at the site of the old Mission. In 1835, with the assistance of
William A. Richardson, he laid out a grid, in accordance with the Spanish
Laws of the Indies, of the streets, building lots, central plaza and broad main avenue of the newly planned
Pueblo de Sonoma. Although Sonoma had been founded as a
pueblo in 1835, it still remained under military control, lacking the political structures of civilian municipal
self-government of other
Alta California pueblos. In 1843, now Lieutenant Colonel Vallejo wrote to the Governor recommending that a civil government be organized for Sonoma. A town council (
ayuntamiento) was established in 1844 and
Jacobo Leese was named first
alcalde, and
Cayetano Juárez second
alcalde.
Bear Flag Revolt and proclamation of the new independent
California Republic in Sonoma Plaza, following the so-called
Bear Flag Revolt on June 14, 1846 of the
United States Navy lowering the California Republic
Bear Flag and raising the
United States flag Before dawn on Sunday, June 14, 1846, thirty-three
Americans, already in rebellion against the
Alta California provincial government of
Mexico, arrived in Sonoma. Some of the group had traveled from the camp of
United States Army Brevet Captain
John C. Frémont (1813–1890), who had entered California illegally from across the
Great Plains and through the
Rocky Mountains chain from the east in late 1845 with his exploration and mapping expedition. Others had joined along the way. As the number of immigrants arriving in California had swelled, the Mexican government barred them from buying or renting land and threatened them with expulsion because they had entered without official permission. Mexican officials were concerned about the coming
Mexican–American War of 1846–1848, with the
United States coupled with the growing influx of American and other European immigrants into California, both by overland wagon trains from the east and by ship on the
West Coast and
Pacific Ocean. A group of rebellious Americans had departed from Captain Frémont's military camp on June 10 and captured a herd of 170 Mexican government-owned horses being moved by Californio / Mexican Army soldiers from San Rafael and Sonoma to Alta California's Commandante General José Castro in Santa Clara. The insurgents next determined to seize the weapons, gunpowder and materiel stored in the
Sonoma Barracks and to deny Sonoma to the Californios as a rallying point north of the San Francisco Bay. Meeting no resistance, they approached the home of General Vallejo, who invited the
filibusters' leaders into his home to negotiate terms. However, when the agreement was presented to those outside they refused to endorse and accept it. Rather than releasing the Mexican officers under parole, they insisted they be held as hostages.
William Ide (1796–1852), gave an impassioned speech urging the rebels to stay in Sonoma and start a new republic. Afterwards, Vallejo and his three associates were taken as prisoners and placed on horseback and taken to Captain Frémont. The
Sonoma Barracks became the headquarters for the remaining twenty-four rebels, who within a few days created their
Bear Flag. After the flag was raised Californios called the insurgents
Los Osos (The Bears) because of their flag and in derision of their often scruffy appearance. The rebels embraced the expression, and their uprising became known as the Bear Flag Revolt. There were some small unit skirmishes between the Bears and the Californios but no major confrontations. After hearing reports that General
José Castro was preparing to attack Sonoma, Frémont left Sutter's Fort with his forces for Sonoma. There he called a meeting with "the Bears" and united his forces with the revolters to form a single military unit. Frémont then took the majority of the men back to Sutter's Fort and left fifty men to defend Sonoma. The Bear Flag Revolt ended and the
California Republic ceased to exist on July 9 when Lieutenant
Joseph Warren Revere of the U.S. Navy raised the United States flag in front of the
Sonoma Barracks.
Post-Conquest era , Following the American
Conquest of California and the advent of the
California Gold Rush, local businesses prospered with the business brought by the soldiers as well as miners traveling to and from the gold fields. The prosperity and optimism about Sonoma's future promoted land speculation which was particularly problematic because of the cloudy records regarding land ownership. Vallejo had granted land by virtue of his office as Director of Colonization before the pueblo was organized. Among the traditional duties of Alta California's
alcaldes was the selling of town lots. Political factions backed different Sonoma
alcaldes (John H. Nash, supported by American immigrants, and
Lilburn Boggs (1796–1860), supported by Vallejo and the
Californios) made the situation more complex. Some property was sold more than once. A valid land sale depended on proof of the seller's
chain of title. Over thirty subsequent years of lawsuits and land disputes were required before land owners in Sonoma were able to obtain clear titles. , 1910 When the
California interim government and U.S. military occupation beginning 1846, finally ended after four years in 1850, when California was admitted as the 31st
state to the federal Union by act of the U.S. Congress, approved by the
President, on September 9, 1850, Sonoma was then named the first
county seat town for
Sonoma County. About that time, the flow of miners had slowed and the U.S. Army was soon leaving Sonoma. Business in Sonoma moved into an economic recession in 1851. Surrounding towns such as Petaluma and Santa Rosa were developing and gaining population much faster than Sonoma. An 1854 special election then moved the county seat and courthouse and its legal work and entailed economic activity to
Santa Rosa.
Contemporary era The
Sonoma City Hall, located in the center of the Sonoma Plaza, was dedicated on September 9, 1908. The
United States Navy operated a rest center at the Mission Inn through
World War II. Parts of
Wes Craven's
Scream (1996) were filmed in the city, with shots of the Sonoma Community Center masked as Westboro High School. The center of town, known as the Plaza, is home to a particularly vibrant Farmers Market on Tuesdays during season. ==Geography==