The Donner Party
Among the several parties of overland pioneers that come to Mexican California, none suffered more hardships than the Donner party. The party was organized in Springfield, Illinois, and made good time in the early spring of 1846 as it headed westward across the plains. It later lost valuable time by taking what was believed to be a shortcut south of the Great Salt Lake.
The Donner party began its ascent of the Sierra Nevada in October and had the misfortune of being caught near the summit during the heaviest snowfall in thirty years. As the snow reached a depth of more than twenty feet, the group lived in crude log cabins and lean-tos. When food provisions ran out, first the pack animals were eaten, then the hides and the boiled leather from their snowshoes, and finally the flesh of those who died. Only about half of the eighty-seven members of the party survived the winter.
There was heroism as well as horror during that terrible winter in the Sierra. James Reed left the party to seek help and returned leading a relief expedition. When rescuers arrived, Tamsen Donner refused to leave her husband George who was too weak to travel. Their three daughters were saved, but George and Tamsen died.
One of the strangest episodes in California history was the premature invasion of Monterey by a squad of United States Marines in 1842.
It all started when Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones, an impetuous young naval officer, got wind of a rumor that the United States and Mexico were at war. Jones was under standing orders that, in the event of such a war, he was to set sail and seize Monterey, the capital of Mexican California.
On October 18, Commodore Jones sailed confidently into Monterey Bay and demanded that the Mexican officials surrender. The next morning, a triumphant Jones landed 150 marines and sailors on the beach. The marines lowered the Mexican flag, raised the Stars and Stripes, fired a salute, and proclaimed California to be under the benevolent protection of the United States of America.
Unfortunately, Commodore Jones had made a big mistake. He soon learned that the war rumor was false. With all the dignity he could muster, Jones hustled his marines back on board his ship and sailed away.
Four years later, the military forces of the United States again invaded California. But this time it was for real, and the conquest was permanent.