

Surprisingly, Texas holds the number one spot with about 500 ghost towns, but California comes in second with about 346. But California’s population continued to grow, and it’s now the most populous state in the nation. Many of the Gold Rush Towns that were established during this era were eventually abandoned. When gold was discovered in 1848 and word got out, thousands of people made the trip to seek out their own fortune. More than 300,000 people came to California during the Gold Rush Cabrillo arrived in 1542 after three months at sea and they stayed here just 6 days before moving on. You can visit the place where Cabrillo first stepped foot on the West Coast in San Diego at Cabrillo National Monument. Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo led the first European expedition of the West Coast The Navy seized Monterey shortly thereafter and declared California part of the US. The colonel of the Mexican army surrendered the land and the area was considered an independent nation for a very brief moment. In 1846, the Bear Flag Revolt consisted of a group of Americans attempting to take over a portion of Mexican territory. California was known as the Independent California Republic for 25 days That year, California’s state flag was adopted, and used Monarch’s likeness as the model for the flags design. His skeleton went to the Berkeley Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, and his pelt was stuffed and displayed at the California Academy of Sciences. Sadly, Monarch was in captivity for 22 years until his death in 1911. This was the largest bear ever held captive, at 1,200 pounds. A group of hunters found this bear and Hearst put him on display in Golden Gate Park. Years later, as a publicity stunt to highlight the grizzly bear, William Randolph Hearst hired someone to find a grizzly bear and bring it to San Francisco. The original bear flag was badly hand-drawn by settlers in the Republic Of California who captured Sonoma from the Mexican Government in the 1840s. The Bear On The California State Flag is Named “Monarch” Some sources say that it was originally called the grizzly bear state but as the bears were hunted to near extinction for sport, the state was renamed to reflect it’s gold-related history. California’s state nickname is the “Golden State”

It is believed that Archimedes exclaimed “eureka” when he found a method to determine the purity of gold, so it was selected because of the state’s rich Gold Rush history. There are hundreds of songs written about Californiaįun Facts About California California’s State Motto Is “Eureka”, which is Greek for “I have found it”.California State Song: “I Love You, California”.

California became the 31st state in 1850 after the land was acquired from Mexico.

