Bear Flag Revolt

Raising the Flag

At the request of U.S. President James K. Polk, John C. Fremont led a group of Anglo American settlers in 1845 into Alta California, then a province of Mexico and presently near San Francisco. On the morning of June 10, 1846, a small band of white settlers, encouraged by Fremont but not officially sanctioned by the U.S. government, rebelled against Mexican rule and began what would become several days of skirmishes. The short-lived battle culminated in the June 14 arrest of Californio Mariano Vallejo, the Mexican comandante of Alta California, at his ranch in Sonoma. Mariano and his brother Salvador were taken to Sutter's Fort in Sacramento where they later reportedly recounted to historian Hubert Howe Bancroft how they had been humiliated and abused in a manner unbefitting their socioeconomic and political importance. On June 15, a day after the brothers’ arrest, William B. Ide, who would lead the short-lived California Republic, read a proclamation of independence from Mexico. In celebration, settlers raised a flag in the plaza decorated with a crude rendition of a grizzly bear. Thus, the rebellion became known as the Bear Flag Revolt.

Perhaps unknown to Fremont and other Anglo American settlers until the July arrival of the U.S. Navy was that the United States had declared war on Mexico on May 13, 1846. Thus, the Bear Flag Revolt ran parallel to the Mexican-American War, and its victory was capitalized on by the U.S.

military. Whether the revolt was sanctioned by the government or led by the military in a more clandestine operation, similar to that of Texas in the 1830s, continues to be of historical debate. Given the United States’ offer to purchase parts of Alta California in 1835, much as it had done previously with Texas, speculation continues on Fremont's role in the revolt.

Choosing Sides

Some wealthy Californios fought on the side of Anglo American settlers, because, much like their Tejano counterparts at the Battle of the Alamo, they supported their own personal status and property against a government in Mexico City and in a new emerging U.S. social order. Prior to the Bear Flag Revolt, some Californios even supported their own independence movement under the leadership of Mexican Brigadier General Jose Marie Castro, who was stationed in the Monterey Bay area. Many poor Mexicans and Indians fought against Anglo American settlers and their wealthy Californio counterparts, who understood that, with the Bear Flag Revolt, U.S. occupation and annexation were imminent.

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