Bear Flag Revolt was an 1846 event in which American settlers in Mexican California revolted against the Mexican government. John C. Frémont , an officer in the U.S. Army, inspired the uprising. The revolt takes its name from the illustration of a grizzly bear on the settlers’ flag.
In the 1840’s, the prospect of cheap farming and grazing land led thousands of American pioneers to settle in Oregon and other parts of what is now the western United States. In 1844, and again in late 1845, the military explorer Captain John C. Frémont led surveying parties of U.S. Army troops into Alta California (Upper California), which was then loosely governed by Mexico. Frémont’s reports of California’s fertile valleys and pleasant climate drew increasing numbers of homesteaders. Mexico had opened California settlement only to Mexican citizens, but Americans began to settle there anyway. In late 1845, relations between Mexico and the United States grew worse after the United States agreed to annex (take control of) the Republic of Texas . Texans had broken away from Mexico to form the republic nearly a decade earlier and wanted Texas to become part of the United States. Mexico broke off diplomatic relations with its northern neighbor. Americans who had entered into land agreements with regional Alta California authorities but had not become Mexican citizens were threatened with expulsion (being forced to leave).
In March 1846, Mexican authorities ordered Frémont and his troops to withdraw from their camp near Monterey. Instead, Frémont began to build a fort at Hawk’s Peak (then also known as Gavilan Peak and now called Fremont Peak), about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Monterey. Frémont raised an American flag there, but he withdrew after realizing his troops were significantly outnumbered. Frémont and his troops slowly withdrew northward and crossed the border into Oregon, which was U.S. territory. In May 1846, the United States and Mexico went to war. See Mexican War .
In June 1846, without knowing that war had been declared, frontiersmen Ezekiel Merritt and William B. Ide led a band of American settlers to take over Sonoma, Mexico’s military headquarters in northern California. Although Captain Frémont did not participate directly in this action, the settlers believed that they had his support. After capturing the undefended fort, the settlers declared California to be an independent republic. They unfurled a homemade flag bearing a star, a grizzly bear, and the words California Republic. This action became gave the uprising its name Bear Flag Revolt. The California Republic lasted for only a short time. News that the fighting had begun between the United States and Mexico reached California in early July, and the U.S. military took control of Sonoma shortly afterward.
The United States won the Mexican War in 1848, and Mexico surrendered its claim to California in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . California then became part of the United States.
