I do appologise for the lack of an update I have been fairly busy with stuff that has been occurring in real life however I should be free at the present time to continue with my work.
1st Presidency of the Republic of California
George Marshall: 1842 – 1846
"California, the Sunshine Nation, A nation who's early year's was in the hand of a few men who had the power to sink or let sail this Great Country" - Michael C. Harvard, The Nation of Gold: California, 1998.
Marshall’s victory during the first Californian election also came with an issue. Although Marshall had power he had a problem when it came to the positions of government. He did have several members who had previously held positions regarding to certain aspects of politics however they were totally inexperienced when it came to running a nation. Most of the men given positions where the main players when it came to the rebellion. Members such as Pío Pico and Nathen Sutter gained the Head of the Treasury and Head of Foreign Affairs respectively. Generally Vallejo was given the role of Head of the Militia although that would also constitute controlling of the Californian Navy, which at in the early few years of the Republic consisted of a few settler boats that the Government brought with some old Mexican cannons attached. The Early form of government was quite quick when it came to making decisions as many of the Congress members generally followed Marshall’s lead when it came to the major issues, this again was mostly the work of Marshall surrounding himself by the powerful and influential figures of Congress, along with the prestige he had gained through his major part in the independence of California. Yet although decisions were fairly quickly it didn’t mean it was completely efficient with communications playing a big role in that factor.
The planning for the Capital of Monterey [1] also came about in the early few months of 1842, with Marshall wanting to create a more efficient form of government, starting with the creation of a plan for the construction of the required Governmental Facilities. It was quite obvious that this was a long term plan as the capacity of California to undergo this construction was far beyond what it had in those early years. Many of the Governmental Heads had to make home in the buildings scattered across Monterey. Marshall set himself up in the Mexican Presidio or Royal Fort in the Centre of Monterey. This would ultimately become the site of the Presidential House. He used the site along with several members of his Government, such as Nathen Sutter. Pío Pico made home in the Customs House of Monterey which he slowly turned into the Californian Treasury House. It can be clearly seen that Monterey was being designed akin to that of Washington D.C, this can be clearly seen further by Marshall’s commitment by the Capital as the Political hub of the nation.
Immigration continued to grow as amount of settlers arriving to California increase drastically. The Numbers had dropped slightly during the war they picked up quickly once the news reached the world of California’s independence. Many continued to head to the mountain ranges In search of gold while others ventured towards the Central Valley to help with the farming that had begun to grow. Some also stayed in the coastal cities; these mostly came from Europe or the British Colonies of the Pacific such as Australia or New Zealand. People of all languages came to the Californian shores; one of the largest non-English groups was that of the Germans [2]. Those coming from the east soon arrived along highways carved out of the land by wagon wheel and hooves as the settlers moved across the great wilderness. This was where the bulk of Californian Immigration came from and those who heavily populated the Sierra Nevada Range and Central Valley. The Californian Government attempted to influence the regions in which this bulk of immigration arrived, to help with the growing population the Government tried to convince many settlers to move to the fertile agricultural regions of California. They helped with the ranches or cereal crops such as maize and rice. Rice became a popular crop to grow following the large influx of Chinese labour into the region which helped to influence the Californian culinary culture, one that blends the culture of many different nations. A lot of the settler first stayed in settlements such as Harris before moving out and creating their own communities. These communities required trade to survive which promoted a merchant class, those who set up shops across California allowing for trade of food, fur or tools to pass. The Californian Government encouraged this. Pico also gave certain companies the right to be able to carry Californian mail in its earliest postal system which helped alleviate the communication problems slightly. The Gold Rush didn’t just bring positives for California; it also brought certain ethic problems. As the setters move into the Sierra Nevada range they disturbed many of Native American lands [3], which lead to confrontation between the two groups. It wasn’t until active governmental intervention the tensions between the groups started to tie down. It was hard issue for the Californian Government to deal due to the Government's announcement at the creation of California to allow the Natives equal lives within the republic. This issue would not get resolved in the First Presidency with Marshall leaving it to Vallejo to sort out as he already had the connection to the Natives. This made it difficult for issue to be sort out as Vallejo was swamped in duties that he held.
Marshall was approached by the American Government in 1842 to discuss a possible border treaty between the US and California [4]. Frémont was requested to sort out the possible border following several incursions into Texas by that of Mexico. They wanted to ratify the borders of what the US claimed it owned. It ran from the Rio Grande to the supposed start of the Colorado and along a middle section of the Rocky Mountains. Marshall and instructed Sutter not to accept to any terms along California’s northern border. He didn’t want to give the British the impression that they were aligning with the United States concerning the matter. The Treaty which became known as the Californian-American Treaty or the Frémont-Sutter Treaty was signed on October 15th 1842. The treaty didn’t go entirely smoothly as Frémont would apparently become incredibly frustrated with that of Sutter who would simply ignore any comment towards the northern border. It took several weeks to get to an understanding between the two nations, which wasn’t helped to both Sutter’s poor handling and Frémont’s frequent outburst. This was an issue stemming mostly from the lack of experience of the government officials. However Sutter’s handling of Foreign Relations would improve as he spent longer in office.
The Californian Government response to foreign event was that of reactionary rather than trying to create a place for itself. This wasn’t too surprising due to the age of the nation. It lacked a trained army or navy to support its borders and coasts. It armed forces at this time consisted of untrained men who have been issued old Mexican weapons. California did retain some few hundred Mexican Soldiers who had decided to stay in California following the independence although they were pretty much useless when considering both the size of California and the armies of California’s neighbours. It was also a problem that the Government had to face following fears within the California Government over the sovereignty of California. Many feared that the United States would ignore any treaties and take California while they were week in comparison. Marshall was one of those people, he was incredibly fearful of what he considered his work being destroyed before it had even taken off. He took his issue to the British Ambassador in Monterey. With the help of Sutter they negotiated two treaties with the British. The Anglo-Californian Naval and Anglo-Californian Co-operation Treaty both signed in 1843 however they did not come into effect until several years later, especially in terms of the second treaty. The first treaty focussed heavily on the Californian Navy. California brought several ships from Britain, two Frigates and three Clippers. They arrived in early 1844. This along with the passage of the Ship Abandonment Act allowed the Government to seize the ships which had been clogging up the Bay area. This allowed them to use to ships for either materials for housing or be upgraded into further Military Ships. Many of these upgraded ships were quite poor in quality compared to those brought from Britain. The first treaty also called for Britain to send for officers to help train the sailors which would be based out of the San Francisco Naval School built in early 1845. The second treaty acted pretty much the same as the first treaty however it focused on California’s armed forces. However it was more based on training officers as a political alignment between the two nations. It also concluded with the construction of Sonoma Military School [5] in 1844 however it wouldn’t become fully active until 1850 although it would be used for schooling officers from late 1844. California’s Army would rise in number from 4000 or so Militiamen to about 8000 trained soldiers in 1844 and rising continually as the strength of California grew.
The treaties even had an effect on the Government with Marshall in light of Britain’s assistance changed Vallejo’s title from Head of the Militia to that of Head of the Army. This working relationship with Britain upset the United States’ officials in Monterey as well as the pro-US members headed by Isaac Graham. The US felt this relationship was an attempt to undermine US influence in the region while Graham and his followers saw this as Marshall going back on his word of trying to create a middle ground between relations of the US and Britain. Marshall dismissed that attacks by Graham by saying that it was just it was just a situational product while simultaneously counter attacking Graham by suggesting that he obviously wished for a weak California. Britain on the other hand enjoyed this relationship with California. They had hoped for the exact reason that the US was annoyed at. They hoped that California would be a useful ally on the west coast, although they didn’t want to wage war with the US as it was deemed unprofitable to do so they were still happy to find ways to contain the US and counter their influence. Although the rivalry between the US and Britain to be if anything minor it showed Britain’s continued willingness to boss around other nations. The problem that arose around the Oregon region was incredibly harmful to Britain’s profits if it ever came to war. Britain enjoyed the trade they gained from the United States however sources have pointed toward the issue surrounding Britain’s ego. That it didn’t want to be seen internationally that it could be bullied around by other nations, which would harm its image of being the top nation. This apparent view of Britain at this time helps to explain why it put effort into California, that being it would allow Britain to have another allied nation on the Continent which could help to “contain” the US.
The Territories of California especially those in the east were large areas of un-organised land. They were home to the Californian Trails, a few settlements and tribal regions. They soon became a hot bed of ruthless characters that used the nature of the regions or nefarious purposes. There was still honest folk living in the Northern and Southern Colorado regions however they were starting to be over-shadowed by that of gangs that pillaged the immigration trials or the newly built settlements. These problems soon reached the Government in Monterey. Marshall concerned that the rise of these gangs would put people from moving into California and therefore together with Vallejo created a solution. They organised the Colorado Rangers who job would be to patrol the trails and look after the settlements of the territories. They only numbered around 100 when it was first founded on September 1st 1843 however grew to around 1000 by 1850. Much like the Gold Rush the ideals of the Colorado Rangers soon became embedded into the Californian culture seeing its popularity rise in Californians film industry in the 1960/70’s as well as stories and tales from as early as the mid 1840’s soon drifted into the western settlements of Californians. Famous Rangers such as John Mayer and Frank Koln could be seen as some as the earliest celebrities in California. Many ended up rising higher in the ranks of the Californian Military such as with John Mayer becoming a high ranking General in the Californian Army. The Wild East as many Californians called the territories would never lose its sense of wonder even as California aged. Possibly due to its harsh environment it continued to capture the imagination of the entire country.
Historians have considered the Colorado Rangers akin to that of the monotheistic order of Europe in their organisation although even more have disputed this idea as a romantic view of the Colorado Rangers. The Organisation had a Commander who could be viewed as a General of the Rangers with under him other leaders of the respective Ranger zones. In the beginning the Rangers split themselves into 3 smaller sub-Divisions. The Northern Trail Division, the Colorado River Division and the Gila River Division, this was an attempt to have a specified focus of the rangers by giving them their own zones to work in. This eventually grew into many more sub-sectors, such as the Sierra Nevada Divison who was sent to protect the Gold Rushers from Native American attacks, of the Colorado Rangers before they were re-organised into a fighting force of the Californian Army in 1888. The Rangers proved a fairly low cost solution to a growing problem that Marshall was concerned about. Apart from a salary they effectively paid for themselves. It came to a point later in the Colorado Rangers history that they would be hired by Mayors of settlements to get rid of various bandits or other problems that plagued the eastern territories. This was soon put to an end with the First Commander of the Rangers, Joshua Shephard, in an attempt to counter the building in personal armies in the east as well as issues as it would interfere with Ranger attempts to end corrupt practices by officials in the territories.
Historians generally considered the first presidency being based around the laying of the foundations of the nation. Many of the talks that Marshall had, or at the least got Sutter to do, were on subjects which would help California itself in the future. Along with the Officer training help gained from Britain they also negotiated future plans for railways that would be built between the more populous regions of California. Although the railways themselves wouldn’t be attempted to be constructed for a few years due to California’s need to import the iron to build the tracks it still once again showed Marshall being California’s foundation builder. He wanted to railways to help improve the California’s economy by being able to transport the basics resources as well as help with communication as the distance between main settlements meant that information was harder to relay. Marshall was able to sweeten the deal with the British when the Great Famine hit the British Isles in 1846. In an effort to alleviate the problems hitting Ireland Marshall agreed to allow the free movement of Irish people. This really was a double positive for Marshall as he gained more people and a happier nation to support his Railways plans. By late 1846 California saw an increase of several thousand Irishmen and even some Scottish who joined the start of a Celtic exodus. Many of them founded a settlement of Patrick on the banks of the Sacramento River.
Marshall had agreed on numerous conditions with the British between 1845 and 1846 in his hopes of quickly connecting the growing settlements of California. Although it this ever increasing push towards a pro-British stance didn’t go unseen by the members of the Californian Government. Though many supported Marshall in his movements in the creation of California into a working nation, they still had issues when it came to choosing a side. The majority of the members of the Government feared that the Oregon issue would spill out and tangle California if they became too close to either power however irrational it may be viewed in the present day. Marshall continued to tell the Californian Government members that it was a negotiation with the British where out of necessity being they had more to offer at the moment. This however didn’t entirely solve the problem as the first Government split as it came towards the second presidential election of the Republic of California. People who made up the government who were seemingly fairly loyal started to whisper amongst themselves to whether Marshall would continue to be the President. Marshall tried to negate this splintering through gaining support in regions where the population was starting to boom. He focused on the San Joaquin Valley. Here many settlers arrived to help out with the agriculture and setting up of the ranches. The ranches especially started to make owners fairly wealthy. Marshall gained their support by setting up an agreement to split the Sierra Nevada region into two separate ones which allowed for the Ranchers in theory to gain more influence. This was passed though the Californian Congress with the help of Marshall’ remaining powerful friends, this created the Regions of Sierra and Nevada. This final push helps Marshall to secure his second term in office. He fought of his opponent Isaac Graham who wanted to pull California away from Britain however only gained a majority power in his home region of Sierra. Marshall managed to bring the southern regions back into his control through the railways. He suggested that Graham would want to pull away from Britain which would destroy any chance of a railway being constructed.
The next four years would be that of George Marshall once more.
Authors comments
[1] The planning was generally seen to by a personal project of Marshall as many evidence suggests. He didn't expect for the city of his dreams to be built over night however he did enjoy planning or what he thought it would look like.
[2] They helped to found many settlement which the most famous being Dresden, NV*
[3] This lead to series of attacks by both parties.
[4] This was preparation by that of the US once war with Mexico commenced.
[5] Although classed as a Californian Officer Training school it consisted little more than a shake with a board with the teacher being an old British officer or one that had annoyed someone higher up.