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The region is highly diverse, but can be generally characterized by its beautiful [[coastline]], redwood forests, [[Oceanic climate|marine]] to warm [[Mediterranean climate]]s and, apart from the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] and [[Sacramento]] area, low population density. It is also a land of [[Wine Country (California)|wine country]], the high mountains of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierras]], the southern [[Cascade Range]], the [[Trinity Alps]], and the [[Klamath Mountains]], lakes, and windswept sagebrush [[steppe]], in the northeast portion of the state.
The region is highly diverse, but can be generally characterized by its beautiful [[coastline]], redwood forests, [[Oceanic climate|marine]] to warm [[Mediterranean climate]]s and, apart from the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] and [[Sacramento]] area, low population density. It is also a land of [[Wine Country (California)|wine country]], the high mountains of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierras]], the southern [[Cascade Range]], the [[Trinity Alps]], and the [[Klamath Mountains]], lakes, and windswept sagebrush [[steppe]], in the northeast portion of the state.


⚫
<BR>[[Image:San Francisco at Sunset.jpg|thumb|350px|right|[[San Francisco]] is the center of Northern California's largest metropolitan area.]]
==History==
Inhabited for millennia by [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], from the [[Shasta (tribe)|Shasta]] tribe in the north, to the [[Miwok]]s in the central coast and Sierra Nevada, to the [[Yokut]]s of the southern Central Valley, Northern California was among the most densely populated areas of pre-Columbian North America.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.californiaprehistory.com/tribmap.html | title=California Indian Tribes map | publisher=CaliforniaPrehistory.com | author=R.F. Heizer | date=1966 | accessdate=2007-02-10}}</ref>

===European explorers===
The first European explorers, flying the flags of Spain and of England, sailed along the coast of California from the early 1500s to the mid-1700s, but no European settlements were established. The first European to explore the coast was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese navigator sailing for the Spanish Crown. In 1542, Cabrillo led an expedition that landed at San Diego Bay, and continued north to explore a coastal route to reach the Asian mainland. But Cabrillo died during this voyage, and the remainder of the exploration was led by [[Bartolomé Ferrelo]], who sailed perhaps as far north as the [[Rogue River (Oregon)|Rogue River]] in today's [[Oregon]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nps.gov/archive/cabr/juan.html | title=Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo: A Voyage of Discovery | publisher=U.S. National Park Service | accessdate=2007-02-10}}</ref>

Beginning in 1565, the [[Manila Galleons]] crossed the Pacific Ocean from Mexico to the Spanish possession of the Philippines, laden with silver and gemstones from Mexico. There, the wealth was used to purchase Asian trade goods such as spices, silk, and porcelain. The Manila Galleons then followed prevailing winds across the northern Pacific, and reached the North American continent typically off the coast of Northern California. The Manila Galleons then coasted southward to the port of [[Acapulco]] in [[Mexico]], where the Asian goods were destined for shipment to Spain and sale in Europe.

In 1579, Northern California was visited by the English explorer [[Sir Francis Drake]] who landed north of today's [[San Francisco]] and claimed the area for [[England]]; the next official visit by the British would be some two hundred years later.

In 1602, the Spaniard [[Sebastián Vizcaíno]] explored California's coastline as far north as [[Monterey Bay]], where he went ashore. He ventured inland south along the coast, and recorded a visit to what is likely [[Carmel, California|Carmel Bay]]. His major contributions to the state's history were the glowing reports of the Monterey area as an anchorage and as land suitable for settlement, as well as the detailed charts he made of the coastal waters used for nearly 200 years.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.mchsmuseum.com/coastalnav.html | title=Coastal Navigation and Exploration of the Monterey Bay Area | publisher=Monterey County Historical Society | author=Gary S. Breschini, Ph.D. | date=2000 | accessdate=2007-02-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.americanjourneys.org/aj-002/summary/index.asp | title=Diary of Sebastian Vizcaino, 1602-1603 | publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society | author= | date= | accessdate=2007-02-10}}</ref> Other Spanish explorers sailed along the coastline of Northern California for the next 150 years, but no settlements were established.

===Spanish era===
The first European inhabitants were Spanish missionaries, who built [[California missions|missions]] along the California coast. The mission at [[Monterey, California|Monterey]] ([[Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo]]) was first established in 1770, and the mission at San Francisco ([[Mission San Francisco de Asís]]) was founded in 1776. In all, some 15 missions would eventually stretch along the coast from [[Sonoma, California|Sonoma]] south to [[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara]] (and still more missions to the southern tip of [[Baja California]]).

In 1786, the [[France|French]] signaled their interest in the Northern California area by sending group of French scientists and artists on a voyage of exploration to Monterey, California. They compiled an account of the California mission system, the land and the people.

Explorers and fur trappers from the [[Russian Empire]] established settlements in [[Alaska]] (beginning in 1784), and then expanded hunting and trading down the west coast of North America. By the early 1800s, fur trappers of the Russian Empire hunted for sea otter pelts as far south as San Diego. In 1812, the [[Russian-American Company]] set up a fortified trading post at [[Fort Ross]], near present day [[Bodega Bay]] some sixty miles north of San Francisco.

The first twenty years of the [[19th century]] continued the slow colonization of the California coast by Spanish missionaries, ranchers, and troops. By 1820, Spanish influence extended inland approximately 25 to {{convert|50|mi|km|0}} from the missions. Outside of this zone, perhaps 200,000 to 250,000 Native Americans were continuing to lead traditional lives. The [[Adams-Onís Treaty]], signed in 1819 between Spain and the young [[United States]], set the northern boundary of the Spanish claims at the 42nd parallel, effectively creating today's northern boundary of California.

===Russian era===
As the Spanish and Mexicans occupied California from the south, the Russians, from a base in Sitka, Alaska, were moving down the coast. In 1745 the Russian fur traders had reached the Aleutian Islands and began southward expansion, with a primary establishment at Sitka, Alaska. In 1812 the Russians established Fort Rossiya aka [[Fort Ross]], a fur trading outpost in what is today northern coastal [[Sonoma County]]. Fort Ross was the southernmost point of expansion, meeting the Spanish northern expansion some {{convert|70|mi|km|0}} north of San Francisco. The leader of the Russian expedition travelled to San Francisco for much needed supplies and agreed to marry the daughter of the Spanish ambassador, sealing a peaceful deal to establish trade and a border between Spanish California and Russian "New Albion" at the mouth of the [[Russian River]].

In 1841, as the American presence in California began to increase and politics began to change the region, a deal was made with John Sutter and the Russians abandoned their New Albion settlements.

The Russian era in northern California was short-lived but remnants of Russian colonization remain in place-names such as the [[Russian River]] and the town of [[Sebastopol]].

===Mexican era===
After Mexico won its [[Mexican War of Independence|War of Independence]] from Spain in 1821, Mexico initially retained Spain's missions and settlements along the Pacific coast, and continued Spain's claims to territory as far north as today's border between California and Oregon. In the 1830s, Mexico ended Church control of the missions in California and opened the land to secular development, particularly ranching. By the 1840s, there were small Mexican settlements at the territorial capital at Monterey, San Francisco, [[Sonoma, California|Sonoma]], and elsewhere along the coast (primarily near the sites of the original missions). The ''[[Californios]]'' (Spanish-speaking Californians) in these settlements primarily traded cattle hides and [[tallow]] with American and European merchant vessels which came to call.

In 1825, the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] established a major trading post at [[Fort Vancouver]] just north of today's [[Portland, Oregon]]. From this headquarters, for the next 20 years, British fur trappers and hunters used the [[Siskiyou Trail]] to travel throughout Northern California, as far south as modern-day [[Stockton, California|Stockton]]. Trapping parties (or "brigades" as they were known) typically crossed the recognized border at the 42nd parallel, and trapped in the [[Shasta Cascade]] region, the Sierra Nevada foothills and Central Valley, without official Mexican permission or even knowledge.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://museumsiskiyoutrail.org/upper_soda_springs_information/hunters_and_trappers.html | title=Hunters and Trappers at Upper Soda Springs | publisher=Museum of the Siskiyou Trail | author= | date= | accessdate=2007-02-10}}</ref>

The leader of a further French scientific expedition to Northern California, Eugene Duflot de Mofras, wrote in 1840 "...it is evident that California will belong to whatever nation chooses to send there a man-of-war and two hundred men."<ref>{{cite book |last=Bancroft |first=Hubert Howe |url=http://www.1st-hand-history.org/Hhb/HHBindex.htm |year=1884-1890 |title=History of California |pages=v.4, p.260 |publisher= |isbn= }} The online collective works of Hubert Howe Bancroft.</ref> In 1841, the Mexican military commander in Northern California, General [[Mariano Vallejo]], wrote "there is no doubt that France is intriguing to become mistress of California."

By the 1830s, a significant number of non-''Californios'' had immigrated to Northern California. Chief among these was [[John Sutter]], a European immigrant from [[Switzerland]], who was granted 48,827 [[acres]] (19,759 [[ha]]) centered on the area of today's Sacramento. Sutter built [[Sutter's Fort]], and embarked on plans for an agricultural empire.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=485 | title=Sutter's Fort Historic State Park | publisher=California Department of Parks & Recreation | accessdate=2007-02-10}}</ref>

===American interest===
American trappers and "mountain men" began filtering into Northern California in the 1830s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bancroft |first=Hubert Howe |url=http://www.1st-hand-history.org/Hhb/HHBindex.htm |year=1884-1890 |title=History of California |pages=v.4, p.263-64 |publisher= |isbn= }}</ref> In 1834, American visionary [[Ewing Young]] led a herd of horses and mules over the Siskiyou Trail from missions in Northern California to British and American settlements in Oregon. Although this initial effort was met with suspicion by Hudson's Bay Company officials in Oregon, Young returned to Northern California in 1837, where he purchased 700 head of cattle which he drove over the Siskiyou Trail to Oregon. This monumental task required nearly three months through largely uncharted territory.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/oregontrails/ewingyoung.html | title=Ewing Young Route 1834 / 1837 | publisher=End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center | author=Karen Bassett, Jim Renner, and Joyce White | date=1998 | accessdate=2007-02-10}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.catl.com/diary.html | title=Diary of Philip Leget Edwards | publisher=The California Association of Texas Longhorn Breeders (CATL) | author=Douglas S. Watson | date=Sep 2006 | accessdate=2007-02-10}}</ref>

Although a small number of American traders and trappers had lived in Northern California since the early 1830s, the first organized overland party of American immigrants was the Bidwell-Bartleson party of 1841.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bancroft |first=Hubert Howe |url=http://www.1st-hand-history.org/Hhb/HHBindex.htm |year=1884-1890 |title=History of California |pages=v.4, p.263-273 |publisher= |isbn= }}</ref> With mules and on foot, this pioneering group groped their way across the continent using the still untested [[California Trail]]. Also in 1841, an overland exploratory party of the [[United States Exploring Expedition]] came down the [[Siskiyou Trail]] from the Pacific Northwest. In 1844, [[Caleb Greenwood]] guided the first settlers to take wagons over the Sierra Nevada. In 1846, the misfortunes of the [[Donner Party]] earned notoriety as they struggled to enter Northern California.

===Beginning of United States era===
When the [[Mexican-American War]] was declared on May 13, 1846 between the United States and Mexico, it took almost two months (mid-July 1846) for definite word of war to get to California. U.S. consul [[Thomas O. Larkin]], stationed in Monterey, on hearing rumors of war tried to keep peace between the Americans and the small Mexican military garrison commanded by José Castro. American army captain [[John C. Frémont]] with about 60 well-armed men had entered California in December 1845 and was making a slow march to Oregon when they received word that war between Mexico and the U.S. was imminent.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.militarymuseum.org/fremont.html | title=Captain John Charles Fremont and the Bear Flag Revolt | publisher=California State Military Museum | author= | date= | accessdate=2007-02-10}}</ref>

On June 15, 1846, some 30 non-Mexican settlers, mostly Americans, staged a revolt and seized the small Mexican garrison in Sonoma. They raised the "[[Bear Flag]]" of the [[California Republic]] over Sonoma. It lasted one week until the U.S. Army, led by Frémont, took over on June 23.<ref name=1846-54>{{cite web | url=http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=1096 | title=American Transition to Early Statehood | publisher=California Department of Parks & Recreation | accessdate=2007-02-10}}</ref> The California state flag today is based on this original Bear Flag, and continues to contain the words "California Republic."

Commodore [[John Drake Sloat]], on hearing of imminent war and the revolt in Sonoma, ordered his naval forces to occupy [[Yerba Buena]] (present San Francisco) on July 7 and raise the American flag. On July 15, Sloat transferred his command to Commodore [[Robert F. Stockton]], a much more aggressive leader. Commodore Stockton, put Frémont's forces under his orders. On July 19th, Frémont's "California Battalion" swelled to about 160 additional men from newly arrived settlers near Sacramento, and he entered Monterey in a joint operation with some of Stockton's sailors and marines. The official word had been received—the Mexican-American War was on. The American forces easily took over Northern California; within days they controlled San Francisco, Sonoma, and Sutter's Fort in Sacramento.<ref name=1846-54/>

In January 1847, the last significant body of ''Californios'' surrendered to Frémont, and the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]], signed on February 2, 1848, marked the end of the Mexican-American War. In that treaty, the United States agreed to pay Mexico $18,250,000; Mexico formally ceded [[Alta California]] (land that included all of present day California and Nevada, as well as portions of several surrounding states) to the United States, and a new international boundary was drawn.

==Cities==
==Cities==
⚫
[[Image:San Francisco at Sunset.jpg|thumb|350px|right|[[San Francisco]] is the center of Northern California's largest metropolitan area.]]
Northern California's largest [[metropolitan area]] is the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] which includes the cities of [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]], [[San Jose, California|San Jose]], [[Oakland, California|Oakland]], and their many [[suburbs]], and the [[Silicon Valley]] [[high-tech]] region.
Northern California's largest [[metropolitan area]] is the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] which includes the cities of [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]], [[San Jose, California|San Jose]], [[Oakland, California|Oakland]], and their many [[suburbs]], and the [[Silicon Valley]] [[high-tech]] region.

In recent years the Bay Area has drawn more commuters from as far as [[Central Valley]] cities like the California state capital, [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]], from [[Stockton, California|Stockton]] {{convert|45|mi|km|0}} south of Sacramento, and [[Modesto, California|Modesto]] about 30 miles to the south. With expanding development in all these areas, the San Francisco Bay Area, Monterey Bay Area, and central part of the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada foothills may now be viewed as part of a single [[megalopolis]].<ref>[http://www.spur.org/documents/110107_article_01.shtm The Northern California megaregion]</ref>
In recent years the Bay Area has drawn more commuters from as far as [[Central Valley]] cities like the California state capital, [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]], from [[Stockton, California|Stockton]] {{convert|45|mi|km|0}} south of Sacramento, and [[Modesto, California|Modesto]] about 30 miles to the south. With expanding development in all these areas, the San Francisco Bay Area, Monterey Bay Area, and central part of the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada foothills may now be viewed as part of a single [[megalopolis]].<ref>[http://www.spur.org/documents/110107_article_01.shtm The Northern California megaregion]</ref>


Revision as of 02:16, 19 February 2008

Coast Redwoods in Muir Woods National Monument, in Marin County.

Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern California coast, the Big Sur coastline area, the Sierra Nevada including Yosemite Valley and Lake Tahoe, Mt. Shasta which is the second-highest peak in the Cascade Range, and the Central Valley.

Native Americans arrived in Northern California perhaps as early as 5,000 to 8,000 BCE, and successive waves of arrivals led to one of the most densely populated areas of pre-Columbian North America. The arrival of European explorers from the early 1500s to the mid-1700s, did not establish European settlements in Northern California. In 1770, the Spanish mission at Monterey was the first European settlement in the area, followed by other missions along the coast—eventually extending as far north as Sonoma County.

Description

Yosemite Valley in the Sierra Nevada.

Definitions of what areas constitute "Northern California" vary considerably. The term usually refers to the area north of the ten counties of Southern California, anything northward of San Luis Obispo County or the Tehachapi Mountains, while others distinguish the Northern and Central Coast areas from the San Luis Obispo County to Santa Cruz County. Moreover many residents of far Northern California define their region as encompassing only those areas to the north of the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento metropolitan areas. This definition becomes problematic for inland regions; the Central Valley is a distinct region in itself both culturally and topographically from coastal California, though in Northern versus Southern California divisions, the Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Valley are usually placed in Northern California. Division of the Sierra Nevada and Eastern California regions into Northern, Central, and Southern California is even more problematic.

Geography and climate

Mount Shasta at 14,179 ft (4,321 m) dominates the northern part of Northern California.

The region is highly diverse, but can be generally characterized by its beautiful coastline, redwood forests, marine to warm Mediterranean climates and, apart from the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento area, low population density. It is also a land of wine country, the high mountains of the Sierras, the southern Cascade Range, the Trinity Alps, and the Klamath Mountains, lakes, and windswept sagebrush steppe, in the northeast portion of the state.


San Francisco is the center of Northern California's largest metropolitan area.

Cities

Northern California's largest metropolitan area is the San Francisco Bay Area which includes the cities of San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, and their many suburbs, and the Silicon Valley high-tech region. In recent years the Bay Area has drawn more commuters from as far as Central Valley cities like the California state capital, Sacramento, from Stockton 45 miles (72 km) south of Sacramento, and Modesto about 30 miles to the south. With expanding development in all these areas, the San Francisco Bay Area, Monterey Bay Area, and central part of the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada foothills may now be viewed as part of a single megalopolis.[1]

The state's largest inland city, Fresno, is much farther south in the Central Valley, but usually considered part of Northern California in cases when the state is divided into only two parts. Other cities in the region include Redding at the northern end of the Central Valley, Chico, in the mid-north of the Valley, and Eureka on the northern coast.

Educational Institutions

Northern California hosts a number of the most prestigious and renowned universities and academic institutions in the world. Five of the ten University of California campuses: UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Francisco, and the newly created UC Merced, and eleven California State University campuses: Chico State, San Francisco State, Fresno State, Humboldt State, Sonoma State, San Jose State, the California Maritime Academy, CSU East Bay (formerly CSU Hayward), CSU Stanislaus, Sacramento State, and CSU Monterey Bay. Of the private institutions are included Stanford University, the University of San Francisco, Santa Clara University, St. Mary's College, Mills College and University of the Pacific.

Regions & Parks

Counties

Major Cities

Communication

Telephone area codes

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Northern California megaregion
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