The Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles was founded in
1781. The Franciscan mission of San Gabriel--still a famous
landmark--had been established ten years earlier a few miles eastward.
Beginning about 1827, Los Angeles, being the largest pueblo of the
territory, became a rival of Monterey for the honour of being the
capital of California, was the seat of conspiracies to overthrow the
Mexican authority, and the stronghold of the South California party in
the bickerings and struggles that lasted down to the American
occupation. In 1835 it was made a city by the Mexican Congress, and
declared the capital, but the last provision was not enforced and was
soon recalled. In 1836-1838 it was the headquarters of C. A. Carrillo, a
legally-named but never _de facto_ governor of California, whose
jurisdiction was never recognized in the north; and in 1845-1847 it was
the actual capital. The city was rent by factional quarrels when war
broke out between Mexico and the United States, but the appearance of
United States troops under Commodore Robert F. Stockton and General John
C. Frémont before Los Angeles caused both factions to unite against a
common foe. The defenders of Los Angeles fled at the approach of the
troops, and on the 13th of August 1846 the American flag was raised over
the city. A garrison of fifty men, left in control, was compelled in
October to withdraw on account of a revolt of the inhabitants, and Los
Angeles was not retaken until General Philip Kearny and Commodore
Stockton entered the city on the 18th of January 1847. This was the only
important overt resistance to the establishment of the new régime in
California. The city was chartered in 1850. It continued to grow
steadily thereafter until it attained railway connexion with the Central
Pacific and San Francisco in 1876, and with the East by the Santa Fé
system in 1885. The completion of the latter line precipitated one of
the most extraordinary of American railway wars and land booms, which
resulted in giving southern California a great stimulus. The growth of
the city since 1890 has been even more remarkable. In 1909 the township
of Wilmington (pop. in 1900, 2983), including the city of San Pedro
(pop. in 1900, 1787), Colegrove, a suburb W.N.W. of the city, Cahuenga
(pop. in 1900, 1586), a township N.W. of the former city limits, and a
part of Los Feliz were annexed to the city.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] In addition to the large foreign-born population (4023 Germans,
3017 English, 2683 English Canadians, 1885 Chinese, 1720 Irish and
smaller numbers of French, Mexicans, Swedes, Italians, Scots, Swiss,
Austrians, Danes, French Canadians, Russians, Norwegians, Welsh and
Japanese) 26,105 of the native white inhabitants were of foreign
parentage (i.e. had one or both parents not native born), so that
only 54,121 white persons were of native parentage. German, French
and Italian weekly papers are published in Los Angeles.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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