What you didn’t learn in history class about California's flag (2024)

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, July 3. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.

• Let’s unpack a bit of California flag history they didn’t teach us in grade school.
• Extreme heat and elevated fire risk prompt power shutoffs in Northern California.
• July 4 fireworks in California: Where to watch and where to set them off.
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper

How much do you know about California’s flag?

It’s that stars-and-stripes, American-flag-waving time of year. And throughout the Golden State, the California flag typically takes a place of honor beside it.

But how much do you know about the origins of the state flag — the grizzly bear perched on a patch of green, the red star high on the left, the words “California Republic” below?

It’s a story rooted in a cunning land grab by white insurgents who hastily drew a rough image of a bear and hoisted their crude flag over what had been Mexican territory, proclaiming it to be the California Republic. Some of those men abused and enslaved Indigenous people in their quest for wealth and power.

To help unravel it all, I talked to Michael F. Magliari, a history professor at Chico State and an expert on Indian slavery and “unfree labor” in California and the Southwest during the Gold Rush and Civil War eras.

First, a quick recap: In June 1846, a small group of American settlers who had moved into Mexican-controlled land in what is now northern California launched a sneak attack on the town of Sonoma, capturing a Mexican general.

The uprising came as the Mexican government was moving to evict many of the settlers from land they had claimed but few had legal standing to hold. So the American rebels banded together to oust Mexican authorities and claim California as their own — and they wanted a flag to make it official.

What became known as the bear flag was hastily designed by one of the insurgents, William Todd, whose family owned slaves in Kentucky. Todd was the nephew of Mary Todd, wife of Abraham Lincoln.

“The original bear flag was famously crudely drawn,” Magliari told me. “A lot of people thought the silhouette of a grizzly bear looked more like a hog, and so it was ridiculed.”

The star was a tribute to the Lone Star from the flag of Texas, which formed after a similar rebellion of American settlers against the Mexican government in that territory.

The bear flag was hoisted over Sonoma, proclaiming the “California Republic.” But the scheme was short lived — and, it turns out, unnecessary. The U.S. government had declared war on Mexico about a month earlier, but that news had not reached the rebels. Weeks later, U.S. troops and the Navy arrived to occupy and claim California as American territory, and the “California Republic” was dead.

“The only enduring, long-lasting legacy of the Bear Flag Revolt was the flag,” Magliari said.

He explained that many of the Bear Flaggers, as they are now called, left a trail of violence against Indigenous people on the land they seized under the pretense of manifest destiny.

“It’s often said that these guys were all illegal immigrants,” Magliari said. “They were all on board with the program of acquiring California by conquest if necessary. And they were all part of ... [what’s] seen as the vanguard of American imperialism.”

California joined the Union in 1850 as a free state. And while the enslavement of Black people was illegal on paper, slavery endured in many forms in the Golden State’s early decades. California’s first legislators codified “an array of unfree Indian labor systems,” Magliari explained, which were carried over from Spanish and Mexican rule.

The California Indian Act of 1850 legalized bound child labor “under the guise of wardship of Indian children,” he noted, along with indentured servitude, debt peonage and convict leasing. At the time, Native Americans were arrested, often for minor crimes, then auctioned off to landowners to complete their sentences as bound laborers.

Many Bear Flaggers participated in those systems as they took land and developed ranchos, Magliari said.

Among them was Andrew Kelsey, who settled in the area of Clear Lake. His sister-in-law, Nancy Kelsey, is believed to have stitched the first bear flag. Kelsey and his partner Charles Stone “were notorious for enslaving and abusing local Pomo Indian laborers,” Magliari noted.

Some of their victims revolted in 1850, killing Kelsey and Stone, and taking food to feed their starving village before fleeing to a small island on the lake. In response, the U.S. Army arrived and slaughtered hundreds of men, women and children in what became known as the Bloody Island Massacre.

Another Bear Flagger, Granville Swift, struck it rich during the Gold Rush and forced Native Americans to work the mines for him, Magliari said.

In the leadup to the U.S. Civil War, white California settlers sympathetic to the South reportedly flew bear flags in support of the Confederacy.

So how did the banner raised by insurgents with a legacy of racist violence become our state flag?

Largely thanks to a fraternal organization called the Native Sons of the Golden West, founded in 1875 with a mission to preserve California’s “colorful history of the Gold Rush and early-day statehood.”

For many, the NSGW is viewed as “a pretty benign historical society,” Magliari said. It still exists, operating museums, funding preservation work, putting up historical markers and doing charitable work.

But the group has another legacy, he noted, rooted in “strong, prevailing attitudes of white supremacy” that were common in U.S. society and many fraternal orders in the early 20th century.

I’ll unpack more about that legacy in Friday’s newsletter.

Today’s top stories

Extreme heat in California

• Extreme heat and elevated fire risk prompt power shutoffs in Northern California.
• The toll of extreme heat rises in California as OSHA advances worker protections.
• A dangerous heat wave is blanketing California this week (and into next).
• Fire near Oroville forces thousands to flee; several homes burned as heat wave intensifies.

Climate and environment

• Fire risk closes section of Joshua Tree National Park over July 4 weekend.
• California community’s future at risk in the fight over declining groundwater, residents say.
• Floods, fires and record heat: Climate disasters multiply around the world.
• A Supreme Court ruling could jeopardize California’s environmental rules.

Politics

• A corruption cloud hangs over Oakland City Hall. It comes at a terrible time for the struggling city.
• Newsom pulls anti-crime ballot measure, capping Democrats’ chaotic response to Prop. 47 reform.
• How the California border changed after Biden’s order limiting asylum.
• The Supreme Court’s decision would free a reelected President Trump to ignore the law, experts warn.
• The Supreme Court turns down a 2nd Amendment challenge to state bans on assault weapons.

More big stories

• Californians won’t pay more than one month’s rent for security deposits under new law.
• Bob Iger and Willow Bay are on the verge of buying majority stake in Angel City for $250 million.
• Deadliest roads in state are in Southern California. Do you drive these freeways?
• L.A. fast-food workers may get a helping hand from the City Council.
• Jamie Foxx reveals rare details about health scare: He has a three-week hole in his memory.
• LAUSD shelves its hyped AI chatbot to help students after collapse of firm that made it.
• Nick Cannon explains why he insured his testicl*s for $10 million: ‘My most valuable assets.’
• West Bank occupation is at the center of the violence at L.A. synagogue.
• Student loan borrowers can slash their monthly payments — for now. Here’s what to know.
• Kanye West sued again: Yeezy employees allege toxic work environment, unpaid wages.

Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here.

• LZ Granderson: A fourth ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ movie is great, but Eddie Murphy is the real gift.
• Steve Lopez: Hey, Joe, it’s OK to call it quits and leave with dignity and pride.
• Robin Abcarian: The surgeon general acknowledged America’s gun violence emergency. Here’s why that matters.
• Editorial: FAFSA is a nightmare for homeless students. Why haven’t we fixed it?

Today’s great reads

Restoring a midcentury Valley home to ‘its original glory,’ with tiki flair. When they needed more space, a Silver Lake couple looked to Van Nuys. But could they restore a coveted midcentury home without losing their sense of style?

Other great reads

• In a group of more than 100 hikers, she vanished and died. What happened to Diem Le Nguyen?
• L.A.’s population is aging fast. Here’s how it’s dramatically transforming the city.

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your downtime

Going out

• ⛱️ 20 of the most picturesque restaurant patios in Los Angeles.
• 🧨 July 4 fireworks in California: Where to watch and where to set them off.
• 🌊 We may not all be lucky enough to live in the Palisades, but we can certainly visit. Here’s where to start.

Staying in

• 📺 What to watch over Fourth of July to forget about today’s politics.
• 🧑‍🍳 Here’s a recipe for summer pudding jam.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

And finally ... a great photo

Show us your favorite place in California! We’re running low on submissions. Send us photos that scream California and we may feature them in an edition of Essential California.

Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Brian van der Brug from Sturtevent Falls, one of the most popular destinations in Big Santa Anita Canyon. Cabin owners are concerned that the area no longer has sufficient bathrooms for large numbers of visitors.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team:

Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor and Saturday reporter
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy metro editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.