| 1840 - 1868 |
Approx 400,000 emigrated across Wyoming via
the Oregon and Overland trails |
| 1847 |
Stockton founded as a town called
"Tulesburg." |
| 1848 |
On January 24th, James Marshall discovers
Gold in the Coloma Valley. |
| 1849 |
The Gold Rush of 1849 kicks in as thousands
of gold seekers come to California. |
|
On October 13th, 48 delegates signed
"The Original Constitution of California." |
| 1850 |
On September 9th, California is admitted to
the Union as the 31st state. |
| 1854 |
Sacramento becomes the official state
capital of California |
| 1856 |
First railroad in California, connecting
Sacramento and Folsom. There was a railroad from Stockton to Sacramento before the
Transcontinental Railroad was started. |
| 1860 |
The first irrigated farm in California |
|
Telegraph links California to the East |
|
Abraham Lincoln elected, barely in
California (First election results via telegraph) |
|
Southern states begin to secede from the
Union. |
| 1861-1865 |
Civil War |
| 1865 |
Lincoln assassinated |
| 1865-1869 |
Andrew Johnson, President |
| 1865-1877 |
Reconstruction of the South. The last states
were readmitted to the Union in 1877. (Remember that when you watch Court Martial
or They Called Her Delilah.) |
| 1868 |
University of California (Berkeley) founded |
| 1869 |
The Central Pacific railroad, building
eastward from Sacramento, meets the Union Pacific in Utah. |
|
First professional baseball team - The
Cincinnati Red Stockings (not the same as the current Reds. Oldest professional team is
the Chicago Cubs, who started as the White Stockings in 1876 - Custer was still alive!) |
| 1869-1877 |
Ulysses S. Grant, President |
| 1869 |
Victoria Claflin Woodhull becomes the first
woman candidate for U.S. President |
| 1870 |
Ada H. Kepley, first woman to graduate from
law school |
| 1871 |
The first U.S. National Park opens,
Yellowstone. |
| 1873 - 1878 |
Recession grips the country. Big Valley takes places
during hard economic times. |
| 1875 |
The current state capital building is completed. |
| 1876 |
San Francisco and Los Angeles are joined by railroad |
|
General Custer defeated at Little Big Horn |
|
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
published |
| 1877 - 1881 |
Rutherford Hayes, President |
| 1879 |
California adopts its State Constitution (note:
retains the limited rights of women to own property and "community property" at
times of divorce.) |
| 3/1881-9/1881 |
James Garfield becomes U.S. President in March of
1881, assassinated September of 1881. |
| 1885 |
Stanford University is founded by the President of
the Central Pacific Railroad, in memory of his son. |
| 1886 |
First trainload of California oranges (remember the
Barkleys) is transported to the east. |
|
