Site of the Original Flagstaff, 1846
Monterey, Monterey County, California
Marker Inscription
California Department of Parks and Recreation Site of original flagstaff where the American Flag was first raised by Commodore John Drake Sloat on July 7th 1846 taking possession of California in the name of the United States of America later ceded to America under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848 Dedicated January 21, 1997 by California State Park Commission and Grand Parlor Native Sons of the Golden West Funded by James A. Bailey Trust
Erected by California State Park Commission
The Story
This spot in Monterey marks where the original flagstaff stood when Commodore John Drake Sloat raised the American flag on July 7, 1846, claiming California for the United States. The seizure came during the war with Mexico, and the territory was formally ceded two years later under the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. A 1997 dedication by the state park commission and the Native Sons of the Golden West preserves the memory of that morning.
Why it matters
It pinpoints the physical birthplace of American rule in California, one of the pivotal acts of the Mexican-American War and the nation's westward expansion to the Pacific.
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Related people
- · John Drake Sloat
Related events
- · Raising of the American flag at Monterey, July 7, 1846
- · Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Custom House
Monterey, CA
Built by the Mexican government in 1827, Monterey's Custom House collected duties on foreign shipping when the town was the capital of Alta California, Mexico's far northern province. U.S. consul Thomas O. Larkin contracted to enlarge it in 1841, and on July 7, 1846 Commodore John Drake Sloat raised the American flag over the building, signaling California's passage from Mexican to U.S. rule. Later restored, it stands today as California's first registered historical landmark.
John B. Montgomery
San Francisco, CA
On July 9, 1846, at the height of the Mexican-American War, Commander John B. Montgomery of the U.S.S. Portsmouth came ashore and raised the American flag over the little bay-side settlement of Yerba Buena — soon to be renamed San Francisco. The act signaled the United States' seizure of California from Mexico. In 1924 the Daughters of the American Revolution marked the spot.
Bear Flag Raising, June 14, 1846
Sonoma, CA · est. 1914
In June 1846, a small band of American settlers in Mexican Alta California seized the town of Sonoma and raised a hastily made flag bearing a grizzly bear and a lone star, proclaiming a short-lived "California Republic." The uprising, remembered as the Bear Flag Revolt, unfolded just as the United States and Mexico slid into war. Within weeks U.S. forces took control, and the improvised banner became the ancestor of California's state flag.
Bear Flag Monument
Sonoma, CA
On June 14, 1846, a band of American settlers known as the Bear Flag Party raised a homemade flag on this spot and declared California's independence from Mexican rule, launching the short-lived Bear Flag Republic. Weeks later, on July 9, 1846, Lieutenant Joseph W. Revere lowered the Bear Flag and raised the American flag, following the U.S. seizure of Monterey by Commodore John Drake Sloat. This monument, erected by the Native Sons of the Golden West and the State of California, commemorates those events.