The Bear Necessities of California

"From 1836 to 1846, California no longer took orders from Mexico." - Kevin Starr

In 1846, American rebels were successful in taking California from Mexican rule. To legitimize their conquest they raised a flag that consisted of a a star, a stripe, and a grizzly bear. But why did they choose these symbols to represent the new republic? I did some research and here is what I found...

Mary Todd Lincoln's nephew, William L. Todd was in charge of overseeing the making of the flag and is said to have painted the pictures on it himself. A Californio woman had donated a rectangular piece of brown cotton muslin about a yard and a half in length. The wife of Captain John Sears, tore a four inch strip of a red petticoat and sewed it to the bottom of the muslin; this was to be reminiscent of the American flag. It is speculated that the star was supposed to be in solidarity with Texas, who was battling with Mexico at the time. The crude drawing of a grizzly bear was colored with a mixture of brick dust, linseed oil, and Venetian Red paint. Todd's rendition of the bear was actually made fun of; in his memoirs, the Recuerdos (Recollections), General Vallejo calls the flag's design "strange" and says, "the bear looked more like a pig than a bear." The words "California Republic" was written in black in the middle.

Some people say that the grizzly bear was chosen to strike fear into the hearts of the Californios since supposedly they feared the bear as the ultimate predator. Others contend that the mountain men who participated in the revolt favored the grizzly because they thought the bear was the fiercest and most determined creature in the animal kingdom. Even others contend that the original design was not even a grizzly but a black bear. Regardless of its roots, the grizzly quickly came to represent the rebellion and inspired the name the Bear Flag Revolt and it remains the symbol of California today.

Unfortunately, the original flag was destroyed in the fires resulting from the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. A famous replica of the flag was created in 1896 in commemoration of the 50th anniversary. It is still on display at the Presidio de Sonoma, which was established in 1836 by Vallejo as a part of Mexico's attempt to halt Russian incursions into the region.