As California celebrates Admission Day — we joined the United States on Sept. 9, 1850 — we should give ourselves an overdue present: A founding story of our statehood starring someone we can be proud of, both as Californians and Americans.
Like too much else in California, the narrative of our statehood is sprawling and complicated, involving the Mexican-American War, the Gold Rush and migration — and devoid of a hero who can tie the history together The closest thing we have had is U.S. Sen. John C. Fremont, whose main talents were for insubordination and bankruptcy.
Fortunately, more recent scholarship suggests that California could cut through its obscure history in a Shermanesque way. William Tec*mseh Sherman — the Civil War general known for his decisive march through the South — offers Californians a compelling but overlooked protagonist in the tale of becoming a state.
Sherman’s military exploits have long overshadowed his earlier time in California — which was formative both for the state and for the man himself. A new biography from historian James Lee McDonough shows how Sherman served as a stabilizing figure for California during war, the Gold Rush and various crises.
Originally from Ohio, Sherman arrived in California as a soldier in 1847. Stationed in Monterey, he never saw action in the Mexican-American war, but met almost everyone of note, visiting missions, hunting grizzly bears, patronizing the arts and opening a store in Coloma (to supplement his Army wages). He was an early surveyor of the Sierra Nevada, traveled to L.A. by boat and horseback, and was a fixture of the gold country during the Gold Rush, even getting to know John Sutter.
In 1849, Sherman was the U.S. military’s representative at the California convention, which produced the state’s first constitution. In 1850, California entered the Union as a free state, part of a famous compromise in the long run-up to the Civil War. That same year, Sherman went east to marry. But by 1853, he had resigned the Army and was back in San Francisco to establish a bank, becoming a significant figure in the growth and travails of California’s first great city.
Sherman’s conservative management of his growing bank made him an outlier in the wildly unregulated and corrupt financial sector of 1850s San Francisco. McDonough recounts — with new details — how Sherman’s care forestalled banking panic; in 1855, even as Wells Fargo and other banks closed during a bank run, Sherman’s bank stayed open and calmed the city.
He did this all at personal cost. San Francisco was so expensive (some things don’t change) that even a banker couldn’t afford to live there; he went deeply into debt. His wife, not without reason, considered the city “thoroughly wicked” and begged him to leave. He suffered from terrible asthma that was aggravated by San Francisco’s wet weather. And he was bitterly criticized by the press in 1856 when he opposed the Committee of Vigilance that had lawlessly seized control of the city, banished some enemies and hanged others.
After another financial panic, Sherman would have to shut down his bank in 1858 — though he was scrupulous about it — selling his own property so that depositors could be made whole. Having invested eight years and most of his money in California, he left the state that summer, but often would confess a desire to return (even in letters written at the height of the Civil War).
“If I had no family I would stay in California all my life,” he wrote in one letter. Alas, he would come back only as a visitor.
Sherman’s view of California, formed in that founding period from 1847 to 1858, still resonates. He loved the natural beauty of the place and the adventurous culture of its people. But he was distressed by its volatility, its boom-and-bust economy, and he learned to distrust its democratic spirit, since that could curdle so quickly into mob rule.
“Sherman’s lack of patience with democratic republican government ... emerged full blown during the Californian years,” writes McDonough, adding: “He beheld a society dramatically transformed, in an amazingly short period of time. It was not a pretty sight.”
California, McDonough shows, helped convince Sherman that humans needed a strong hand — and that authorities should deal forcefully with those who might step out of line. It would of course be the South that would feel the full force of Sherman’s conclusion.
Sherman became Sherman here, just as California was becoming the state of California. After 166 years, isn’t it time we adopted a founding narrative that is more Shermanesque?
Mathews writes for Zócalo Public Square, www.zocalopublicsquare.org.
FAQs
In 1849, Sherman was the U.S. military's representative at the California convention, which produced the state's first constitution. In 1850, California entered the Union as a free state, part of a famous compromise in the long run-up to the Civil War.
Why is General Sherman important to California? ›
In June 1848, Sherman accompanied the military governor of California, Col. Richard Barnes Mason, to inspect the gold mines at Sutter's Fort. Sherman unwittingly helped to launch the California Gold Rush by drafting the official documents in which Governor Mason confirmed that gold had been discovered in the region.
What was William Sherman's role? ›
William Tec*mseh Sherman (born February 8, 1820, Lancaster, Ohio, U.S.—died February 14, 1891, New York, New York) was an American Civil War general and a major architect of modern warfare. He led Union forces in crushing campaigns through the South, marching through Georgia and the Carolinas (1864–65).
How did the gold rush lead to statehood for California? ›
With the Gold Rush came a huge increase in population and a pressing need for civil government. In 1849, Californians sought statehood and, after heated debate in the U.S. Congress arising out of the slavery issue, California entered the Union as a free, nonslavery state by the Compromise of 1850.
Who founded the state of California? ›
When Spanish navigator Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo became the first European to sight the region that is present-day California in 1542, there were about 130,000 Native Americans inhabiting the area.
What is General Sherman most remembered for? ›
Perhaps best known for his 1864 “March to the Sea,” William Tec*mseh “Cump” Sherman (1820–1891) was born in Lancaster, Ohio. He was one of eleven children born to Charles and Mary Sherman but was raised in the family of influential politician Thomas Ewing following the death of his father.
What was the controversy with General Sherman? ›
Major General William Tec*mseh Sherman's actions after the capture of Atlanta and his subsequent March to the Sea are sometimes seen as anticipating the pattern of total war in the twentieth century. Some have claimed that Sherman was a war criminal, authorizing plunder and looting of civilian property.
What was Sherman's main goal? ›
This campaign, known as Sherman's March to the Sea, was marked by its objective, to cripple the Confederacy's ability to wage war. They destroyed anything and everything important to the war effort, leaving ruins where Georgia's great cities once stood.
What did General Sherman think about slavery? ›
Sherman did not approve of slavery, specifically the splitting up of African American families, but he was much more interested in maintaining the preservation of the Union.
What is Sherman's famous quote? ›
Sherman's most well-known quote, "War is hell," is often attributed to his grim experiences during the Civil War. However, what many people may not know is that the quote is often taken out of context.
Finally, on September 9, 1850, President Fillmore signed the bill that gave California statehood. However, state government did not automatically bring law and order to California.
Who first discovered gold in California? ›
In 1848 John Sutter was having a water-powered sawmill built along the American River in Coloma, California, approximately 50 miles (80 km) east of present-day Sacramento. On January 24 his carpenter, James W. Marshall, found flakes of gold in a streambed.
Why was the Gold Rush bad for California? ›
The Gold Rush also had a severe environmental impact. Rivers became clogged with sediment; forests were ravaged to produce timber; biodiversity was compromised and soil was polluted with chemicals from the mining process.
Who originally owned California? ›
The history of California can be divided into the Native American period (about 10,000 years ago until 1542), the European exploration period (1542–1769), the Spanish colonial period (1769–1821), the Mexican period (1821–1848), and United States statehood (September 9, 1850–present). California was one of the most ...
Who gave California its name? ›
Most scholars agree that Montalvo's Las Sergas de Esplandián is the direct progenitor of the word California. However, no one knows absolutely how Montalvo derived the word—whether he invented it himself, formed it from the Arabic word khalifa, or was inspired by other works.
Who landed in California first? ›
Spanish California Europeans' contact with California began in the mid 1530s when Cortez's men ventured to Baja California. Not until 1542 did Spaniards sail north to Alta California, and Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo's expedition that year made landings as far north as modern Santa Barbara.
Why was the Battle of Sherman important? ›
Sherman's March to the Sea, coupled with his Atlanta Campaign, may have tipped the scales of victory toward the Union in the Civil War. The destruction wreaked by the operation caused significant Confederate economic loss and diminished Confederate morale, generating deep resentment in Southerners.
Why is the General Sherman Tree important? ›
The undisputed King of the Forest, the General Sherman Tree is not only the largest living tree in the world, but the largest living organism, by volume, on the planet.
Why is John Sherman important? ›
With nearly 32 years in the Senate, John Sherman is perhaps best remembered for authoring the Sherman Antitrust Act (1890), the first federal law targeting monopolies and anti-competitive behavior. John Sherman died in Washington, D.C., on October 22, 1900, and is buried in Ohio.
How is Sherman remembered today? ›
General William Tec*mseh Sherman is best remembered for his leadership during the Civil War. Beginning with the battle at First Bull Run, Virginia (July 1861), he led troops through Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Atlanta, the March to the Sea (November & December 1864), and Columbia, South Carolina.
