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The history of Sonoma County is the history of the State of California and of the wine industry in California and personalities and legends all rolled into one. The flags of seven countries have flown over the county; Spain, England, Imperial Russia Mexico. the Bear Flag and the United States.The rolling hills, verdant meadows, rugged coastline, streams and rivers, mild climate and rich soil have served the many and varied residents well. The 1608 square miles have seen the peaceable Miwok. Wappo and Pomo Indians flourish. The abundance provided enough for all and the tribes lived peaceably taking only what they needed from the sea and the land.
The early 1800's saw a change for the Indians and Sonoma County that never allowed such easy existence again. The Spanish had made general claim to California in 1521 with the conquest of Mexico, but Sir Francis Drake claimed the area for Elizabeth 1 when he reached Drake's Bay in Marin County in 1579. However, no long term permanent settlements were made here until the beginning of the 19th century.
The Russians who were looking for a way to provide for their settlement in Sitka, Alaska, explored down the Pacific Coast and finally eslablished a settlement at Ross, an archaic name for Russia. They built a fort, a chapel, and a stockade on the site and set out with great determination to produce what they needed for themselves and the Sitka settlement. They bartered with the Indians, Californios, (the Mexicans living in the area), and Yankee traders, and explored the Russian River, Mt. St. Helena and named the California Poppy, Eschscholtzia californica.
The Russians' grape growing and wine-making activities indicated the potential for developing the grape culture in the northern part of the state. Both the Yankees and the Mexicans were alarmed by the Russian adventure, and were greatly relieved when the Russians sold out to John Sutter of later Gold Rush fame in 1841.
Meanwhile the Mexicans had also been busy making their marks in the area. Father Jose Altimira established the last of the California missions, Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma in 1823, vineyards were planted, Indians baptized and the mission grew until orders for secularization arrived in 1834 from Mexico. General Mariano Vallejo arrived about that time.
The job of establishing a pueblo was passed on to General Vallejo. The town of Sonoma was designed around a central plaza with a church, other residential dwellings, and commercial buildings. Many of these buildings have been restored and are a pleasant day's visit in and around the Sonoma plaza today.
Although Vallejo encouraged settlers to come to Sonoma, development was slow. His sometimes heavy-handedness in dealing with new settlers to the area mixed with the edicts from The Mexican government served to bring aggravation rather than hordes of settlers.
Americans were prohibited by the Mexican government from owning land and at one time all "foreigners" were expelled from the area, but asked to leave their weapons behind. The patience of the Yankees ran thin and a series of skirmishes resulted that led to the Bear Flag Revolt on June 14, 1846. The rebels surrounded Vallejo's residence and seized him and his family.
The crude muslin flag depicting a grizzly bear flew over the Sonoma plaza for almost a month. War between Mexico and the United States was declared in May 1846, but word did not reach California until July 1846. Commodore John Sloat then raised the Star and Stripes over the American Customs House in Monterey! and three days later it flew over Sonoma plaza.
The slow development of Northern California was changed dramatically with the discovery of gold in the Sierra Foothills. In their explorations for gold and land, French, Italian, German, Spanish and English settlers moved into the Sonoma area. hen the!! When their search for gold proved unrewarding, the immigrants turned to agriculture.
One of the most prominent and colorful personalities to settle in the the Sonorna area was Col. Agoston Haraszthy. He left his native Hungary and traveled to Wisconsin, San Diego and San Francisco before settling in Sonoma. As friendly neighbors, General Vallejo and Col. Haraszthy enjoyed competing against each other in state and local fairs to see who could produce the most outstanding wines.
Haraszthy spent time experimenting with foreign varieties of grapes. In 1861 he was asked by California Govornor John Downey to go to Europe and to find sample cuttings of the best European and bring them back to California. Col. Haraszthy was by no means first to import foreign arieties of grapes to the United States, but he did make certain varieties such as Riesling and Zinfandel, Emperor and the Flame Tokay much more widely known and cultivated.
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