Chapter 3: Historical Settlement

A paint of the bay area before European Contact

    The first inhabitants of the area were Native Americans much like many other parts of the United States. The Ohlone people found the bay area to be very abundant with natural resources for hunting and gathering. The Ohlone people lived there peacefully for hundreds of years before they came in contact with the white man. What was surprising to me the most was the distance that they traveled for trade. Their destinations spaned to Yosemite, Mojave Desert, and as far south as Baja California.

San Francisco Mission

    The face of the population in San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area began to drastically change as the first Europeans explored the area. It began with the exploration group, lead by Portolà, which claimed the land in the name of Spain. Only seven years did the Spanish build their mission; one of a long line of missions that were built along the California coast in order to spread Catholicism. So when we ask why the city is named the way it is, it is thanks to the Spanish settlers who first conquered the area. With spanish settlers evangelizing the Ohlone people and the many new diseases that were introduced to them, the natives began to lose their presence in the area.

  Jumping ahead about 50 years, the Spanish people gained their independence from Spain and became the nation of Mexico. However, California did not stay part of Mexico for much long, when only about 25 years later the United States acquired all of California and other neighboring states through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. At this period of time, The San Francisco Bay Area saw its second drastic change, but this one would take it toward what San Francisco is today.
   The California Gold Rush helped the small settlement became a city of gold seekers. A flood of Americans from the east would flood the California Coast and the city would forever be white dominant. The city thereon bloom into one of the largest business and ethnic hubs in the country.
   Today, San Francisco is a very welcoming city to overseas immigrants. For example, a large group of Chinese immigrants helped form the very well known Chinatown in the city. On the other hand, San Francisco of late has been known to have a very high cost of living causing many middle/lower class citizens t o move out to suburbs within the Bay Area.

source:
http://web.archive.org/web/20060301022510/http://sfgov.org/site/visitor_index.asp?id=8091
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/early.html
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/brick.html


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