California was first discovered in 1533 when it was thought to be an island named after Queen Califa. It was later discovered to be a peninsula. California has a diverse geography due to tectonic plate collisions, including the highest and lowest points in the continental US. Native Americans lived in California in many linguistic groups with varied diets depending on their locations. In 1848, the discovery of gold started the California Gold Rush, causing a population boom and lawlessness. Racial issues emerged, with Mexicans disproportionately lynched. Infrastructure development began in the 1890s to address water issues, led by engineers who built aqueducts from rivers like the Owens and Colorado.

1. CaliforniaRyan Ross

2. CHAPTER 1. QUEEN CALIFA’S ISLANDCalifornia was first discovered by Spanish explorer Hernan Cortez in 1533.

3. It was originally thought to be an island and was named after a mythical Amazon queen named Califa who lived on an island.

4. In 1539 it was discovered that California was a peninsula and not an island and a great land mass north of the peninsula was waiting to be settled.CHAPTER 1. QUEEN CALIFA’S ISLANDThe North American and Pacific tectonic plates’ collision is what makes California into the diverse state that it is, from valley to mountain to desert and coastline.

5. Home to Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the continental United States.

6. Just to the east of Mt. Whitney is Death Valley, which is the lowest point in the continental U.S. at 282 ft. below sea level.

7. It’s coastline is 1,264 miles long taking up more than half of the west coast of the United States.CHAPTER 1. QUEEN CALIFA’S ISLANDThere where many groups of Native Americans in California before the arrival of European explorers. They had 22 different linguistic families and 135 separate languages.

8. Their diets varied depending on where they lived and included acorns, shell fish, trout, salmon, etc.

9. They were generally peaceful with their surrounding tribal neighbors due to the abundance of food and resources in the area.CHAPTER 4. STRIKING IT RICHOn February 2, 1848 Mexico and the U.S. signed the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo making California apart of the United States. The northern states wanted to make California a free state and the south wanted to break up the state into territories so they could have a piece and make theirs a slave state. Congress did not give into what the south wanted.Alcalde law, similar to a Militant law, was the initial practice of government in California until the start of the gold rush when a population boom occurs.

10. CHAPTER 4. STRIKING IT RICHIn 1848 James Marshall finds gold at Fort Sutter and starts the California gold rush of 1849.As a result of the population boom during the gold rush, murder rates raise to an extreme amount, especially in Los Angeles to a rate of 1,240 per 100,000, which is an all time record in America to this day.