A Bibliography of Early California
and Neighboring Territory Through 1846:
An Era of Exploration, Missions, Presidios, Ranchos, and Indians
Compiled by
Robert LeRoy Santos
California State University, Stanislaus
University Library
Alley-Cass Publications
Turlock, CA
2002
Chapter Eleven
AMERICAN CONQUEST
This chapter contains works about the American movement to annex California, generally from the 1820s through
the beginning of the war with Mexico in 1846.
[K1]
Autry Museum of Western Heritage. Culture y Cultura: Consequences of the U.S.-Mexican War. Los Angeles: The Author,
1998. 160 pp.
[K2]
Bagley, Will, ed. "A Bright, Rising Star": A Brief Life and a Letter of James Ferguson, Sergeant Major,
Mormon Battalion, Adjutant General, Nauvoo Legion. Spokane: Arthur H. Clark Company, 2000. Notes: Ferguson (1828-1863)
served in the Iowa Infantry of the battalion that played a role in the Mexican War, 1846-1848.
[K3]
Bean, Kolleen M. "Settlement Stages and Frontier Systems: The Historic and American Settlement of New Mexico's
Black Range Region." Ph.D. diss., State University of New York, Buffalo, 1996. 184 pp. Notes: Analyzes the
settlement patterns of Americans in Chiricahua Apache territory, 1840-1920, concluding that mining was not the
only impetus but ranching and homesteading played a part too.
[K4]
Bigler, David L. and Will Bagley. Army of Israel: Mormon Battalion Narratives. Logan: Utah State University Press,
2000. 492 pp. Notes: Originally published by Arthur H. Clark, 2000. A history of the battalion that played a role
in the Mexican War, 1846-1848.
[K5]
Day, Robert S. and Linda S. Day. The Mormon Battalion, the Lord's Faithful. Oviedo, FL: R.O. Day, 1996. 347 pp.
Notes: Details the battalion's effort in the Mexican War, 1846-1848 in the Southwest and California.
[K6]
DelosReyes, Eileen. "The Moral Empire: The Long U.S. Road to Overseas Empire, 1776-1898." Ph.D. diss.,
MIT, 1991. Notes: Examines U.S. quest for the Far West.
[K7]
Di Donato, Louis A. The Mexican War and Western San Bernardino County. N.p.: 1994. 22 pp. Notes: Describes the
Battle of Chino in 1846.
[K8]
Fox, John F. Macnamara's Irish Colony and the United States Taking of California in 1846. Jefferson, NC: McFarland,
2000. 230 pp. Notes: A study of Eugene Macnamara and his colony that immigrated to the San Joaquin Valley and assisted
in the Mexican War.
[K9]
Hague, Harlan. "James K. Polk and the Expansionist Spirit." Journal of the West 31(July 1992): 51-57.
Notes: Appraises Polk's aggressiveness in expanding American boundaries in California and New Mexico.
[K10]
Heidenreich, Linda Sue. "History and Forgetfulness in an 'American' County." Ph.D. diss., University
of California, San Diego, 2000. 253 pp. Notes: Historiography of Napa County, primarily on the interaction among
Americans, Indians and Mexicans beginning in early California.
[K11]
Holmes, Jonathan Harriman. The Mormon Battalion Journal of Jonathan H. Holmes. Edited by D. Gary Christian. Santa
Clara, UT: D. Gary Christian, 1999. 210 pp. Notes: Contains a facsimile copy of Holmes' journal, that records the
journey from Kansas to California to fight in the Mexican War (1846-1848), and has commentary and biography by
the editor.
[K12]
Howe, Kevin Hugh. "The Gringo Fifth Column." M.A. thesis, California State University, Dominguez Hills,
1998. 77 pp. Notes: Discussion surrounds three men who spearheaded the drive to annex California by the United
States through their efforts of enhancing foreign trade, planting American customs and challenging Mexican authority.
[K13]
Knill, Harry, Nick Taylor, and Donna Neary. Rosie and the Bear Flag. Santa Barbara: Bellerophon Books, 1993. 64
pp. Notes: Juvenile fiction of the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846.
[K14]
Matway, Elizabeth Berry. "Uncertain Histories: Writing and Rewriting National Narratives of Progress on the
United States-Mexican Frontier, 1830-1850." Ph.D. diss., University of Pittsburgh, 1998. 286 pp. Notes: Assesses
the literature concerning American Manifest Destiny that favored expansion and justifies it in the Mexican held
territories.
[K15]
Moyano Pahissa, Angela. La Resistencia de las Californias a la Invasion Norteamericana (1846-1848). Mexico City:
Conesejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 1992. 175 pp. Notes: An account of Mexican resistance to American
forces in California and Baja California during the Mexican War. In Spanish.
[K16]
Nicholson, Loren. Romualdo Pacheco's California!: The Mexican-American Who Won. San Luis Obispo: California Heritage
Pub. Associates, 1990. 112 pp. Notes: A biography of a Californio, Pacheco (1831-1899), who eventually became California
governor and U.S. Congressman after U.S. takeover of
California.
[K17]
Peterson, Richard H. "Before Going to War With Mexico in 1846, the United States Tried to Acquire California
by Various other Means." Military History 17(December 2000): 20. Notes: A brief account of the methods the
United States employed to annex California.
[K18]
Phelan, Regina V. The Conquered Province. Spokane: Properity Press, 1996. 64 pp. Notes: An assessment of the military
and the Mexican War in California, 1846-48.
[K19]
Price, Peter and Don Childers. The Battle of San Pasqual, Dec. 6, 1846 and the Struggle for California. San Diego:
Pembroke Publishers, 1990. 42 pp. Notes: Contains maps, illustrations and guide.
[K20]
Ricketts, Norma B. The Mormon Battalion: U.S. Army of the West, 1846-1848. Logan: Utah State University Press,
1996. 375 pp. Notes: A history of the battalion and its participation in the Mexican War, 1846-48, in the Southwest
and California.
[K21]
Rodriguez O, Jaime E. and Kathryn Vincent, eds. Myths, Misdeeds, and Misunderstandings: The Roots of Conflict in
U.S.-Mexican Relations. Wilmington, DE: SR Books, 1997. 278 pp. Notes: A collection of essays with some on the
Mexican War of 1846-1848.
[K22]
Swanson, Craig Arthur. "Vanguards of Continental Expansion: Americans in Alta California, 1790-1846."
Ph.D. diss., University of Maryland, College Park, 2000. 472 pp.
[K23]
Walker, Dale L. Bear Flag Rising: The Conquest of California, 1846. New York: Forge, 1999. 320 pp. Notes: Discusses
the Bear Flag Revolt and the Mexican War campaigns in California.
[K24]
Weber, David J. The Californios Versus Jedediah Smith, 1826-1827. Spokane: A.H. Clark, 1990. 82 pp. Notes: Features
the correspondence of Smith.