The Delegates of 1849: Life Stories of the Originators of California's Reputation as a Bold and Independent State

1849—Gold Rush madness threatened to destroy California. Congress could not decide if the western territory should be admitted as a slave state or a free state. Something had to be done, and newly-appointed Military Governor Bennet C. Riley had the guts to do it: call a constitutional convention. Of the seventy-two men elected, forty-eight delegates left their homes and businesses to come to Monterey and draft a constitution. Their socio-economic backgrounds were as varied as their ages. Ye...