Alta California

Alta California (English: Upper California) was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, western Colorado and southwestern Wyoming. The territory passed to American control after the Mexican–American War and ceased to exist with the creation of the State of California in 1850. The Spanish explored the coastal area of Alta California in the 16th century and considered the area as the domain of the Spanish monarchy, and made various plans to settle the area, including Sebastián...