Sonoma Valley History < Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce

Sonoma Valley History

Some say the name "Sonoma" is a Miyakmah indian word for "Town"; others translate it as "Many Moons"

Indian tribes, including those of the Pomo and Miwok, occupied the fertile, game-laden Sonoma Valley, with its trout-filled streams, for centuries before the Spanish Franciscan Padre José Altimira arrived to establish Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma here on July 4, 1823. It proved to be the last in the chain of 21 Franciscan missions established by Father Junipero Serra in California, from San Diego to Sonoma—and the only one founded under the rule of Mexico.

Sonoma is an Indian word, purportedly meaning “many moons,” and was later enhanced in author Jack London’s novel, “Valley of the Moon,” written during London’s residency in Glen Ellen between 1904 and the date of his death, November 22, 1916 at the age of 40.

In 1835, the Mexican government, which had succeeded Spanish rule, sent 27-year-old Lt. Mariano G. Vallejo to Sonoma to establish a military post, to deter the Russians at Fort Ross from encroaching farther south, to oversee the secularization of the mission, and to lay out the pueblo of Sonoma.

The eight-acre Plaza was the centerpiece for the town. Nearby, Vallejo constructed barracks for his troops, and after being named commandante-general and military governor of the newly declared state of Alta California, he built his multi-storied Casa Grande adjoining the Barracks. Endowed with the impressive title, he was known as “General” Vallejo until his death at his rancheria, Lachryma Montis, in Sonoma on January 18, 1890.

Mexican rule unofficially ended here with the raid by a group of disgruntled American settlers on the sleepy military post and pueblo on June 14, 1846. The 30 horsemen took Vallejo prisoner and proclaimed the independence of California with the raising of the Bear Flag over the Sonoma Plaza.

The edict by the Bear Flag Party was short-lived. The new republic existed for just 26 days; on July 9, 1846, the Stars and Stripes were raised over the Plaza, proclaiming U.S. rule. California became the 31st state on September 9, 1850. General Vallejo was released from his captors at Sutter's Fort, returning to Sonoma where he lived the rest of his life.

Sonoma’s Mission, Vallejo’s Barracks, and Lachryma Montis residence are preserved and maintained among Sonoma State Historic Park monuments, all open to the public. At the Misson in March of 1999, a plaque containing the names of 900 Native Americans buried next to the adobe edifice—around which they lived and worked many decades ago—was dedicated in a public ceremony.

A replica of the 1880 Sonoma Railroad Depot, just north of the Plaza, is home to the Sonoma Valley Historical Society Museum, where many treasures of the past are on display. The wineries of the Valley, so much a part of the area’s past, also provide a taste of local history along with the tasting of the fruit of the vine.

—Robert M. Lynch, author of The Sonoma Valley Story