Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

California's distinctiveness -- The Native Americans -- Exploring Baja and Alta California -- Colonizers of the frontier -- Missions, presidios, and pueblos -- California and its Spanish governors -- Exploration and foreign interference -- Arcadia -- Mexican California -- Infiltration and revolt -- On the eve of American rule -- Trappers, traders, and homeseekers -- American conquest -- Gold -- Approaches to statehood -- Social ferment -- A new culture at the golden gate -- Post-gold rush commerce -- The land problem -- California and the Union -- Ships and rails -- Agricultural and urban growth -- Discrimination and accommodation -- Crushing or saving the Indians? -- Labor, the farmers, and the new constitution -- California culture, 1870-1918 -- Progressive politics -- Continuing material growth -- Water, conservation, and agriculture -- Labor in an industrial age -- The depression years -- Twentieth-century culture -- A western world of sports and leisure --Wartime setbacks and gains -- California after World War II -- The beleaguered sixties -- Environmental realities -- Seeking new solutions -- An ethnic tapestry -- A transformative society -- The governors of California.