Alta California (Upper California) was formed in 1804 when the
province of California, then a part of the
Spanish Viceroyalty of New Spain, was divided in two along the line separating the
Franciscan missions in the north from the
Dominican missions in the south. The southern part became the territory of
Baja California (Lower California). The two territories were also alternatively called
Nueva California (New California; Upper California) and
Vieja California (Old California; Lower California).
Alta California - covering land that forms the modern US states of California, Nevada, Utah, northern Arizona, western Colorado, and southwestern Wyoming - gained independence from Spain in 1821 upon conclusion of the Mexican War of Independence. After the war, the region was included in the short-lived First Mexican Empire (deemed illegal by Spain in 1822) but was not recognized as one of the newly independent United Mexican States (the 1824 Constitution refers to Alta California as one of "the territories"). Mexico lost control of the territory as a result of the Mexican-American War.
The last Mexican Governor of California was Pío Pico, who served until 1846. The capital of Alta California was Monterey.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, there was a San Francisco-based newspaper called The Daily Alta California (or The Alta Californian). Mark Twain's first widely successful book, The Innocents Abroad, was an edited collection of letters written for this publication.
