Territorial evolution of California

The following timeline traces the territorial evolution of California, the thirty-first state admitted to the United States of America, including the process of removing Indigenous Peoples from their native lands, or restricting them to reservations.

Article XII; Boundary The Boundary of the State of California shall be as follows: Commencing at this point of intersection of 42d degree of north latitude with the 120th degree of longitude west from Greenwich, and running south on the line of said 120th degree of west longitude until it intersects the 39th degree of north latitude; thence running in a straight line in a south easterly direction to the River Colorado, at a point where it intersects the 35th degree of north latitude; thence down the middle of the channel of said river, to the boundary line between the United States and Mexico, as established by the Treaty of May 30th, 1848; thence running west and along said boundary line to the Pacific Ocean, and extending therein three English miles; thence running in a northwesterly direction, and following the direction of the Pacific Coast to the 42d degree of north latitude, thence on the line of said 42d degree of north latitude to the place of beginning.

Also all the islands, harbors, and bays, along adjacent to the Pacific Coast.

Before 1768 : An enlargeable territorial map of California tribal groups and languages prior to European contact within the modern day borders.
Before 1768 : An enlargeable map of the world showing the dividing lines for; Pope Alexander VI 's Inter caetera papal bull (1493), the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), and the Treaty of Saragossa (1529).
Spanish period : An enlargeable map of the United States after the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
Spanish period : An enlargeable map of the United States after the Adams–Onís Treaty took effect in 1821.
Mexican period : An enlargeable map showing Alta California Territory (black) after the 1824 Constitution of Mexico .
Mexican period : Political divisions of Mexico as altered by Las Siete Leyes .
American period : An enlargeable map of the United States after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848.
American period : An enlargeable map of the United States after the Compromise of 1850 .
American period : The Nataqua Territory extension into California (light yellow), and Nevada's Roop County claim (light yellow area plus area outlined in green).
American period : An enlargeable map of the United States as it has been since 1959.