One of his paintings eventually became the model for the grizzly bear on California's state flag.

In 1860, after Adams had relocated to New York, Theodore H. Hittell published his book, The Adventures of James Capen Adams, Mountaineer and Grizzly Bear Hunter of California, in San Francisco, and then later that year, in Boston.

H. H. Bancroft disparaged the lack of extensive scholarship in Hittell's "History of California".

Modern historians view T. H. Hittell as being more literary, while H. H. Bancroft is more scholarly.

[2] When the Constitution of California was adopted in 1879, Mr. Hittell became greatly interested in State politics.