In , secularization orders were carried out by Military Commandant M. Its name was derived from the springs that now are the source of Sonoma's water supply. General Vallejo, born at Monterey July 7, , was commander of the northern Mexican frontier, founder of the Pueblo of Sonoma, and a member of the first Constitutional Convention of California.
When Russians withdrew to Alaska in , Captain Sutter bought the improvements and supplies. The State acquired the fort in and the remaining buildings-Greek Orthodox Chapel, Commandant's Quarters, and Stockade-were restored. The chapel, destroyed by fire in , was reconstructed in Revere, U.
Montgomery of the U. Sloop-of-War Portsmouth. Vallejo about to accommodate emigrants and other travelers, the Inn was purchased in gold rush days by Cooper and Spriggs, two retired sea-faring men, and operated as hotel and store.
It was among first hostelries in Northern California. Notable guests, according to local tradition, included John C. It was once the largest privately owned adobe building in Northern California; Vallejo sold the building and surrounding acres in Swift, a member of the Bear Flag Party, using stone quarried here by native Indian labor. General Percifor F. Smith, U. Stevenson's Regiment, Company C, U.
Its founder, Colonel Agoston Haraszthy, called the father of the state's wine industry, toured Europe in to gather grape vine cuttings, he also oversaw planting the vineyards and digging wine storage tunnels into the limestone rock of the hillsides. California's first formal Vintage Celebration, a masked ball, was held at this site on October 23, General and Mrs.
