Fighting in California during the Mexican American
War ended with the surrender of Andrés Pico to John C. Frémont
on January 13, 1847, at Cahuenga Pass in present-day Los Angeles
County. The meeting was arranged by Bernarda Ruiz, a woman in Santa
Barbara who was saddened by all the bloodshed in her country. Fighting
elsewhere in Mexico continued for another year.
The war formally ended on February 2, 1848, with the
signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In the treaty, the United
States agreed to pay Mexico $15 million and to assume unpaid claims
against Mexico. For its part, Mexico agreed to transfer to the United
States more than 525,000 square miles of land. From this vast area
would come the future states of California, Nevada, and Utah, most
of Arizona and New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.
The
Mexican American War was a great tragedy for Mexico. Under the
terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico transferred half
of its land to the United States. For the American people, the
war
was a great victory. Many Americans believed that their nation
at last had achieved its Manifest Destiny.
