2016 Sloat's Landing reenactment.
MONTEREY, California -- Sailors and Marines from the Presidio of Monterey and Naval Postgraduate School assisted the Native Sons of the Golden West in recreating "Sloat's Landing," a historical U.S. naval victory in which California was claimed by the U.S. without a single shot fired, in downtown Monterey July 9, 2016.
During the July 7, 1846 landing, 250 Sailors and Marines landed at Monterey, raised the American flag, and claimed California for the United States. They rowed to shore under the direction of Captain William Mervine, portrayed during the ceremony by Navy Captain Anthony J. Parisi, Naval Postgraduate School chief of staff.
The service members represented the crews of the Cyane and the Levant, two ships from the American Pacific Squadron that were anchored in Monterey when Commodore John Drake Sloat's 1846 arrived aboard the U.S.S. Savannah. Sailors assigned to the Information Warfare Training Command Monterey color guard hoisted a 28-star U.S. flag above the Custom House during the reenactment. Members of the Native Sons of the Golden West portrayed residents of Monterey, who gathered at the Custom House to hear the reading of Sloat's proclamation naming California part of the United States, and declaring its residents to be U.S. citizens.
Although the Mexican American War continued two more years, "Sloat's Landing" is considered a U.S. naval victory for securing California with no shots being fired, possibly determining the eventual outcome of the war.
A marker commemorating Sloat's Landing is located on the Monterey Recreation Trail, between Custom House plaza and Old Fisherman's Wharf.
PHOTOS by Catherine Caruso, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs. Original public domain image from Flickr