Birdseye view of San Francisco from 1846 showing the
harbor and streets of early San Francisco.

An American naval captain, John Montgomery led a party of
marines and sailors ashore. They met no resistance and
claimed the settlement of Yerba Buena for the United States,
raising the American flag in the central plaza. They occupied
the small settlement that would later be called San Francisco.

John Berrien Montgomery
(1794 – March 25, 1872)

The 1847 Battle of Santa Clara, the only major engagement
to take place in the Bay Area.