California Colonial Records

Online Records

 * 1582-1842- Ramo de Californias. Images only. In Spanish.
 * 1862- Muster rolls of the Russian River Rifles. Images only.
 * 1796-1798- California Spanish Mission Censuses. $ Index and images at Ancestry.com.

History
From 1542 to the beginning of the 19th c., Spain, Mexico, England, and Russia all tried to claim California. The Spanish established several settlements over the course of the 18th c.: California became a part of Mexico in 1822 and was annexed by the United States in 1850.
 * 1769 - San Diego de Alcalá Mission
 * 1770 - Monterrey Mission
 * 1771 - San Antonio de Padua mission and presidio
 * 1771 - San Gabriel mission
 * 1772 - San Luis Obispo mission
 * 1776 - San Francisco mission and presidio
 * 1777 - San José mission
 * 1781 - Los Angeles
 * 1782 - Santa Barbara mission and presidio

Resources

 * The Franciscan Missions of California by John A. Berger. (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1941).
 * FamilySearch Digital Book "The Parochial Books of the California Missions." Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly 43 by J.N. Bowman. (September 1961): n.p.n.
 * The Missions of Alta California by John T. Doyle. (1896. Reprint. Santa Barbara, CA: W.T. Genns, 1991).
 * The Missions and Missionaries of California 2 Vols. by Zephyrin Engelhardt. (Santa Barbara, CA: Mission Santa Barbara, 1929-30).
 * The Missions of California and the Old Southwest by Jesse S. Hildrup. (1912. Reprint. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1995.) This contains early history of missions, churches, and Native Americans.
 * Las Misiones Españolas de California by James M. Keys. (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto Juan, 1950). This is about Spanish missions in California.
 * Santa Clara Mission, Index to Baptismal Records, 1777-1855 by Ralph Francis Corral. (n.p., 1979, film 1036271).
 * Calendar of Documents in the Santa Barbara Mission Archives by Maynard J. Geiger. (Washington, DC: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1947).
 * 1790 Padron of California. (n.p., n.d., film 1036747). This was copied from "Las Familias de California" section of Southern California Historical Society Quarterly.
 * "The First Census of Los Angeles." Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly 16 by Thomas Workman Temple. (1931): 148-9.
 * Ramo de Californias: 1582-1842 Historical materials from Viceroyalty of Nueva details Lower and Upper California. Includes settlement records of Pueblo de Los Angeles (1781), military lists (1748, 1769-74), and Inquisition records. Orginal records are at the Archivo General de al Nación in Mexico City.
 * Spanish Archives, 1833-45. California, Surveyor-General's Office. Land records. The original records are at the California State Archives in Sacramento.
 * Ranchos of California: A List of Spanish Concessions, 1775-1822, and Mexican Grants, 1822-1846 by Robert Granniss Cowan. (Fresno, CA: Academy Library Guild, 1956).
 * California Ranchos: Patented Private Land Grants Listed by County by Burgess McK. Shumway. (San Bernardino, CA: Borgo Press, 1988). This lists name of rancho and grantees with date and description of the land.
 * Index to the Spanish-Mexican Private Land Grant Records and Cases of California by J. N. Bowman. (1958. Reprint. Berkeley: Bancroft Library, University of California, 1970, film 0833343).
 * Spanish Bluecoats, the Catalonian Volunteers in Northwestern New Spain, 1767-1810 by Joseph P. Sánchez. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1990). History and maps of Spanish claims to Mexico, California, and Alaska.

Maps
The Diseños Collection at the California State Archives. This is a collection of early hand drawn maps of Spanish and Mexican California lands.
 * Spanish and Mexican Records of the American Southwest: A Bibliographical Guide to Archive and Manuscript Sources: A Bibliographical Guide to Archive and Manuscript Sources by Henry Putney Beers. (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1979). Includes Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico.
 * The History of San Diego County Ranchos : the Spanish, Mexican, and American Occupation of San Diego County and the Story of the Ownership of Land Grants Therein by Robert W. Brackett. (1939. Reprint. San Diego: Union Title Insurance Co., 1960).
 * Survey of Pre-Statehood Records: A New Look at Spanish and Mexican-Californian Genealogical Records by Rudecinda Lo Buglio. (Salt Lake City: Corporation of the President, 1980, fiche 6085820).
 * California Gazetteer. (Wilmington, DE: American Historical Publications, 1985, fiche 6088199).
 * Catalogue of materials in the Archivo General de Indias for the History of the Pacific Coast and the American Southwest by Charles E. Chapman. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1919).
 * The Founding of Spanish California: The Northwest Expansion of New Spain, 1687-1783 by Charles E. Chapman. (New York: Macmillian & Co., 1916).
 * A History of California: The Spanish Period by Charles E. Chapman. (New York: Macmillan & Co., 1921, fiche 6051216).
 * Spanish Alta California by Albert Johnston Denis. (New York: Macmillan & Co., 1927, film 1697423).
 * Spanish Families of Southern California 38 Vols. by Adam C. Derkum. (n.p., 1967, film 1597975 ff).
 * Guide to American Historical Manuscripts in the Huntington Library by Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. (San Marion, CA: The Library, 11979).
 * The Russian Advance into California by Flora Faith Hatch. (Berkeley: University of California, 1922. Reprint. San Francisco: R & E Research Associates, 1971, fiche 6039366).
 * The Illustrated Atlas and History of Yolo County, California: Containing a History of California from 1513 to 1850, History of Yolo County from 1825 to 1880, and the Official County Map. (1879. Reprint. Woodbridge, CT: Research Publications, Inc., 1968, film 0468752).
 * Index to Genealogical Tables of Spanish and Mexican Families of California by Thomas Workman Temple. (Berkeley, CA: Bancroft Library, 1959, film 0874197).
 * A Brief History of the Calafia: The Californians, 1533-1795 by Michael W. Mathes. (San Diego: n.p., 1974).
 * French Activities in California: An Archival Calendar-Guide by Abraham Phineas Nasatir. (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1945).
 * Spanish Mexican Families of Early California: 1769-1850 by Marie C. Northrup. (New Orleans: Polyanthos, 1976).
 * A Guide to the History of California by Doyce B. Nunis and Gloria Ricci Lothrop. (New York: Greenwood Press, 1989).
 * California under Spain and Mexico, 1535-1847: A Contribution Toward the History of the Pacific Coast of the United States, Based on Original Sources (Chiefly Manuscript) in the Spanish and Mexican Archives and Other Repositories by Irving Berdine Richman. (1911. Reprint. New York: Cooper Square Publishing, 1965, film 0897366).
 * Spanish and Indian Place Names of California, Their Meaning and Their Romance by Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez. (San Francisco: A.M. Robertson, 1930, film 1320727).
 * Pioneer Spanish Families in California by Charles Howard Shinn. (1896. Reprint. Santa Barbara, CA:W.T. Genns, 1991).
 * Directory of Archival and Manuscript Repositories in California 3rd ed. Society of California Archivisits. (San Marino: The Society: The Society, 1991, 1st ed. on film 1035038).
 * Local History and Genealogy Resources of the California State Library. Rev. ed. by Gary E. Strong. (Sacramento: California State Library Foundation, 1991).
 * The Story of San José: California's First Pueblo, 1777-1869 by Oscar O. Winther. (San Francisco: California Historical Society, 1935).
 * The Russian population in Alaska and California : late 18th century-1867 by by Svetlana G. Fedorova ; translated and edited by Richard A. Pierce and Alton S. Donnelly. (Kingston, Ontario : Limestone, 1973).