California Statehood
This stamp commemorates California's sesquicentennial. On Feb. 2, 1848, Mexico and the U.S. signed a treaty ending the Mexican War. As part of the peace treaty, Mexico agreed to cede a vast portion of the Southwest, including present-day California, to the U.S. Several days earlier, on January 24, gold had been discovered at Sutter's Mill on the American River near Sacramento. The ensuing gold rush hastened the territory's admittance to the Union. California became the 31st state on Sept. 9, 1850.
The stamp features an Art Wolfe photograph of cliff tops at the southern end of the Big Sur coastline with iceplant blooming in the foreground. Wolfe's photograph captures the beauty and grandeur of California's coastal environment.