January 2022 marks the 175th anniversary of the Treaty of Cahuenga, which ended hostilities between Mexico and the United States in California and peacefully transferred the territory to control of the United States.

On January 13, 1847, the treaty was signed at the Campo de Cahuenga by Lt. Col. John C. Frémont on behalf of the United States, and by General Andrés Pico, commander of the Mexican forces in California. The agreement allowed the Californios to lay down their arms and return to their homes without reprisals, and to enjoy all the rights and privileges of United States citizens. 

In the years that followed, both Frémont and Pico enjoyed notable political careers in the new State of California: Pico representing Los Angeles in the California Assembly and as a State Senator; Frémont as Governor of California and the state’s first U.S. Senator.