Alta California

[ ahl-tuh ]

noun

1. a former Spanish colony of New Spain, in the modern-day states of California, Nevada, and N Arizona: ceded by Mexico to the United States 1848.

Example Sentences

On Jan.13, 1847, on the porch of this now-vanished adobe, two men signed a cease-fire agreement that ended the Mexican-American war in “Alta California,” Mexican California.

From Los Angeles Times

Andres Pico was a Californio statesmen and acting governor of Alta California, and Lt.

From Los Angeles Times

Take “Recuerdos: Historical and Personal Remembrances Relating to Alta California, 1769-1849” by Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, which was written in Spanish in 1875 and finally published in English this year by the University of Oklahoma Press.

From Los Angeles Times

The restaurant is considered a leader in the regional Alta California cuisine and is a winner of multiple accolades and awards.

From Los Angeles Times

In 1769, charged by the Spanish crown with exploring and “civilizing” the area then known as Alta California, Father Junipero Serra and the padres set about building a chain of Catholic missions on a 600-mile route that ran through the territory on a vertical line.

From New York Times