We’ll see you at our next annual celebration July, 2011!
Did you know that California was declared part of the United States, right here in Monterey? In this special event, Commodore John Drake Sloat, Commander of the American Naval Forces in the Pacific, returns to commemorate his initial landing in Monterey Harbor, on July 7, 1846. The Commodore’s landing in Monterey is one of the most important events in American history and resulted in California and much of the West becoming part of the United States.
Thanks to all of this year’s wonderful participants! The 2010 Sloat Landing Ceremony included music provided by the Monterey Community Band, attendance of the Joint Service Color Guard, and details from both the Navy and Marine Corps who raised the 28-star flag. Dignitaries included senior leadership from the Defense Language Institute, Naval Postgraduate School, US Coast Guard and Monterey State Historic Park. The City of Monterey Mayor, Chuck Della Sala, was also in attendance. Captain Herschel Loomis, USN (Ret.), dressed in an 1800 period naval uniform as Commodore Sloat, and read the original proclamation given at the Harbor of Monterey in 1846.
John Drake Sloat was born in 1787 during the American Revolution. When John was 19 years old he received a Midshipman’ commission in the Navy and went to sea. Following years at sea, which included being a party to a plan to assist Napoleon in escaping from the British, he rose to the rank of Captain and in 1845, at the age of 63, was assigned as Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Squadron which brought him to the shores of Monterey. 
With his landing and the reading of the Proclamation and Order, Monterey passed without bloodshed into the hands of the United States. As history reports, later that day, July 7, 1846, over one hundred Marines, many of them with musical instruments, paraded down Calle Principal, then the main street, playing ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy.’
Monterey History and Art Association has commemorated this event annually for 79 years, except during World War II.
For further information, please email events@montereyhistory.org or call (813) 372-2608 Ext. *813
