issued the proclamation for a general convention, which is itself a gem.
The delegates met in Monterey, at Colton Hall, on the 1st of September,
and organized on the 3d of September, 1849.

The convention was one of the keenest and most intelligent that ever
assembled for the fulfillment of a legislative responsibility. Six of
the delegates had resided in California less than six months, while only
twenty-one, exclusive of the seven native Californians, had resided here
for more than three years. The average age of all the delegates was 36
years. The debates of that convention should be familiar to every
citizen of this State. No Californian should be unfamiliar with the
great debate on what was to constitute the eastern boundary of the State
of California, a debate accompanied by an intensity of feeling which in
the end almost wrecked the convention. The dramatic scenes wrought by
the patriotism that saved the wrecking of the convention stand out in
bold relief. The constitution adopted by this convention was ratified
November 13, 1849, and, at the same election, an entire State and
legislative ticket, with two representatives in Congress, was chosen.
The senators and assemblymen elect met in San Jose on December 15, 1849.
On December 20, 1849, the State government of California was established
and Governor Peter H. Burnett was inaugurated as the first Governor of
the State of California, and soon thereafter William M. Gwin and John C.
Fremont were elected the first United States Senators of the State of
California. Notwithstanding the fact that there had never been any
territorial form of government, notwithstanding the fact that California
had not yet been admitted into the Union, these men were all elected as
members of the State government, and the United States Senators and
members of Congress started for Washington to help get the State
admitted.