This Wine Country town is a big tourist destination, but it also left a prominent footprint on early California history. After overthrowing the Spanish government in 1823, the Mexican government issued a decree that all church properties be secularized. This included the Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma, recently established by Spanish priest Jose Altimira. Gen. Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo was sent from Monterey to confiscate the property, which he did; during his post he also founded the town of Sonoma around a central plaza, the Spanish model for cities in Mexico. Learn More...