California as a Latin nation?

What if CA (maybe including Baja, bits east, and so forth) was an independent Latin nation? What would its history have been like? Would it have done better than its brothers to the south, or would political instability have been inevitable?
 
Off the top of my head, I can think of two ways its history could go:

(1) The good way. The Central Valley is settled by small farmers right after the worst of the epidemics has hit the natives of the area. With not enough natives to exploit, the farmers have to do most of their own farming. The area develops like Costa Rica — a backwater to the Spanish, poor and isolated but also egalitarian and relatively peaceful. Eventually, of course, it would become a lot less poor.

(2) The bad way. Spaniards in the San Francisco Bay area discover gold early on. California's economy is built around imported slave labor and wealth extraction. At this point, its only hope is for the British to take over.
 
What if CA (maybe including Baja, bits east, and so forth) was an independent Latin nation? What would its history have been like?

If this is a world where the USA still exists, California will have to deal with Manifest Destiny and a relentless drive on the part of the Anglo settlers and the United States government to stretch their country from sea to shining sea. This is going to cause problems on the international level, and much of its history would be taken up in diplomatic, economic, and military competition, conflict, and cooperation with the United States.
 
Idea: they play off Mexico against the U.S., and the Yanquis end up with the Chihuahua-Sonora route. Also to ensure independence, Monterey sells off Baja California so the Americans get another route to the Pacific. So we have Alta California in Hispanic hands, while Baja is Anglo-owned.
 
Top