Battle of Olompali
| Battle of Olompali | |||||||||
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| Part of the Bear Flag Revolt | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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California Republic
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 Mexico
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Henry Ford |
Joaquín de la Torre
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 20 militia | 50 infantry, 20 irregulars | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 0 killed, unknown wounded |
3 killed, 6 wounded |
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The Battle of Olómpali was fought on June 24, 1846, in present-day Marin County, California. It was the only battle of the Bear Flag Revolt. The site is now a part of the Olompali State Historic Park.
The skirmish began when a detachment of General José Castro’s Alta California army forces from the Presidio of Monterey, under the command of Joaquín de la Torre, headed north in reaction to the declaration of an independent California Republic in Sonoma ten days earlier. Near Olómpali (north of present-day Novato) they met up with a militia group that had set out from Sonoma in hopes of rescuing two rebels who had been captured and, as they had learned the previous day, killed.
During the Bear Flag Revolt, on June 24, 1846, the Battle of Olómpali occurred when a violent skirmish broke out between a group of American Bear Flaggers from Sonoma, led by Henry Ford, and a Mexican army force of 50 from Monterey, under the command of Joaquin de la Torre. The opposing forces met at Rancho Olompali, granted to Coast Miwok chief Camilo Ynitia in 1843.
On about June 16, William Todd was dispatched from Sonoma to Bodega Bay with an unnamed companion to obtain gunpowder from American settlers in that area. On June 18, Bears Thomas Cowie and George Fowler were sent to Rancho Sotoyome (near current-day Healdsburg, California) to pick up a cache of gunpowder from Moses Carson, brother of Frémont's scout Kit Carson.
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