Rancho life in early California involved large extended families living together and eating meals prepared by Indian cooks that consisted of beef, tortillas, peppers, and fruits. Most people were illiterate. Thomas Larkin was instrumental in encouraging California to become a US state as the first American consul. John Fremont helped lead the Bear Flag Revolt and raised the first American flag. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ceded Mexican territory including California to the US. James Marshall's 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill sparked the California Gold Rush, causing the population to boom from 10,000 to 255,000 as men sought riches.