Mission San Francisco Solano, the last and northernmost mission, was also the only one built after Mexican independence. The Governor wanted a Mexican presence north of the San Francisco Bay to keep out the Russians who had established Fort Ross. In July 1835 Mission San Francisco Solano was taken over by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, the commissioner of the lands, at the age of 27. At first he gave some of the lands to the native mission workers as ordered. But later he transferred all the land and buildings to his own Rancho Petaluma Adobe of 44,000 acres in the Petaluma Valley. Vallejo laid out the town of Sonoma in 1835. He had a large plaza made in front of the old Mission chapel. But he then took roof tiles from the church and put them on his own house. Now in very poor shape, the Mission church was torn down. In need of a church for the town he made, in 1841 Vallejo had a small chapel built where the original parish church had been. On June 14, 1846, the town of Sonoma was taken over by American settlers who declared a "California Republic." General Vallejo was taken prisoner and the Bear Flag was raised. The Bear Flag flew over Sonoma until July 9, 1846, when California became part of USA.