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The Portolá Expedition: From Baja California to San Francisco
The Portolá Expedition was the first Spanish land exploration of the California coast, and led to the discovery of the San Francisco…
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California in 1834: The Memoirs of Carlos N. Híjar
Carlos N. Híjar was eight years old when he came to California from Jalisco, Mexico, in 1834. Four decades later, he described…
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The Coast Miwok: People of the Northern California Coast (Part 2)
Read Part 1 here. First Encounters with Europeans Early Explorations The Coast Miwok people’s encounters with Europeans date back to the sixteenth…
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The Coast Miwok: People of the Northern California Coast (Part 1)
The Coast Miwok are indigenous people of the area north of San Francisco Bay. Coast Miwok Territory The name “Coast Miwok” refers…
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Three Californianas You Should Know
The early history of California is made up of many remarkable women. Fortunately, some of them left behind stories that give us…
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Mission San Francisco Solano: 10 Interesting Facts
2023 marked the 200th anniversary of the founding of Mission San Francisco Solano. Nestled in the Valley of the Moon, in the…
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The Rise and Fall of Captain Folsom
During his short life, William Alexander Leidesdorff accumulated great wealth. Yet, what happened to his wealth after he died is a story…
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San Francisco’s Overlooked Pioneer: William Alexander Leidesdorff
Although little known today, the name of William Alexander Leidesdorff is enshrined on streets in San Francisco and a town along the…
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The Luiseño of Southern California
The Luiseño people are an indigenous group of coastal Southern California with a unique language and culture. The introduction of the mission…
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Routes to Mexican California
In the early decades of the nineteenth century, growing numbers of people came to Alta California. The routes they took and the…
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The Legend of Chief Solano
“He was of gigantic stature, standing six feet seven inches–without his stockings, for he had none. And he was large all over…
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Todavía Estamos Aquí (We are Still Here)
246 years ago a group of some two hundred people arrived at the Presidio of San Francisco after an arduous trek from…
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How We Almost Lost El Camino Real (and the Women Who Saved It)
Imagine California with no landmarks from before 1848, no structures dating to the Spanish and Mexican periods. How different might the state…
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“The Americanos Played for Keeps”
In his memoirs about life in rancho era California, José Jesús López describes how his father joined the "California Army."
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Bad for the Lungs but Wonderful for Memories
If doors and windows were primitive in Californio homes, you can also imagine that furniture was not much better.
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Life in Rancho Era Los Angeles: Hardships and Joys
José Jesús López grew up in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in the 1850s, in the neighborhood of *El Paredón Blanco* (today's…
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The Forgotten Lives of a California Adobe
Preserving historical landmarks means more than just saving old buildings. It often means preserving the link to the lives lived there.
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Tiburcio Vásquez and Vaquero Vengeance
Shortly after the end of the Mexican-American War, William Rich Hutton recalled visiting Doña Angustias de la Guerra Jimeno in Monterey...
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The Castaway of Whalers Cove
After coming to Mexican California in 1822 on a whaling ship, Englishman William Richardson decided to stay.
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The Bear Flag Revolt: California’s Insurgency
The Bear Flag Revolt is one of the central episodes in the events leading to the U.S. annexation of California.
