In the early decades of the nineteenth century, growing numbers of people came to Alta California. The routes they took and the lives they established changed the history of the region. Immigration by Sea After independence from Spain, the Mexican government relaxed trade and immigration rules. In the 1820s and 1830s, small numbers of English-speaking […]
California History
“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.”
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.
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 Boyle Heights).
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…
The Castaway of Whalers Cove
After coming to Mexican California in 1822 on a whaling ship, Englishman William Richardson decided to stay.
Saving the Stories of La Raza
Not long ago I was invited to attend a gathering at a trendy Mexican restaurant in downtown San José, California. As I walked inside, I noticed an eclectic group of professionals, from teachers to engineers, journalists to professors. The bond that united everyone present was a passion for the history of a very influential corner […]
Origins of Mexican Independence Part 3: Breaking Away
With a foreign occupier in control of Spain and the royal family in exile in France, people in the Spanish territories in the Americas found themselves at a crossroads.
Salinan Tribe Facts
There were probably as many as 21 Salinan villages in the extending just south of Mission La Soledad to the north of San Luis Obispo.
Origins of Mexican Independence: Part 2 of a Series
With a French family on the Spanish throne, two events had an irreversible effect on Spain’s relationship with her colonies.
The Chumash at a Glance
Chumash is the name given to the original inhabitants of the central coast of California, from Morro Bay to Malibu, and three of the Channel Islands.
The Castro Adobe: A Californio Landmark Restored
If you want to see a precious California landmark in the process of being saved for future generations, mark your calendar to visit the Joaquín Castro Adobe near Watsonville.
Mission San Juan Bautista Facts
Acjachemen (Juaneño) Tribe Facts
Origins of Mexican Independence (Part 1)
Ohlone Tribe Facts
Other names: Costanoan Home region: Greater San Francisco Bay region, including Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito and northern Monterey Counties Mission affiliations: San Carlos Borromeo, San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores), Santa Clara de Asís, Santa Cruz, San José Historical background: Ohlone is a name used to describe a large number of diverse groups that […]
Luiseño Tribe Facts
Other name: Payómkawichum or Payómkowishum; Quechnajuichom Home region: San Diego County, north toward San Onofre, south toward Escondido Mission affiliations: San Luis Rey de Francia Historical background: Quechnajuichom is the Spanish spelling of the name that Pablo Tac, a nineteenth-century Luiseño ethnographer, used to describe the people who lived in the area around today’s San Luis […]
Maidu Tribe Facts
Home region: Lower reaches of the Yuba River, the American River and the Feather River, to the east bank of the Sacramento and the Sierra crest. Mission affiliations: San Francisco de Asís Historical background: The Maidu people occupied the areas of the northern Sierra, and down into the Sacramento Valley. Maidu contact with the Spanish most […]
Kumeyaay Tribe Facts
Other names Tipai, Ipai, Diegueño, Luiseño Home region San Diego County, northern Baja California Mission affiliations San Diego de Alcalá, San Luis Rey de Francia Historical Background Kumeyaay (Spanish pronunciation: Kamia) is a name given to two closely-related groups, the Tipai and the Ipai, whose ancestral territory encompasses much of the far southwest of California. […]
Coast Miwok Tribe Facts
Home region: Marin and southern Sonoma Counties Mission affiliations: San Francisco de Asís, San Rafael, San Francisco Solano Historical background: Speakers of the Miwok language in northwestern Alta California were divided into Lake Miwok and Coast Miwok. Both Francis Drake in 1579 and Sebastián Rodríguez Cermeño in 1595 spoke of encountering the Coast Miwok. In addition […]