Swamps and Marshes

The new school year is underway in the midst of heatwaves and drought. But this is California, and we know our history, so we shouldn’t be surprised, right?

For your enjoyment: a few items I came across about some lesser-known aspects of our history in California and the greater Southwest.

• "Nearly every house and farm over this immense region is gone. America has never before seen such desolation by flood." Sometimes we forget how much of the California landscape is not as it once was. During Spanish and Mexican times, the Central Valley (which we think of as mainly dry) was known as "Los Tulares" [The Tule Marshes], and an 1833 map of California by José María Narváez lists it as "Ciénegas y tulares" [Swamps and tule marshes]. And although it is prone to drought, floods — like the great one of 1862 — are a continual possibility. The devastation from the 1862 Central Valley flood is hard to imagine.

• "The gun that swung from the belt of her gingham dress assured her students they were safe." By all accounts, Olive Isbell was a force of nature and typified the ethos of the Anglo-Americans who came to Alta California in the 1840s. And although this article paints an intriguing picture of the first English-language school teacher in California, it gets some key points wrong: 1.) Olive and her American cohort were guests of the Mexican padre of Mission Santa Clara, who sheltered them at the mission despite the impending war with the U.S. 2.) The "Mexican Army" that resisted the U.S. invasion was mainly made up Californio ranchers and vaqueros organized into militias under local political leaders. And they weren’t attacking Mission Santa Clara.

• "There’s the large, never-explored mound representing the Presidio Comandante’s residence, as well as several cannon bastions, the 1792 gun battery, and a separate armory for storing munitions that has yet to be located, he says." How do you balance preservation and archaeology with accessibility? What if increasing visitor access to a historical site inadvertently destroys part of that very site?

• "One priest explained he saw lads carrying out the painting but assumed arrangements had been made for repairs and restorations." For years Americans have collected sacred art from Latin America. Did they know that much of it was stolen? At least this story has a happy ending.

• "It sounds crazy, but my brother Jeff and I felt like Jumuba was haunted." California 4th graders are encouraged to learn about Black pioneer Biddy Mason. This article discusses her life through the lens of personal memoir while touching on some of the historic ranchos of the Inland Empire.