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The Levitating Cross at Monterey and the Beginnings of California

By Damian Bacich

The California frontier is full of reports of the marvelous or miraculous events that defy scientific explanation. Historian Skyler Reidy has been investigating curious stories of the mission era, and he helps us make sense of them. Skyler Reidy Skyler Reidy is a PhD candidate in the history department at the University of Southern California. […]

Filed Under: Missions, Podcast Tagged With: Crespí, Junipero Serra, Mission San Antonio de Padua, Monterey, Portolá

Native Americans of Southern California: the Kumeyaay

By Damian Bacich

The Kumeyaay are indigenous people who live on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, in southwestern California and northwestern Baja California. They traditionally spoke languages related to each other, and many were connected to Mission San Diego de Alcalá. The Kumeyaay Name In times past, because the Kumeyaay were spread over such a large territory that […]

Filed Under: Native American Life Tagged With: Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, Kumeyaay, Mission San Diego de Alcala, Portolá, San Diego

Exploration and Settlement of California (Part 2 of 2)

By Damian Bacich

Juan Bautista de Anza

For most of the 17th and 18th centuries, Spanish ships dominated the Pacific. But her rivals Russia and England were busy contesting that dominance. Who would be the first to settle California?

Filed Under: Exploration, Settlement Tagged With: Anza, Bering, Cook, Gálvez, Junipero Serra, Portolá

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