Product Description
A striking feature of California is the frequency with which its natural landmarks and cities are named for Christian saints. Many place names are traceable to the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Spanish navigators, soldiers, and friars who christened the geographical sites they crossed and the missions and presidios they founded as they sought to secure California under Spanish rule. These explorers and the settlers who followed them often named sites for the saint whose feast day fell on the day the location was named.

The authors highlight the appearances of more than ninety saints' names--from San Agustin to San Ysidro--in present-day California. A sketch of the historical origin for each place name is followed by a brief overview of the life of the saint for whom it is named. This handy little volume will be a valued source for anyone interested in the fascinating history of the Golden State. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A clever and attractive little book!
When I moved to Southern California a decade ago, I was struck by the prevalence of saints' names used for communities and geographical features out here.For those who know something about Counter-Reformation piety or the Franciscan Order, some of these make obvious sense; others are far more obscure.

This charming little book explains all these names and tells the stories of the saints they represent: some well known, others quite obscure.Readers will spend many hours enjoying this book and now and then exclaiming "So that's why that place is called that!"

Saints alive!Classy, elegant little book
Saints of California is a remarkably readable compendium of saints whose names appear all over California, including cities, mountains, rivers, etc.Ever wonder who was Santa Barbara?Santa Ynez?San Luis Obispo?You'll find them here, along with an illustration of the saint, drawn from photos of art, statuary and other historic art works.Published by the Getty Museum in L.A. (the city's name is much longer than "The Angels" implied by the common useage--you can look it up!), this elegant and classy little book is well suited for anyone's bookshelf, as well as an ideal gift. ... Read more

Product Description
First published in 1994 and now available again, thisSpanish Borderlands classic recounts Jesuit colonization of the OldCalifornia, the peninsula now known as Baja California. Jesuitmissionaries founded their first settlement in 1697 andunintentionally created a Hispanic society that outlived the missionsand their Indian converts. The author brings to light Jesuitmissionization and culture, European-Indian contacts, mission andpresidio operations, family social life, the unique peninsulareconomy, and the Jesuit expulsion. Four appendices provide data onSpanish kings, royal officials, Jesuit personnel and vistors, andfounders of pre-1768 peninsular California families. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Definitive and Fascinating
When missionaries came to colonize California, it was to Baja California "Antigua California" that they came. This is the story of the Jesuits who persevered in a barren, waterless, resource poor place. But the really great thing about the book is that it is the whole story of the pioneer mission period: it is also the story of the aboriginal peoples who were the targets of the Jesuits, and of the people (mostly Mexican) whom the Jesuits hired and brought along to handle and create daily life-soldiers, sailors, artisans, laborers. For once, a comprehensive history truly is. Using original eighteenth century materials (church records, diaries, letters, reports) the author has tracked down the movement of individuals, their genealogies, their careers, their contributions. More than most, it is a book of portraits of real people, pieced together sympathetically from scattered and scanty records. For a scholar, the book is eminently useful: full of maps, chronological tables of people and places, explanations of systems and bureaucracies. For the history buff, it is a dream of readability and detail. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
The January 1848 discovery of gold nuggets in the SouthFork of the American River started a rush to the foothills of theSiera Nevada that lasted more than two decades.The tale of gold forthe taking was told and retold in a multitude of tongues and onseveral continets.Jews from many lands and speaking many languageswere among the thousands of individuals who made the difficult journeyto seek a new life of economic, political, and social freedom in thenew American West.

Nestled in the spectacular California Gold Rush Country are sevenpioneer Jewish cemeteeries, preserved as historic sites and dedicatedto the memory of these Gold Rush pioneers.As you travel historicRoute 49 and study the worn inscriptions on these gravestones, youwill discover evidence of Jewish community life in these Gold Rushtowns--pioneer family ties, the high rate of infant mortality,membership in local organizations, and in a few cases, the violence ofthe frontier.

This easy-to-use guide is a must for all who enjoy traveling in theroutes of the past, finding evidence of communities long gone.Yourjourny will be made easier with maps, extensive illustrations, walkingtours of the cemeteries, and a suggested three-day visit to the GoldCountry. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting historical story
Ms. Morris has thoroughly researched and updated the Levinson book, Jews in the California Gold Rush, with maps and the names of all persons buried in these pioneer Jewish cemeteries, a little known story in California.Personal stories of the Jewish communities which flourished in the Gold Rush era and the small, almost unknown cemeteries is very interesting, and this small volume reads quite well and is an excellent guide to the cemeteries. ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: Chicago, Standard Genealogical Pub. Co.Publication date: 1901Subjects: California -- BiographyNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Product Description
Western Times and Water Wars chronicles more than a hundred years of tumultuous events in the history of California's Owens Valley. From the pioneer conquest of the native inhabitants to the infamous destruction of the valley's agrarian economy by water-hungry Los Angeles, this legendary setting is a microcosm of the development of the American West. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A little too academic for me.
The author is an historian and proud of it.I was reading this to get a better feel for the history of the "Rape of the Owens Valley" by the L.A. water wizards.I got the history I was looking for, but it was packaged in a form that made it harder to digest.The author was much too concerned with showing off his vocabulary and "dissing" other historians' views.He cleary had his own academic agenda and it got in the way of communicating.Still, the book gave me what I was looking for and it was worth the read. ... Read more

Product Description
The Los Angeles, California Histories book collection is a group of 27 books that detail the history of Los Angeles - primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of the books are illustrated; showcasing specific events relating to key points in the history and development of Los Angeles during this period as well as details of some of its most important and influential figures.This DVD runs on all Windows and Macintosh computers. You must have a web browser and Adobe Acrobat Reader - (available for free download if you do not have it installed on your computer.) The book index is organized in an HTML menu that is compatible with all browsers and the books themselves are in PDF format to allow them to be universally accessed. All books on this DVD are searchable and printable. ... Read more

Product Description
Well received by critics when first published in 1941, The Cattle on a Thousand Hills describes Southern California in its transition from a cattle frontier of Mexican rule and culture to an agricultural American community on the eve of great industrial and urban expansion. The story includes the conversion of great grazing ranchos into farms and settlements, the gradual displacement of frontier violence and instability by a more restrained, law-abiding society, and the impact of Anglo-Saxon customs and institutions upon the pastoral life of the Spanish-Californians. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Southern California Cattle Ranching
Amazing book describing the life of the cattle ranches from the beginning of Spanish settlement of Alta California to its end in the 18880's. Covers the life of the ranch hands and ranch owners. The economic changes over this time. Enough names, dates and prices to compare the changes, but not so many it reads like a text book. Massive number of references for those who plan to prepare a report.

Limits itself to the specific time period and location. NORTHAMERICAN CATTLE-RANCHING FRONTIERS by Terry G. Jordan covers the entire history of cattle from before Columbus to the present day for all of North America. It focuses on the cattle, not the life of the Ranchos like the present book. ... Read more