Offending God, the king, and the country
Map of California circa 1650
Continuing on in the early history of Spanish exploration in California . . .
After a few excursions by sea between 1542-43 (Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo) and 1602-03 (Sebastian Vizcaino), the Spanish more or less left Alta California alone until 1769
(Historical aside: Spanish… Continue reading
“California”
1533 edition of Amadis of Gaul
Kevin Starr agrees with HH Bancroft that the name “California” comes from a 16th century Spanish novel. Indeed, after explaining how in 1862 Edward H. Hale (author of “The Man Without a Country”) discovered the novel, translated it, and demonstrated how it must… Continue reading
California History
Last year I spent a lot of time researching California’s El Camino Real. I was trying to discover the original route, hoping to retrace it on a bike ride with my fourth-grade son, Kazu. What I eventually discovered was that ECR is a fiction, but more about that elsewhere. The point here is that in the process… Continue reading
Depredations
I just finished “A Fate Worse Than Death,” a book on Indian captivities in the 1800s. That is, white settlers (the authors did not cover Mexican captivities), primarily from Texas, taken as hostages by Native American raiders. The subject was interesting, but like a few other popular history books I’ve read, the writing was crappy. Continue reading
Every animal has just enough brains to tan its hide
I’ll bet you didn’t know that. I didn’t either. I’ve been reading about Plains Indians, and more specifically, about Indian abductions of white settlers in the early- to mid-1800s. Continue reading
