Cheryl Anne StappApr 62 minThe Russian RiverIt’s called the Russian River because there were Russian settlements on the river itself and at other nearby sites from 1812 to 1841....
Cheryl Anne StappNov 3, 20213 minEarly & Ongoing Partition TroublesCalifornia’s north-south cultural split began as early as 1821, the year Mexico won its independence from Spain and acquired the province...
Cheryl Anne StappAug 25, 20212 minDining at an Outback OutpostIn August 1839, after several days of sailing upstream on the Sacramento River, a Swiss citizen named John Sutter arrived in the...
Cheryl Anne StappAug 18, 20212 minGolden State CheeseThere is no doubt that Americans have a passion for cheese: in snacks, sandwiches and main dishes. Why, Crayola even named one of its...
Cheryl Anne StappJan 20, 20212 minLand of Geographic ExtremesCalifornia’s odd shape permits its northern port city of Eureka to be the most westward city in the continental United States—yet its...
Cheryl Anne StappOct 21, 20203 minThe Old Rancho del PasoThis Sacramento Valley ranch is long gone, but its colorful history is legend…and its fame still reverberates in the names of streets,...
Cheryl Anne StappSep 16, 20202 minDressing the StonesToday, commercial mills are complex, high-tech installations. Long ago, however, skilled artisans hand-carved granite millstones into...
Cheryl Anne StappJul 15, 20202 minThe Next Big Gold StrikeSeveral weeks elapsed after the January 1848 gold discovery before people started believing it was genuine…and then events started...