Cheryl Anne StappApr 193 minServing California by SeaIn the Age of Sail, not everyone who entered California’s harbors came to settle. In the early 1820s, the ships of many nations began...
Cheryl Anne StappNov 10, 20213 minLand Laws: Land Grants vs. HomesteadsDuring the centuries it belonged to Spain, and the few decades it was a province of Mexico, California had no homestead laws that gave...
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 StappMay 5, 20215 minSo Many Flags Over California Over the centuries many flags have flown over California soil: the flags of nations, explorers, military units, trading companies…even a...
Cheryl Anne StappJun 10, 20202 minChasing Horse ThievesHorse thieves harassed Californians for well over 100 years. Horse stealing began in the late 18th century, when Spanish missionaries and...
Cheryl Anne StappApr 2, 20202 minPegleg's Lost MineFew things inflame men’s imaginations as the idea of a hidden fortune in gold— so the tale of Pegleg Smith and his lost gold mine has...
Cheryl Anne StappFeb 12, 20201 minMexican Pioneer Don Ignacio MartinezMartinez, California, and the adjacent town of Pinole, date their names, indeed their very existence, back to the days of Mexican rule....
Cheryl Anne StappDec 4, 20191 minSacramento's First SettlerSwiss immigrant John Augustus Sutter arrived in the Sacramento Valley in 1839, when California was still a province of Mexico. As a...
Cheryl Anne StappOct 23, 20191 minYankee Ships Capture Pacific TradeShortly after the close of the American Revolution, Boston whalers began navigating in California waters, hunting the prized sea otter....
Cheryl Anne StappOct 16, 20192 minPattie's Tall TaleAre tall tales accepted as fact just because the story is published in a memoir—and therefore, “must be” true? Consider the smallpox...
Cheryl Anne StappSep 18, 20191 minCalifornia's Original Southern BorderDuring the three hundred-plus years Spain claimed ownership of California by right of conquest, Spain’s official religion took a part in...
Cheryl Anne StappSep 12, 20191 minThe Republic of Mexico Acquires CaliforniaMexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821—in general (though the specifics were different) for much the same political and...