The History of Alta California: A Memoir of Mexican California

The first complete English translation of Osio's 1851 memoir of Mexican California, this account describes day-to-day life of the common people in what is now central and northern California from 1821 to 1846, before the Mexican-American War--a tense period marked by small skirmishes resulting from land and power disputes between the Anglos and the Mexicans. This is a daily account, so there is a lot of detail-perhaps more than the general reader really wants. Osio does have a readable style, however, and can write vividly, as in these observations about some corrupt Californios and Mexican traitors: ""Senor Stockton, a patriotic and upright man, would have hanged them like a bunch of grapes from every yardarm of his frigate's main mast."" In their comprehensive introduction to the volume and the author, the editors note that this is not a structured record, complete with historical perspective. Still, Osio's first-person perspective and quotidian subject matter flesh out current understanding of the place and period. Illustrations not seen by PW. (June)