Synopses & Reviews
Antonio Marandiacute;a Osioandrsquo;s
La Historia de Alta California was the first written history of upper California during the era of Mexican rule, and this is its first complete English translation. A Mexican-Californian, government official, and the landowner of Angel Island and Point Reyes, Osio writes colorfully of life in old Monterey, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and gives a first-hand account of the political intrigues of the 1830s that led to the appointment of Juan Bautista Alvarado as governor.
and#160;and#160;and#160; Osio wrote his History in 1851, conveying with immediacy and detail the years of the U.S.-Mexican War of 1846andndash;1848 and the social upheaval that followed. As he witnesses Californiaandrsquo;s territorial transition from Mexico to the United States, he recalls with pride the achievements of Mexican California in earlier decades and writes critically of the onset of U.S. influence and imperialism. Unable to endure life as foreigners in their home of twenty-seven years, Osio and his family left Alta California for Mexico in 1852.
and#160;and#160;and#160; Osioandrsquo;s account predates by a quarter century the better-known reminiscences of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and Juan Bautista Alvarado and the memoirs of Californios dictated to Hubert Howe Bancroftandrsquo;s staff in the 1870s. Editors Rose Marie Beebe and Robert M. Senkewicz have provided an accurate, complete translation of Osioandrsquo;s original manuscript, and their helpful introduction and notes offer further details of Osioandrsquo;s life and of society in Alta California.
Review
andldquo;The publication of narratives and chronicles of Californios is long overdue. Beebe and Senkewiczandrsquo;s faithful translation of
La Historia de Alta Californiaand#160; contributes to the recovery of long-neglected material by Latinos in the U.S. They are pioneers in a growing field and I am certain this will be a watershed work.andrdquo;andmdash;Rosaura Sandaacute;nchez, University of California, San Diego
About the Author
Rose Marie Beebe is professor of Spanish at Santa Clara University. Robert M. Senkewicz is professor of history at Santa Clara University. He is the author of
Vigilantes in Gold Rush San Francisco.