5 Things You Should Know About California’s 19th Century Maritime History

California is my home state. (Ironic, that I study the history of Virginia for Civil War studies, eh?) California played a significant role in 19th Century American Maritime History. Part of California’s role had to do with its location.

West Coast of the United States, bordered by the Pacific Ocean.

When California was a Mexican province, its people started welcoming the American merchant ships. When California became a state in 1850, the gold rush brought thousands to the west coast. California’s location also made it a gateway state for immigrants and a last port before a ship set off across the Pacific Ocean.

Today we’ve rounded up five important aspects of California’s maritime history of the 19th Century. We’re keeping it simple for the sake of time, but feel free to add comments if you have more information to contribute. Continue reading

With Gladness: California Ranchos

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California is my native state. I was born, raised, and still live here. It’s sort of ironic that the focus of my history studies are on places, events, and people thousands of miles away…especially when I have such wonderful history “in my own backyard.” What can I say?

Truly, I appreciate and enjoy California history, so when I was planning the short stories to write and feature in With Gladness, I knew I wanted one of the stories to be set on a California Rancho. The “classic era” of the California Ranchos was during the 1820’s and 1830’s, but I set the story in 1848. Why? It was a time of conflict and change.

Today’s blog post explores more of the history behind the short story “A Light In The Window.” Continue reading