All books using the keywords: Raye C. Ringholz

Although the town of Mayfield existed on the South Bay below San Francisco a mere seventy years, it stands as a kind of microcosm of its time. Before Europeans began to explore the pristine region, it was covered with oak forests, lush grasslands, herds of wild animals and was inhabited by a people that lived off the land. Then came the Jesuit missionaries who established religious colonies and introduced domestic plants and animals to the area. This was the beginning, but the nucleus of Mayfield began in the period between 1841 and 1853, after the Mexican government granted land ownership to individuals and ceded Alta California to the United States. Hordes of adventurers, gold ...