CALIFORNIO VOICES The Oral Memoirs of José María Amador and Lorenzo Asisara Translated and Edited by Gregorio Mora-Torres CALIFORNIO VOICES The Oral Memoirs of José María Amador and Lorenzo Asisara Translated and Edited by Gregorio Mora-Torres “These are invaluable sources of information about life in California during the nineteenth century from the unique perspective of the people who lived during that time.” Rose Marie Beebe, Santa Clara University “This book presents a very convincing and interesting narrative about Mexican California. Its frankness and honesty are refreshing.” Richard Griswold del Castillo, San Diego State University Cover illustration of José María Amador is courtesy of the Amador County Archives. Cover illustration of “Vue du Presidio San. Francisco,” by Ludovik Choris, courtesy of California Historical Society, FN-25092 In the early 1870s, Hubert H. Bancroft sent research assistants across California to record the memoirs of early Californios willing to recount their life experiences. Eighty-threeyear -old Don José María Amador detailed many aspects of his life from his childhood to his days as a “Forty-Niner” during the California Gold Rush. He vividly recounted his experience as a soldado de cuera at the Presidio of San Francisco and provided a detailed description of the reconnoitering expeditions that his company took into the interior of California, encountering local indigenous populations. Amador also dwelled on the major political events of California during the Mexican period. He was able to capture the sense of betrayal felt by other Californios towards the American invasion of their homeland, when their own leaders abandoned them rather than rally them in defense of their country. With bitterness, he described the widespread confiscation by Anglo-Americans of the Californios ’ goods, livestock, and properties. During one interview, Amador invited his friend, Lorenzo Asisara, a former neophyte from Mission Santa Cruz, to recount his life during the mission days. Asisara described the harsh life and mistreatment that the Indians faced from the priests. Both the Amador and Asisara narratives were used as sources in Bancroft’s writing but never published themselves. Gregorio MoraTorres has now rescued them from obscurity and presents their voices in English translation (with annotations) and in the original Spanish. Scholars of California and Mexican American history as well as Spanish language teachers and students will find value in this bilingual edition of a revealing text. Number 3 in the Al Filo: Mexican American Studies Series Gregorio Mora-Torres received his Ph.D in Latin American history from the University of California at Irvine. He teaches in the Department of Mexican American Studies at San Jose State University. He has published articles on Northern Mexico, U.S-Mexican Borderlands, and Chicano History and is presently researching the history of Mexicans in Northern California during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. CALIFORNIO VOICES The Oral Memoirs of José María Amador and Lorenzo Asisara Mora-Torres $29.95 CALIFORNIO VOICES 1 Californio Voices FOB 1/26/05 2:46 PM Page i [18.218.184.214] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 21:16 GMT) Soldado de cuera, reprinted by permission of Museo de América, Madrid 1 Californio Voices FOB 1/26/05 2:46 PM Page ii ...