A History of California: The Spanish Period

Read by Steven Seitel

If you have ever wondered why Spain (and not Japan, which was so so much better positioned to do it) was first to “settle” the Golden State, this book is for you. Professor Chapman has produced a comprehensive and highly entertaining popular history of “the Californias,” beginning with a nod to geography and the native races and carrying on through to the arrival of Old Glory in 1848. What might in less capable hands have proved a heavy historical loaf to digest is lightened and leavened with the yeast of “interesting incident” throughout. Consider the plight of the newly-appointed Governor of Alta California, Pedro Fages, whose own wife, the fiery Catalan Doña Eulalia Callis, who, when she wasn't giving away to the “naked indians” all of her own clothes (and the Governor's, too) secretly petitioned the authorities in Mexico for his removal from office. The author relates at some length the romantic story of beautiful Conceptión Argüello, who chose to wait faithfully all her life for the return of the rascally Razánov the Russian, with whom she had fallen in love. The tragic conclusion of this affair is touchingly imagined in an extended quote from the famous poem by Bret Harte.(1) But not all is frivolity. The historical meat is here as well, in breadth and in detail. The author's stated purpose is “to show that California history is important as well as interesting,—that the great Anza expedition of 1775-1776 and the Yuma massacre of 1781 demand inclusion in any comprehensive history of the United States,—that California, while it indeed has a romantic history to tell, has also a great deal more than that to contribute to the cherished traditions of the American people.” (Preface) (1) Conceptión de Argüello. by Bret Harte, Presidio de San Francisco, 1800. - Summary by Steven Seitel

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M4B Audiobook 00-11 (168MB)

M4B Audiobook 12-23 (185MB)

M4B Audiobook 24-35 (202MB)

queue_music Chapters 36

1 00 - Preface 9:06
2 01 - The Effect of Geography upon California History 18:51
3 02 - The Indians 29:57
4 03 - The Chinese along the Pacific Coast in Ancient Times 24:45
5 04 - The Japanese Opportunity in the Pacific in the Early Modern Period 30:26
6 05 - Cortés and California 28:42
7 06 - Origin and Application of the Name California 37:17
8 07 - The Northern Mystery and the Discovery of Alta California 34:26
9 08 - The Manila Galleon 34:33
10 09 - Drake and New Albion 39:16
11 10 - Gali and Rodríguez Cermenho 30:14
12 11 - Sebastián Vizcaíno 48:20
13 12 - The Overland Advance to the California Border, 1521-1687 37:33
14 13 - Sea Approaches from New Spain to California, 1615-1697 37:17
15 14 - The Jesuits in Baja California, 1697-1768 35:36
16 15 - Progress of the Idea of Overland Advance to the Californias, 1697-1765 56:17
17 16 - José de Gálvez 24:31
18 17 - The Spanish Occupation of Alta California 44:27
19 18 - The Pacification of Sonora 26:59
20 19 - The Precarious Footing of the Early Settlements in Alta California 26:52
21 20 - The Russian and English Agressions in the Pacific Northwest 35:50
22 21 - Antonio Bucareli 31:14
23 22 - Bucareli's Attention to the Local Problems of the Californias 26:33
24 23 - Juan Bautista de Anza 19:35
25 24 - The Founding of San Francisco 32:35
26 25 - The Commandancy General of the Frontier Provinces 33:21
27 26 - The Yuma Massacre 28:55
28 27 - The Aftermath 20:37
29 28 - Junípero Serra 29:50
30 29 - Fermín Francisco de Lasuén 48:23
31 30 - Spanish Californian Institutions 33:12
32 31 - The Romantic Period, 1782-1810 49:37
33 32 - Inland Explorations and Indian Wars, 1804-1823 48:58
34 33 - Era of the Wars of Independence, 1810-1822 40:38
35 34 - Under Mexican Governors, 1822-1835 43:32
36 35 - Waiting for Old Gloriy, 1835-1847 31:11