Description

Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis [Published date: 1949]. Hardcover, 351 pp ; 22 unnumbered pages of plates; illustrated with black-and-white photographs, drawings, and maps (including endpaper maps) ; 22 cm. First edition. In good+ condition/ no dust jacket. Red cloth-covered boards with gilt lettering and illustration on front and spine; light scuffing and soiling to covers with minor corner and spine-end wear. Binding tight. Pages clean and unmarked. NOT Ex-Library. A narrative history of California centered on the storied El Camino Real, the historic route linking the Spanish missions, presidios, and pueblos from San Diego to Sonoma. Corle organizes the work into five major chronological sections: Before the Highway... to 1769; Spanish Arcady, 1769 to 1821; Mexican Maze, 1821 to 1846; American Influx, 1846 to 1850; and The Thirty-first State of the Union, 1850 to the 20th century. Illustrated with period maps, mission photographs, and historical scenes, the book blends exploration history, mission development, political change, and cultural transformation. Contents include: The Unknown; Rodriguez Cabrillo; Sir Francis Drake; Galleons from Manila; The Long Wait; First, the Soldier; Then, the Priest; And Then Feudalism; My House Is Yours (But Not My Land); More Guests Arrive; Revolution!; Brief Honeymoon; "Double, Double Toil and Trouble"; The Battle of Cahuenga Pass; Adios; The Gringo; "A Bear Always Stands His Ground"; This Is War; Gold? That's Different!; Devil Take the Hindmost; Your Money or Your Life; Title, Title, Who's Got a Title?; Sunny Seventies Make Elegant Eighties; The Great God Progress; Twentieth Century; Appendix A; Appendix B; Bibliography; Acknowledgements; Index.