Juan Bautista de Anza led the Spanish colonizing expedition in 1775-76 that opened a trail from Arizona to California and established a presidio at San Francisco Bay. Franciscan missionary Fray Pedro Font accompanied Anza. As chaplain and geographer, Font kept a detailed daily record of the expedition's progress that today is considered one of the fundamental documents of exploration in the American Southwest. This edition is the most complete account of the Anza expedition and a foundational primary source in California and Southwest history.
Juan Bautista de Anza led the Spanish colonizing expedition in 1775-76 that opened a trail from Arizona to California and established a presidio at Sa...
In the early nineteenth century, Russia established a colony in California that lasted until the Russian-American Company sold Fort Ross and Bodega Bay to John Sutter in 1841. This annotated collection of Russian accounts of Alta California, many of them translated here into English from Russian for the first time, presents richly detailed impressions by visiting Russian mariners, scientists, and Russian-American Company officials regarding the environment, people, economy, and politics of the province. Gathered from Russian archival collections and obscure journals, these testimonies...
In the early nineteenth century, Russia established a colony in California that lasted until the Russian-American Company sold Fort Ross and Bodega Ba...