Seven adobes once stood in the Pajaro Valley in the Monterey Bay area in 1850, among them those of the Castro, Amesti, Rodriguez, and Vallejo families. All are now gone, with the exception of the two-story Rancho San Andres Castro Adobe, a few miles north of Watsonville, California. The structure has great historical significance because it is the only surviving rancho hacienda of the Mexican Colonial Period. Even the adobe mounds and stone remnants of the other six adobes which remained for awhile are now gone. The chronological presentation given in this book covers a period from the early...

This story carries one through four generations of the Coleman family, beginning with Sam Coleman, who married his young wife, Jeannette Freer, in Illinois. They moved by wagon to Virginia before it split into the northern state of West Virginia and the southern state of Virginia. The Thurmond family with its 13 children is also followed through four generations. Much of the story is centered on the years that the Civil War was fought, some of its major battles, and activity in the vicinity of the border of the two Virginias. It also portrays the post-war lives of both heroes, James Willard...

This story takes place during the Gold Rush area of the mid-1850s. It begins in Holland when two young men, Hans and Johann, working in the tulip fields hear the news of the gold discovery in California and become interested in joining in on the rush to reach California and explore for gold. Prior to hearing about the gold discovery, they had contemplated traveling the world for adventure, but now decided to begin this adventure by heading for California and joining the gold seekers, making enough money so they could later have the means to travel more extensively. They eventually reach...

This book is about a POW, Ethan Gottschalk(Tex), and his experiences while imprisoned by the Japanese during World War II. It relates many of his experiences in the nine POW camps that he was imprisoned in, at Manila, Formosa and Japan. To reach these destinations he was transferred by what is usually known as Hell Ships. These in some cases were as bad as some of the POW camps. Many on these prisoners died during their travels and some were buried at sea.