A landscape of stories.
A history still unfolding.
Discover Los Californios and their influence on California through history, everyday life and traditions shared across generations.
An imagined California landscape: a winding river, poppy-covered hills and adobe homes. An invitation to explore, not a record of a particular place.
Meet Los Californios
Californio commonly describes Spanish-speaking residents of California with roots in the Spanish and Mexican periods, and their descendants, like me. I am Jamie Della, the daughter of the Peralta Family that co-owned Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana in modern Orange County.
Their story includes the Indigenous Acjachemen and Tongva whose homelands, labor and knowledge shaped also shaped Southern California in a tapestry of culture, family, and history.
History
Follow changing governments, ranch economies and struggles over land.
Culture
Look closely at language, households, architecture and everyday skills.
Festivities
Discover how music, dancing and gatherings brought people together.
Big questions for young historians
Build a timeline, examine a landscape and compare different accounts of the past. Our fourth-grade learning sequence makes room for curiosity and careful observation.
Follow the evidence
How do we study cultural influence? Explore a proposed academic inquiry that connects historical sources with questions about memory, identity and change.