Dawn to Dusk of the Californio Sun
A Deep History of the Californios from 1769 to 1894
I started writing this project roughly a decade ago, on a quest to fill in the scattered history of Hispanio California, as documented in newspapers, books, journals, letters, and interviews from 1769 to 1894.
In this book, Dawn to Dusk of the Californio Sun, we look at the rise and fall of the Californios, inspired by historians Leonard Pitt, Hubert Howe Bancroft, and others who documented the Mexican American history of the great state of California. I was inspired by the power of history in the hands of the people, as it was with Hubert Howe Bancroft, Harris Newmark, Major Horace Bell, Francisco P. Ramírez, and others whom I sourced for this project.
In my quest to create for the public good with OER (Open Educational Resources) and to retain complete creative control, I decided the best path was to create the work on Substack while also recording it for use as lectures and podcasts for both my students and the public. As a professor, I am a public servant, and I thought I should live by the rules I profess to the best of my ability. I also hope to make history more interesting with modern AI, so the images provided have been enhanced — though the work of this project was built on hours of dedicated, meticulous research, late nights writing, and now, here it is for the world to see.
Professor V. Romo, the Alta Historian
