The Stories Behind Early California Speaks
(Some presentations are available in Spanish and English)
Andres Cota
A member of the original expedition that formed Mission San Diego de Alcala. Cota speaks as a retired soldier. As a rancher he speaks about the make-up of the expedition and their goals for coming to California. His reflections date back to the late 1700s.
Bartolo Rizzio
An Italian immigrant and a toy maker by trade who came to San Diego and became the first toy maker in California. Rizzio explains why he came west and describes some of his experiences in the middle 1800s.
Joaquin Murrieta
The real-life bandido on which the legend of Zorro was built. Murrieta’s true story was the result of many historical events from the middle 1800s.
Bonifacio Lopez
A third generation Californio, Lopez speaks about the significant cattle industry that developed in California in the early 1800s and the impact it had on the region which continued for more than a century.
Leonardo Cota
Cota served as a captain in the Mexican military during the Mexican-American War and shares his perspective about and following the Battle of San Pasqual in the 1840s.
Juan Ramon Cota
As an older man, Cota recalls when he was a teenager and witnessed the most famous gunfight in Old Town San Diego. The gunfight took place during the California Gold Rush between a group of men from Australia and the Sherriff in 1852.
Maria De La Encarnacion Ortega
Maria recounts her experience as a woman in California during the 1800s. Typical of the times, California women married multiple times because their husbands died before them. California was more liberal about the societal role of women than either Mexico or the USA during that time period and she reveals some of the different standards for women during the middle 1800s.
Wyatt Earp
After leaving Arizona, Earp came to live in San Diego. He tells of his experiences coming to establish a business in California outside of law enforcement in the late 1880s.
Story Teller
This is a non-specific person who tells stories about early California. Customized presentations done for specific events would be presented by the Story Teller. The time frame is open ended depending upon the story. No study guides are available for these stories.