Baja Bernie
`Normal` Nomad Correspondent
Posts: 2962
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: Sunset Beach
Member Is Offline
Mood: Just dancing through life
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Most interesting
Just got a new , old book, recommended by a member of this board. Just wish more of us would recommend books so us newbie?s can increase our
knowledge.
The Mother of California by Arthur W North
Introduction
I was glad to improve an opportunity to read the manuscript of this work because it deals with a vast region at our very doors?a land whose coasts are
touched many times a year by steamers and whose northern mountains have been invaded by our miners; and yet, but yesterday, it was almost utterly
neglected as little known and as poorly mapped as many of the out-of-the-way corners of the world.
It was a pleasure to read Mr. North?s work which now comes before the public. It untangles and pieces together the fragmentary threads of the early
Spanish records and weaves them into a clear and consecutive narrative that makes the story of the great Peninsula vivid; it is permeated with the
knowledge and results which the author gained through his own careful investigations in the Peninsula.
Many readers will now learn for the first time that Lower California is not an utterly barren waste; that it is a tropical country with a salubrious
climate and many regions of luxuriant vegetation; that its northern and southern parts are utterly unlike one another and that rich resources about
that are certain to be developed.
This is a pioneer book in a new field?a record of our present knowledge and the history of an expansive region that has never been well known and has
long been misunderstood. It is a book that will be welcome not only by those interested in geographical research and in the history of California,
but by all who delight in the spirit of romance so interwoven in the history of Spanish America.
CYRUS C. ADAMS
New York City, October, 1907
Almost a hundred years have passed and I believe that most of us who love Baja still think of it in the same terms.?PARTICULARY IN THE SPIRIT OF
ROMANCE.
For those of you who wish to include this in your collections I purchased it at www.abbebooks.com for a total of $32.45
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64845
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Thank you Bernie!
The copy I have came to me from Choral Pepper... it is in fragile condition and I have not yet read it. The follow up book by North (Camp and Camino
in Lower California), I have read years ago and recently re-read parts of it concerning the Camino Real from Santa Maria south.
Of interest, North mentioned at Calamajue mission was Dick Daggett running a mining camp and ore mill in 1905 (can still be seen across the arroyo
from the mission).
Dick Daggett started his Baja life at Bahia de los Angeles and Las Flores (south of Camp Gecko) after jumping ship and hiding in a cave until his ship
left... Like Jimmy Smith, he went to San Ignacio to find a wife!
Dick's son (Dick Jr.) stayed on at L.A. Bay, worked for Papa Diaz and was the village mechanic. I remember him from my trip in 1967... He died two
years later and is burried at La Flores...
Dick Jr.'s son (Reuben) stayed on at Bahia and operates Daggett's camp.
Lot's of interesting stories in Baja!
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academicanarchist
Senior Nomad
Posts: 978
Registered: 9-7-2003
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Both are interesting
Both of North's books are interesting, and have important photos. He also wrote about the part of New York state where I used to live.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64845
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Mother of California c1908
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64845
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Camp and Camino in Lower California c1910 (shown is 1977 reprint).
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64845
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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A couple of North's photos from 100 years ago...
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64845
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Can you picture this as Ensenada on a wide sandy beach, and it was the capital of Baja then?
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Neal Johns
Super Nomad
Posts: 1687
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Lytle Creek, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: In love!
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Both books are winners, and are in the top left of my Baja bookcase with the others I like best.
My motto:
Never let a Dragon pass by without pulling its tail!
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Mike Humfreville
Super Nomad
Posts: 1148
Registered: 8-26-2003
Member Is Offline
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Neal, How are you doing in Lytle Creek with all the rains? keep hearing about your area and wondering, but we know you two as risk takers.
Keep us posted.
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Neal Johns
Super Nomad
Posts: 1687
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Lytle Creek, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: In love!
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No heavy rains here the last month, but the creek may yet rise! The TV makes it look real bad.
My motto:
Never let a Dragon pass by without pulling its tail!
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