Testimonios: Early California through the Eyes of Women, 1815–1848

When famed historian Hubert Howe Bancroft sent Thomas Savage, Henry Cerruti, and Vicente Perfecto Gómez out to gather the oral histories of the pre-American gentry of the new state of California, he didn’t count on one thing: the women. When the men weren’t available, Savage, Cerruti, and Gómez collected the stories of the women of the household, almost as an afterthought: these were archived at the University of California; some were never even translated into English…until now.

From the editors of the highly influential Lands of Promise and Despair, here are thirteen women’s first-hand accounts from when California was part of Spain and Mexico. They lived through the gold rush and saw their country change so drastically, they understood the need to tell the full story of their people and the place that was California.

As a diverse group, these women represent a side of California history never before fully considered. In their testimonios, their strong voices tell an intimate, engaging, and important story.