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| He who holds the ball last, wins. |
California has a bloody history. In fact, there is no country in the entire
world that does not have blood soaked ground.
Battles fought, won or lost, changed histories of every country. In California, where I live, history is like
a bouncing ball, it all has to do with "who owns the land now".
Indigenous tribes owned the land, had for
centuries or more. Then Spain arrived,
charged by the King and Queen to spread the word of God to the heathens, form
places of worship, and establish forts with lots of military. (Many of the Indians died of smallpox. Those still healthy were torn away from their
ancestral homes to become Christians.
Another story, that.)
This was the start of the bouncing ball. Spain remained the dominant force in millions acres of land from the Mississippi west.
Then France
defeated Spain, taking the land. France
made a deal called the Louisiana Purchase.
Then
the mixed population of Spain and indigenous people (now called Mexico) defeated France, taking the land as their own.
Then elite wealthy
in Alta California became the Californios.
Then Missions were stripped of their massive
amount of land, and left with the Mission Churches only.
The Californios ruled
California, but realized that the Americans were sneaking in, inch by inch,
settling the land as their own.
Battles, oh there were many battles in California.
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| my grand-daughters, just because |
The bloodiest battle in California was in the
valley of San Pascual (which means Saint “Easter/Peace”). An essential battle, it closed in the embattled Californios from the east and north. This battle on December
6, 1846, is always commemorated in the valley, not 15 miles from our house.
| Across the Valley |
The ball came to a stop with the influx of
miners and, through lots of legalities, America claimed the land of California,
which became a state in 1850.
Abraham Lincoln signed a document returning the
crumbling Missions back to the Catholic Church in 1863. A copy of the document is at the San Luis Rey
Mission (called this, The King of the Missions, since it had the most land and
wealth).
The ball ceased its bouncing in America's court.
The greatest travesty in this bloody history is the theft of the land from the Indian Nation, a bloody travesty which slashed across America. The ball will never cease its bouncing here.
The greatest travesty in this bloody history is the theft of the land from the Indian Nation, a bloody travesty which slashed across America. The ball will never cease its bouncing here.
