General Vallejo and the Advent of the Americans

The penetrating biography of one of the central--and most controversial--figures in California's early history

General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo was one of California's most distinguished citizens in the mid-nineteenth century. A frontier cosmopolitan and visionary, Vallejo owned vast ranchos in northern California and wielded enormous political power throughout the province. While serving as military governor during Mexican rule, he established an open immigration policy that encouraged and facilitated the American entrada to northern California.

This richly textured and thoughtful biography explores the contradictions and passions of this most complex of men, shedding light not only on Vallejo, but on the formation of California as a modern state.

Published in conjunction with Urion Press