We Were There (Ages 11+)

We were there with the California Rancheros

Plot

Rancho Las Flores meant all the world to young Romero Sanchez. It had been given to his father by Mexican Land Grant in 1834, and in those days his herds of cattle stretched far across the rolling California hills. But Romero's father had been killed by a bandit, and in this year of 1859, little remained of the great herds. Mexican peons, raiding Mojave and Paiute Indians, prowling cougars, and drought had decimated their numbers. And now fourteen-year-old Romero, struggling manfully to preserve his home for his mother and his sister Raquel, faced still a newer danger. The government had opened up the land to the Americanos! Daily they arrived, traveling up the Santa Fe Trail in wagons, afoot, and on horseback. Romero, a native Californian, who looked down on farming, swore that no squatters would ever set foot on Rancho Las Flores. But the day came when they did!"