July 1, 2025 • 37 mins
In this episode, I interview April Farham, who shares her fascinating work on the lives of early California settlers, specifically indigenous and Mestiza women. April discusses her personal journey into historical research that focuses on California's frontier in the 18th and 19th centuries. She elaborates on her work at the Maidu Indian Museum and her passion for unraveling the stories behind the extensive basket collections and their connection to indigenous women. The conversation also touches on the genealogical and historical intersections revealed through archival research and the impact of mixed ancestry on California's cultural landscape.
00:00 Introduction to the Interview with April Farham
02:14 April's Background and Early Career
06:54 Exploring the State Indian Museum Collections
12:07 Graduate Studies and Research Focus Shift
19:37 Discovering the Juarez Family History
32:45 Ethnohistorical Research and Archival Work
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damian@californiafrontier.net
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I am really excited to presentthe first half of my interview
with my guest, April Farham.
April is doing some reallyinteresting things about telling
the stories.
Of the early Californiasettlers, especially women on
the California frontier and inparticular, uh, some women whose
(00:23):
ancestry was both indigenous andSpanish, and how that played out
in their lives, in the lives oftheir descendants.
In fact, uh, April's workdovetails really well and is
connected to the work that, uh,Jennifer Lucido has been doing.
If you recall, I spoke toJennifer in episode 45 of the
(00:45):
podcast, and toward the end ofJuly of 2024.
Basically, uh, this, this reallyinteresting project of
unearthing these genealogicalstories, connecting the family
trees, connecting the differentkin groups, and then building
(01:05):
out the stories of these peoplein particular, uh, like I said
in particular.
Women of mixed ancestry and howtheir lives and the lives of
their descendants played out inAlt California.
So, like I mentioned, this firstpart, we're gonna talk about,
um, April's background, how shegot into her research and the
(01:28):
things that, um, are getting herexcited about digging into
California history.
And then.
The next episode will be thesecond half of my interview with
her full disclosure.
April has, um, given me thehonor of helping her with
translations and transcriptionsof some of these old Spanish
(01:51):
documents that.
There are still tons of them inthe archives in California that
need to be revealed.
So I'm, I'm happy to be able to,uh, cooperate with her in her
research.
So without further ado, part oneof my interview with April
Farnam.
Damian Bacich (02:14):
April, thanks so much for taking the time to come
on this podcast and tell usabout really interesting
research that you're doing.
I've, as you know, uh, we knoweach other and I've been to a
number of your talks, especiallyabout how, Indigenous Mestiza,
(02:37):
uh, African descendant as theCalifornia frontier, created
lives, families, et cetera, allthroughout, um, the, the late
19th, uh, late 18th century and19th century.
And so I'd love if you couldtalk to us a little bit more
about that and the cool thingsyou're doing and, uh, you know,
(03:01):
maybe, maybe start a little bitby talking about who you are
and, and, uh, yourself and yourinterests and all that, and how
you got into this topic.
April Farnham (03:13):
Sure.
Uh, thank you Damien.
Um, it's actually quite apleasure to be on your show.
So I, I've been listening to youfor a long time.
Um, so I primarily grew up inSacramento, um, and, um, you
know, spent a lot of summersgoing to different state parks,
visiting museums, missions.
(03:35):
Um, um, I got my under graduatedegrees at Sacramento State, uh,
CSU Sacramento.
Uh, originally I was actually inenvironmental science.
Um, that was my first career.
Um, didn't go back until about10 years later.
Um, and I decided to get a, abachelor's degree in history,
but with a focus in anthropologyand Native American studies.
(03:59):
Um, and then, uh, you know, fromthere with, with that, uh,
background and knowledge, um,spent a little time working for
the Madu Indian Museum inRoseville.
Uh, I also did some, um,contract work, consulting work
for the Californian InheritedCenter and the West Sacramento
Historical Society.
(04:21):
Um, and then, uh, in 2014, ourfamily, we moved to Napa Valley.
Uh, was still raising my son atthe time, but finally decided to
go back to school.
Um.
And get my graduate degree, mymaster's degree in history from
Sonoma State University.
And again, with an emphasis onum, what, uh, you know, I call
(04:44):
California Ethno history, reallyfocusing on, you know,
interactions and between, uh,indigenous peoples, uh, and
immigrants in different colonialperiods, Spanish, Mexican, and
American.
Um, uh, and so one thing kind ofled to another and I got
(05:04):
involved in a couple projects,um, associated with, um, the,
uh, Sonoma State Historic Park,um, and their nonprofit group,
which is Sonoma, Petaluma Parks.
And, uh, yeah, so I mean, I, youknow, my background I.
(05:24):
Uh, because of the, theexperience I had working, I
would say specifically at the,um, state and museum, uh, and
also working with their basketcollections in their warehouse.
Um, it really got me interestedin, um, particularly stories
about different indigenous womenbasket makers and their
(05:47):
histories here in California.
Um, and, um, uh, again, my work,uh, particularly there was a
book that I worked on with, uh,Brian Bibby, um, called
Essential Art.
And it was essentially a, um,catalog book of the basket
collection at the CalifornianHeritage Center, um, or main
(06:08):
warehouse.
Um, my contribution was writinga history of the state and
museum.
Um, but again, just kind ofgetting to know some of those,
uh, working with some of thebaskets, I, I got to know some
of the individual stories of thewomen.
Um, and uh, so I've justcontinued that work.
(06:29):
You know, everything I do now,my research, um, my writing
presentations I do on the sidealso informs, um, the
interpretation that I do, uh, asan employee with California
State Parks, uh, at Sonoma StateHistoric Park.
Damian Bacich (06:46):
That's right.
So you, you are still employedwith the state parks over at
Sonoma and it's interesting
April Farnham (06:53):
Mm-hmm.
Damian Bacich (06:54):
how you've, you started out, uh, there in
Sacramento, which I think a lotof people don't know or haven't
visited, the State Indianmuseum.
It's an interesting place and Ididn't know about, um,
collections they have.
Can you tell us just before weget into more recent stuff, um,
(07:14):
a little bit about thosecollections?
April Farnham (07:18):
Yeah.
Um, so at the time when, thiswas about 10, you know, 12 years
ago when I was working directlywith, with the material there,
um, uh, they have, I, I believeover 5,000, um, you know,
baskets and other ethnographic,uh, objects, um, uh, connected
(07:38):
to, um, uh, you know, diff, youknow, California Indian peoples,
um, uh, they're, it, thecollection was amassed over
time.
I sent, I think since the 1930s,from what I recollect from my
research, um, started with acurator there named Benjamin
Hathaway.
Uh, who at the time was, um,visiting different tribal
(08:01):
rancherias.
I.
Collecting baskets.
Um, and over time thatinstitution, you know, that that
institution really grew.
Um, and so there, there, thesebaskets have been donated from
various, uh, you know, uh,different individuals.
Um, and, uh, you know, they're,they're loaned out often to
(08:25):
different, uh, uh, small museumsor larger museums.
So when I was working at theMadu in museum, uh, we were able
to loan a few of their baskets,um, uh, to, to do a display and
kind of an interpretive exhibiton madu basketry specifically.
Um, but the, the basketsrepresent a wide range of
cultural and, um, you know,ethnographic, um, groups
(08:49):
throughout California.
Um, it's really an amazingcollection and I feel very
fortunate that I had theopportunity to, to work with
those baskets.
Damian Bacich (08:58):
You tell us a little bit about the Indian
Museum because I don't think alot of people know about that
place
April Farnham (09:05):
Yeah,
Damian Bacich (09:05):
you live in the Sacramento area.
April Farnham (09:10):
sure.
I'd be happy to.
Um, so it, it, it turned, itstarted out as a kind of more of
an interpretive center, uh,small museum.
It, it's, uh, now a fullyaccredited, uh, uh, museum, uh,
run by the city of Roseville.
Um, uh, uh, you know, it, it'snot too far of a drive from
(09:32):
downtown Sacramento.
I'd say maybe 20, 30 minutes.
Um, my, uh, my role therebetween about 2009 to 2013, give
or take, I was the collectionsmanager.
I also did some interpretationthere for some of the, um,
school programs, uh, schooloutreach programs, um.
(09:58):
And I, I think, you know, at thetime, their hours, they had a
few, you know, they were openduring the week, uh, uh, a
little more often.
I think the hours have beenreduced to just weekend hours.
Now, Saturday, Sundays, um, Idon't remember the particulars,
but you can actually Google myDoing Museum.
And, um, and, uh, I'm proud tosay that, uh, I worked on some
(10:20):
of those permanent exhibits.
Um, the design of the museum is,uh, uh, was loosely based on a
Maidu roundhouse.
Um, and it has two stories, anupper gallery that features, um,
contemporary, uh, nativeartwork.
Uh, and then the downstairs, um,have all the permanent exhibits
(10:42):
that talk about the different,uh, time periods, um, affect,
you know, uh, that the mightyexperience, um, in terms of
their, uh, you know, thecolonization of California and,
and.
Whatnot.
So, uh, it's, it's, it's reallya gem.
I, I would say, and, uh, highlyrecommend.
(11:02):
I think they still offer, youknow, guided hikes.
Um, there's a couple acresthere, and it's actually part of
a national historic landmarksite.
Um, uh, the village is, Iremember dates back close to
7,000 years old in terms of, um,you know, habitation people that
were there living there.
(11:23):
Um, they have, uh, petroglyphs,uh, that you can see, uh, rock
art.
Um, so it's, it's really anamazing site.
Damian Bacich (11:33):
I've been there a number of times.
I didn't know that you worked onthose exhibits.
They're really nice.
So, uh, that's good to know.
The
April Farnham (11:40):
Thank you.
Damian Bacich (11:41):
I'll, I'll remember that.
And it's a nice place.
And I agree.
In addition to the museum, the,the area outside where you can
see the petroglyphs is, isreally interesting and, and
unusual.
And like you say, it's a gym.
It's there, there's not a lot ofplaces like that, um, where you
can, where you can experiencethat kind of, um, history and
(12:03):
especially if it goes back to atleast 7,000 years.
April Farnham (12:06):
Mm-hmm.
Damian Bacich (12:08):
So you, uh, so yeah, you are over in, in Sonoma
now and you continued yourresearch.
Um, and like I said, I've, I'vehad the chance to hear some of
your talks and I'd like.
you can tell us a little bitmore about, um, the type of
things that you moved into interms of being over on that side
(12:30):
of, you know, the, the region I.
April Farnham (12:35):
Yeah.
Um, I'll, I'll have to say, I'mkind of ashamed to say when I
first moved here, you know,when, uh, growing up in
Sacramento, uh, even in college,we're so inundated with really a
focus on, you know, Goldrichhistory.
And, and there, you know, I, Idid specifically focus on native
history and, and my collegestudies.
(12:56):
So I did have some understandingof, you know, uh, California,
uh, early history andanthropology.
But, um.
Because the focus is so much onJohn Sutter.
Right.
And, and the Gold Rush, um, uh,didn't know a whole lot about,
uh, you know, for example,general Vallejo, uh, Maria Ojo
(13:16):
or, um, uh, the Rancho period.
Um, hadn't really studied, youknow, many of the Californias of
that time period.
Um, had a little bit exposure tothe history of the missions, but
not like an in-depth, I wouldn'tsay any kind of in-depth, um,
you know, reading of, um, youknow, primary source material on
(13:39):
the missions either from, youknow, Padres or um, uh, later
immigrants that were coming inand making observations about
what they saw.
Um, until I moved here to Napa,uh, and, um, I had started going
to graduate school at SonomaState and you know, there
(14:01):
realized that, uh.
You know, here, I mean, it'sthe, the focus shifts entirely,
um, or quite dramatically, Iwould say, to an emphasis on
right.
The, the Mexican period ofCalifornia.
And, um, the, uh, just the factthat, you know, there are so
many sites in Sonoma County,such as, um, you know, Petaluma,
(14:25):
Adobe State Park General,Vallejos, Rancho, uh, mission
San Francisco, Solano, um, and,you know, other Adobe sites or
historic sites connected to the,uh, the Mexican period.
Um, that, uh, really that, thatbecame a new focus of research
for me.
(14:45):
And then I, I started to kind ofconnect the dots, so to speak,
with, uh, things I had readpreviously associated with these
basket collections, right.
That, uh, I had been studying inSacramento and realizing that,
um.
You know, some of these basketcollections, uh, were coming
(15:05):
from right, or had been handeddown from these Rancho owners,
uh, either the, the, the Dawns,the, the soldiers or their
wives.
And, um, uh, so then I becamereally fascinated with stories
of, um, uh, the Donia, uh, youknow, women wives of the
(15:28):
soldiers who own Ranchos outhere.
Um, not just, uh, uh, you know,Venetia Viejo, um, Mariano's
wife, but, uh, for example MariaCreo, uh, who is, you know,
considered the founder of SantaRosa because she was granted a
very large land grant out there.
Um, and then also became veryinterested here in Napa we have,
(15:51):
um, what we call the old Adobe Isee Juarez, Adobe.
And that was, um.
One of the homes of Kai Juarez,who was a soldier of Mr.
Vallejo, uh, served un underhim, both at the Presidio in San
Francisco and, um, in thebarracks, uh, at um, Sonoma.
(16:13):
And, um, you know, and, andthrough those different, the
different research I was doingfrom my grad school work, I
realized right there wasdefinitely a theme here with,
um, specifically with the women,um, the, the wives and, uh, how
they came to end up being, youknow, married to these fairly
(16:35):
powerful men, uh, prominent men,uh, here in, um, you know,
Sonoma and Napa and, uh, what itmeant to them, right?
Culturally, um, socially,economically.
Um, how it impacted the nativepeoples that were still living
in the area right at the timethat like, mission San Francisco
(16:57):
Solano was established, uh, upthrough secularization.
Um, so yeah, that, you know,that's how I, I really, um, I
think it wasn't until about2017, 2018 that I, I literally
started going down the rabbithole, so to speak, with the, um,
(17:20):
uh, looking at the earlyCalifornia population project
database, the wonderful resourceof all the, uh, you know,
mission, um, baptism, marriageand death records.
Um, and, um, just, just findinglike incredible stories, um,
(17:40):
being told just through thoserecords alone, right.
Just through those, um.
Uh, uh, records that, you know,thankfully were digitized and
automated, and I know that wasan incredible amount of work
that put was put into that, butit's incredibly valuable to
researchers such as myself, um,'cause we can off often not, we
(18:02):
don't have the time or the meansto right.
Visit the archives in person,uh, and, and look at those, uh,
actual documents in person.
So.
Damian Bacich (18:12):
to be able to do a search a name or a date or a
particular mission or what haveyou is, is just invaluable.
That that database is anincredible resource.
I, I can't imagine what it musthave been like.
Well, I can't imagine a littlebit what it must have been like
(18:32):
to, to work.
With those, kind of, thoserecords, before that database
existed, you had to go thedifferent archives and sort of,
you know, try and pluck a needleout of a haystack.
It's, it's an amazing database.
I.
April Farnham (18:49):
Right.
It really is.
Um, so, I mean, you know, and ithelped me get through graduate
school.
'cause again, my, my son wasstill in, uh, high school and I,
I didn't have the time or meansto visit a lot of the archive.
I did visit a few, um, I wentdown to the California
Historical Society Archives inSan Francisco.
(19:11):
Um.
And to look at primary sourcematerial there.
Um, I spent a little time in thearchives at the Sonoma Barracks.
This is prior to my, um,acquiring a position there with
state parks.
Um, but, uh, for the most part,right, it was these digitized
records and that database thatreally, um, saw me through my
(19:35):
master's work.
Um, and ironically, so, uh, mymaster's thesis is actually, uh,
more on, um, Hawaiianimmigrants, Kamali immigrants
who came here, uh, just beforethe Gold Rush as part of the he
and tallow industry.
And then through the Gold Rush.
And, um, it, again, it had adirect connection to my work at
(20:01):
the Maidu Museum, um, becausesome of them settled down along
the Sacramento River and hadfamilies with some of the
indigenous Maidu women, uh, whoare, um.
You know, again, living andsurviving through a fairly
chaotic, tumultuous time.
Um, and just trying to, youknow, preserve their culture
(20:22):
and, and survive, um,economically.
And, um, that's where theseHawaiian immigrants really, um,
come into that story.
Damian Bacich (20:31):
Oh,
April Farnham (20:31):
Um,
Damian Bacich (20:32):
interesting.
I'm not familiar with that.
I mean, I knew that there wereum, Kanaka, as they call them,
right on the, those shipscoming, those, uh, those trading
ships coming down the coast.
But I had, I didn't know aboutthem settling in the Sacramento
Valley.
That's interesting.
April Farnham (20:50):
yeah, it's, it's a little known story.
It, it, it ties into, you know,I won't go into the politics,
but there are some rancherias inand around Sacramento and up in,
um, Placerville Auburn, thatarea, um, that, you know, the,
the peoples have both Hawaiianand.
Uh, indigenous descent, um, andare very proud of that heritage.
(21:14):
And, and, um, still, you know,culturally, you know, they
practice both, uh, you know,sides, you know, in terms of the
California, uh, indigenousculture and, you know, some, uh,
the traditions of the Hawaiianculture and, um, like the dances
and songs and, um, and so, butit really kind of opened my eyes
(21:40):
to some of the other, um,literature and the sources that
were out there, particularlyfor, um, places like, uh,
Petaluma, Adobe Park, um, FortRoss, um, you know, just locally
how, uh, you know, the sources Iwas using to tell that story
(22:00):
could be used to maybe flesh outthe nuances of some of the more,
you know, local stories.
Um.
Such as like the Juarez, Adobe,right.
And that family, uh, and, andum, their connections right to
the indigenous peoples here, um,in Southern Napa Valley, um, as
(22:24):
well as in Sonoma as well, someof the other Rancho owners and,
and, um, like Maria Creo and howthey had connections as well.
Damian Bacich (22:34):
You know, it's funny, growing up in the Napa
Valley, um, I remember the oldAdobe restaurant, right?
And I had no idea that it was ahistorical.
Site and then it was connectedto this longstanding family
there, uh, the Juarez family in,in Napa.
I just, you know, I was ateenager so I wasn't paying much
(22:56):
attention, but, um, that one ofthe oldest, uh, Adobe buildings
in Northern California?
April Farnham (23:04):
It is, yeah.
Um, I.
So it, uh, I think it datesaround 1839 or so.
The, the Rancho Land Grant that,um, Kayana Juarez received.
It wasn't official until 1840,is my understanding.
Um, very large 8,000 acre, uh,plus grant called a Rancho Tuka.
(23:27):
Um, and that word itself, right,the name comes from one of
these, uh, uh, Lin Southern WindToon villages that existed in
the area.
Um, and, um, so that, that home,uh, it's still there.
Like you said.
It's a, a very historic landmarkhere in Napa, right off of Soft
(23:51):
School Road.
And, um, it's seen differentrestaurants come and go.
Uh, the latest one is LatBakery.
They're doing very well.
And it was fully restored, youknow, when they, uh, before they
moved in this, this last tenant,um, uh, there was a buyer who,
um, just went in and concompletely restored the Adobe,
(24:14):
um, and, uh, you know, uh, to,to structure it and make it a
little more integrous, I guess,and, um, hold up better over
time.
Uh, but I know they found someextraordinary artifacts, um, in
re flooring, the, the, um, thebuilding and, you know, some of
the other, uh, when they had todo some repairs to the walls,
(24:37):
that made a lot of differentdiscoveries and a lot of that
material, uh, that informationwent to both the, um, Napa
Valley Museum and the NapaValley histor, Napa County
Historical Society.
Damian Bacich (24:50):
That's great.
So wonderful.
So, um, so yeah, tell us, tellus a little bit more then about
the work you've been doing, um,with these women, uh, Maria
Juarez and, and her descendantsand ancestors and, what you're
learning and discovering.
April Farnham (25:13):
Sure.
So, um,'cause I said I, I thinkthis story goes all the way back
to again, when I was, uh,managing those or kind of, uh,
uh, working with those baskets,uh, at the California State
Heritage Center.
Um, there, uh, uh, it was agreat granddaughter of the Juez
family that donated, uh, a few,uh, baskets, um, that both Maria
(25:39):
and Cayetano had collected intheir time here, uh, on Rancho
Tuka.
Um, and, um, these were mostlypatwin baskets, maybe some wao.
And, um, that story just alwaysintrigued me because, you know,
Brian wrote in his bookEssential Art that, um, Maria
(26:01):
specifically, he, he was, he hadstarted this kinda genealogical
research himself, um, was, uh,one quarter alone, uh, uh,
through her mother andgrandmother.
And so I was very intrigued bythat.
Um, and when I moved here, um,I, uh, I, when I was working for
(26:25):
a time for the Napa ValleyMuseum as an educator, um, I
hooked up with, uh, RalphShanks, another well-known, um,
baskets, native Basket scholar.
And, um, and I discovered in myresearch, I just, I'm always
researching this.
I, it's in my blood.
I just, I can't help.
I just, I, I always like to findnew stories.
(26:48):
Um.
Was doing research for the NapaValley Museum at the, uh, Napa
County Historical Society.
And I came across the, uh,memoirs of, um, it was one of
the great granddaughters of the,uh, Cayetano Juarez.
Uh, she was the sister of thiswoman, Dolores Unger, who had
(27:09):
donated the baskets to theCalifornia, uh, state parks.
This sister, her name was VivianJuárez, Vivian Rose Juarez.
Um, she wrote a book called, orwrote a family book called the,
uh, fast, uh, passed as a fatherof president I, I believe.
And, um, and she, uh, this is1970s, and she featured in the,
(27:34):
this book, uh, a Sewing Basketthat belonged to Maria Juarez.
Right.
And it told this specific storyabout this, uh, pat one, uh,
native woman who had given.
And her name was Juanita.
That's all we know.
That's, that's what's in thebook.
Uh, had given the sewing basketto Maria Juarez as a present,
(27:58):
uh, literally a gift for some ofthe work that Maria had been
doing within the nativecommunity.
Um, Maria, according to, uh,this book, she was a ra, um, uh,
a healer, right?
Um, uh, she had learned from hermother and her grandmother, um,
(28:20):
some of the, uh, traditional ethand botanical, um, ways of, of
treating illnesses.
My guess is, it doesn't actuallysay in this book, but there was
a, uh, smallpox epidemic thathit the native community here
pretty hard, uh, in around 1837.
1838.
And I think Maria was involvedin helping, um, treat some of
(28:43):
the, um.
The women and children in NapaValley.
Um, she also understood thelanguage she taught herself, how
even though she couldn't, uh,read or write, um, Maria was
multilingual.
So, um, most definitely spokeSpanish, but also, uh, it's
(29:04):
documented that she knew thelocal, uh, pat one language.
Um, the people call themselvesthe village, understand it's
called tuka, but the people callthemselves Ulka or Ulka, and
that was the language that Marialearn.
And she taught her children aswell this language.
(29:26):
And so, um, you know, they, theyhad this family seemed to have a
very close relationship with thelocal, uh, native indigenous
community here in Napa.
Um, I apologize if I forgetwhere I was going with all this,
but, um, just that, um.
You know, uh, I kept peelingaway layers of the story.
(29:50):
One thing that always botheredme was, um, you know, some of
the local sources here weresaying that, uh, uh, Maria and,
and still to this day, so the,the kind of overcoming this,
this, this stereotype somewhatwas that Maria was, um, you
know, full blown Spanish,Mexican did not have any kind of
(30:12):
mesa heritage whatsoever.
That she was part of this, um,you know, colonial period where,
um, Mexican Dons and Donya were,you know, coming in and claiming
land and, uh, you know, takingadvantage of local native
communities.
But, um, again, my research wasconfirming with what Brian had
(30:35):
already started, and that wasthe mission.
Records prove.
Right, that she is a directdescendant of, um, uh, uh, uh,
these, uh, indigenous women inMonterey that were marrying or
being married to, uh, Spanishand Mestizo soldiers, right in
(30:55):
the early part of the missionperiod, particularly at Mission
Carmel.
And that, um, that heritage,that knowledge, it had been
passed down from her.
So her grandmother was Ana, uh,Maria, right?
And then she, uh, she had amother Maria Gerra, and then
(31:17):
her, her herself, right?
Maria Juarez.
But her nickname was Vivianaafter her grandmother.
Um, for a good reason, right?
Because in, in my opinion, itwas, you know, the, the mothers,
the maternal line.
They were very proud of the factthat, um, you know, the
descendant from this, uh, uh,Alon woman.
(31:39):
Who had married a soldier, like,I think she was age 12 or 13
when she married in 1786.
Um, so like I said, I kept, uh,it, this took some time for me.
This didn't happen allovernight.
Um, it, it started when we firstmoved here to Napa and then I, I
kept reading a little bit morefrom different sources, you
(32:02):
know, and putting thesedifferent stories together to
get a fuller picture of what washappening here with the, the
Juárez family.
Um, and up until right now,even, I'm still, you know, with
your help, uh, uh, translatingmaterial, um, Spanish script
letters from the archives to, tounderstand maybe how Cayetano
(32:28):
was, um, influenced and helpedby his wife's knowledge, right,
of this indigenous world.
Um, and how it affected hisrelationship with, um, like the
Vallejo family and, and hisactivities as a soldier.
Damian Bacich (32:46):
You know, what you say makes me think of two
things.
First of all, how the type ofwork of digging around in the
archives and going back into theoriginal language documents
really helps both.
(33:07):
right?
It helps clarify historicalevents and people and, and
situations, but it also helpsclarify, uh, genealogy as well,
right?
So you can find that, thatinterface of genealogy and
history, which I really findfascinating because you, you see
(33:29):
how family connections are soimportant, and yet they're often
really below the surface.
They're not, they're not evidentto the world.
And sometimes exactly the, um,because of the situation we find
ourselves in, with, with theway, you know, California was.
(33:54):
Was annexed pretty quickly in acouple of years, and then things
changed very fast that, thatpeople have to do a lot of work
to recover their history.
And then secondly, the thing youmentioned about how this has a
work of, of years, thatsometimes it's, you can't just
go and do research and find youranswers.
(34:16):
Sometimes it's over time lettingsomething percolate and certain
connections emerge between onething you've seen here one thing
you've seen over there.
And then the, picture starts to,to take shape maybe in a way
that you didn't expect when youstarted out.
Do you, do you find that to betrue yourself?
April Farnham (34:39):
Absolutely.
Um, absolutely, and that's whatI really enjoy about calling
myself an ethno historian is,you know, we're, we're trained
to, um, and I've had some verygreat professors, uh, uh, train
me very well on this.
And, you know, uh, looking atdifferent sources, you know,
from, you know, anthropologicalliterature, archeology, um, you
(35:04):
know, I mentioned the museumcollections, the baskets, um,
oral histories.
Um.
Letters, diaries, of course, youknow, the, the paper trail left,
um, by, you know, differentwritten sources.
Um, and, um, and it's, it's thewhole of that, right?
(35:26):
Looking at it from all thesedifferent perspectives and
angles that, um, is whatmotivates me to, uh, uh, dig
deeper, right?
And, and I keep, like I said, Ikeep finding these new details,
um, by looking at it fromdifferent perspectives.
Um, and, uh, yeah, so now I'm,I'm really focused on the
(35:50):
archival research, particularlyat the Santa Barbara Mission
Archives there.
And, um, wishing I had a littlemore, uh, training in Spanish,
uh, um, you know, translation orearly Spanish script.
But, um, um, it's just, youknow, takes time.
(36:20):
This is the California FrontierShow.
If you would like to know moreabout the California Frontier
Project, visit Californiafrontier.net.
If you would like to support theshow, scroll down in the show
notes and click support theshow.
Then be sure to tell all yourfriends about the podcast.
If you would like to connectwith me, the host, send me an
(36:43):
email atdamien@californiafrontier.net.
I am really excited to presentthe first half of my interview
with my guest, April Farham.
April is doing some reallyinteresting things about telling
the stories.
Of the early Californiasettlers, especially women on
the California frontier and inparticular, uh, some women whose
(00:23):
ancestry was both indigenous andSpanish, and how that played out
in their lives, in the lives oftheir descendants.
In fact, uh, April's workdovetails really well and is
connected to the work that, uh,Jennifer Lucido has been doing.
If you recall, I spoke toJennifer in episode 45 of the
(00:45):
podcast, and toward the end ofJuly of 2024.
Basically, uh, this, this reallyinteresting project of
unearthing these genealogicalstories, connecting the family
trees, connecting the differentkin groups, and then building
(01:05):
out the stories of these peoplein particular, uh, like I said
in particular.
Women of mixed ancestry and howtheir lives and the lives of
their descendants played out inAlt California.
So, like I mentioned, this firstpart, we're gonna talk about,
um, April's background, how shegot into her research and the
(01:28):
things that, um, are getting herexcited about digging into
California history.
And then.
The next episode will be thesecond half of my interview with
her full disclosure.
April has, um, given me thehonor of helping her with
translations and transcriptionsof some of these old Spanish
(01:51):
documents that.
There are still tons of them inthe archives in California that
need to be revealed.
So I'm, I'm happy to be able to,uh, cooperate with her in her
research.
So without further ado, part oneof my interview with April
Farnam.
Damian Bacich (02:14):
April, thanks so much for taking the time to come
on this podcast and tell usabout really interesting
research that you're doing.
I've, as you know, uh, we knoweach other and I've been to a
number of your talks, especiallyabout how, Indigenous Mestiza,
(02:37):
uh, African descendant as theCalifornia frontier, created
lives, families, et cetera, allthroughout, um, the, the late
19th, uh, late 18th century and19th century.
And so I'd love if you couldtalk to us a little bit more
about that and the cool thingsyou're doing and, uh, you know,
(03:01):
maybe, maybe start a little bitby talking about who you are
and, and, uh, yourself and yourinterests and all that, and how
you got into this topic.
April Farnham (03:13):
Sure.
Uh, thank you Damien.
Um, it's actually quite apleasure to be on your show.
So I, I've been listening to youfor a long time.
Um, so I primarily grew up inSacramento, um, and, um, you
know, spent a lot of summersgoing to different state parks,
visiting museums, missions.
(03:35):
Um, um, I got my under graduatedegrees at Sacramento State, uh,
CSU Sacramento.
Uh, originally I was actually inenvironmental science.
Um, that was my first career.
Um, didn't go back until about10 years later.
Um, and I decided to get a, abachelor's degree in history,
but with a focus in anthropologyand Native American studies.
(03:59):
Um, and then, uh, you know, fromthere with, with that, uh,
background and knowledge, um,spent a little time working for
the Madu Indian Museum inRoseville.
Uh, I also did some, um,contract work, consulting work
for the Californian InheritedCenter and the West Sacramento
Historical Society.
(04:21):
Um, and then, uh, in 2014, ourfamily, we moved to Napa Valley.
Uh, was still raising my son atthe time, but finally decided to
go back to school.
Um.
And get my graduate degree, mymaster's degree in history from
Sonoma State University.
And again, with an emphasis onum, what, uh, you know, I call
(04:44):
California Ethno history, reallyfocusing on, you know,
interactions and between, uh,indigenous peoples, uh, and
immigrants in different colonialperiods, Spanish, Mexican, and
American.
Um, uh, and so one thing kind ofled to another and I got
(05:04):
involved in a couple projects,um, associated with, um, the,
uh, Sonoma State Historic Park,um, and their nonprofit group,
which is Sonoma, Petaluma Parks.
And, uh, yeah, so I mean, I, youknow, my background I.
(05:24):
Uh, because of the, theexperience I had working, I
would say specifically at the,um, state and museum, uh, and
also working with their basketcollections in their warehouse.
Um, it really got me interestedin, um, particularly stories
about different indigenous womenbasket makers and their
(05:47):
histories here in California.
Um, and, um, uh, again, my work,uh, particularly there was a
book that I worked on with, uh,Brian Bibby, um, called
Essential Art.
And it was essentially a, um,catalog book of the basket
collection at the CalifornianHeritage Center, um, or main
(06:08):
warehouse.
Um, my contribution was writinga history of the state and
museum.
Um, but again, just kind ofgetting to know some of those,
uh, working with some of thebaskets, I, I got to know some
of the individual stories of thewomen.
Um, and uh, so I've justcontinued that work.
(06:29):
You know, everything I do now,my research, um, my writing
presentations I do on the sidealso informs, um, the
interpretation that I do, uh, asan employee with California
State Parks, uh, at Sonoma StateHistoric Park.
Damian Bacich (06:46):
That's right.
So you, you are still employedwith the state parks over at
Sonoma and it's interesting
April Farnham (06:53):
Mm-hmm.
Damian Bacich (06:54):
how you've, you started out, uh, there in
Sacramento, which I think a lotof people don't know or haven't
visited, the State Indianmuseum.
It's an interesting place and Ididn't know about, um,
collections they have.
Can you tell us just before weget into more recent stuff, um,
(07:14):
a little bit about thosecollections?
April Farnham (07:18):
Yeah.
Um, so at the time when, thiswas about 10, you know, 12 years
ago when I was working directlywith, with the material there,
um, uh, they have, I, I believeover 5,000, um, you know,
baskets and other ethnographic,uh, objects, um, uh, connected
(07:38):
to, um, uh, you know, diff, youknow, California Indian peoples,
um, uh, they're, it, thecollection was amassed over
time.
I sent, I think since the 1930s,from what I recollect from my
research, um, started with acurator there named Benjamin
Hathaway.
Uh, who at the time was, um,visiting different tribal
(08:01):
rancherias.
I.
Collecting baskets.
Um, and over time thatinstitution, you know, that that
institution really grew.
Um, and so there, there, thesebaskets have been donated from
various, uh, you know, uh,different individuals.
Um, and, uh, you know, they're,they're loaned out often to
(08:25):
different, uh, uh, small museumsor larger museums.
So when I was working at theMadu in museum, uh, we were able
to loan a few of their baskets,um, uh, to, to do a display and
kind of an interpretive exhibiton madu basketry specifically.
Um, but the, the basketsrepresent a wide range of
cultural and, um, you know,ethnographic, um, groups
(08:49):
throughout California.
Um, it's really an amazingcollection and I feel very
fortunate that I had theopportunity to, to work with
those baskets.
Damian Bacich (08:58):
You tell us a little bit about the Indian
Museum because I don't think alot of people know about that
place
April Farnham (09:05):
Yeah,
Damian Bacich (09:05):
you live in the Sacramento area.
April Farnham (09:10):
sure.
I'd be happy to.
Um, so it, it, it turned, itstarted out as a kind of more of
an interpretive center, uh,small museum.
It, it's, uh, now a fullyaccredited, uh, uh, museum, uh,
run by the city of Roseville.
Um, uh, uh, you know, it, it'snot too far of a drive from
(09:32):
downtown Sacramento.
I'd say maybe 20, 30 minutes.
Um, my, uh, my role therebetween about 2009 to 2013, give
or take, I was the collectionsmanager.
I also did some interpretationthere for some of the, um,
school programs, uh, schooloutreach programs, um.
(09:58):
And I, I think, you know, at thetime, their hours, they had a
few, you know, they were openduring the week, uh, uh, a
little more often.
I think the hours have beenreduced to just weekend hours.
Now, Saturday, Sundays, um, Idon't remember the particulars,
but you can actually Google myDoing Museum.
And, um, and, uh, I'm proud tosay that, uh, I worked on some
(10:20):
of those permanent exhibits.
Um, the design of the museum is,uh, uh, was loosely based on a
Maidu roundhouse.
Um, and it has two stories, anupper gallery that features, um,
contemporary, uh, nativeartwork.
Uh, and then the downstairs, um,have all the permanent exhibits
(10:42):
that talk about the different,uh, time periods, um, affect,
you know, uh, that the mightyexperience, um, in terms of
their, uh, you know, thecolonization of California and,
and.
Whatnot.
So, uh, it's, it's, it's reallya gem.
I, I would say, and, uh, highlyrecommend.
(11:02):
I think they still offer, youknow, guided hikes.
Um, there's a couple acresthere, and it's actually part of
a national historic landmarksite.
Um, uh, the village is, Iremember dates back close to
7,000 years old in terms of, um,you know, habitation people that
were there living there.
(11:23):
Um, they have, uh, petroglyphs,uh, that you can see, uh, rock
art.
Um, so it's, it's really anamazing site.
Damian Bacich (11:33):
I've been there a number of times.
I didn't know that you worked onthose exhibits.
They're really nice.
So, uh, that's good to know.
The
April Farnham (11:40):
Thank you.
Damian Bacich (11:41):
I'll, I'll remember that.
And it's a nice place.
And I agree.
In addition to the museum, the,the area outside where you can
see the petroglyphs is, isreally interesting and, and
unusual.
And like you say, it's a gym.
It's there, there's not a lot ofplaces like that, um, where you
can, where you can experiencethat kind of, um, history and
(12:03):
especially if it goes back to atleast 7,000 years.
April Farnham (12:06):
Mm-hmm.
Damian Bacich (12:08):
So you, uh, so yeah, you are over in, in Sonoma
now and you continued yourresearch.
Um, and like I said, I've, I'vehad the chance to hear some of
your talks and I'd like.
you can tell us a little bitmore about, um, the type of
things that you moved into interms of being over on that side
(12:30):
of, you know, the, the region I.
April Farnham (12:35):
Yeah.
Um, I'll, I'll have to say, I'mkind of ashamed to say when I
first moved here, you know,when, uh, growing up in
Sacramento, uh, even in college,we're so inundated with really a
focus on, you know, Goldrichhistory.
And, and there, you know, I, Idid specifically focus on native
history and, and my collegestudies.
(12:56):
So I did have some understandingof, you know, uh, California,
uh, early history andanthropology.
But, um.
Because the focus is so much onJohn Sutter.
Right.
And, and the Gold Rush, um, uh,didn't know a whole lot about,
uh, you know, for example,general Vallejo, uh, Maria Ojo
(13:16):
or, um, uh, the Rancho period.
Um, hadn't really studied, youknow, many of the Californias of
that time period.
Um, had a little bit exposure tothe history of the missions, but
not like an in-depth, I wouldn'tsay any kind of in-depth, um,
you know, reading of, um, youknow, primary source material on
(13:39):
the missions either from, youknow, Padres or um, uh, later
immigrants that were coming inand making observations about
what they saw.
Um, until I moved here to Napa,uh, and, um, I had started going
to graduate school at SonomaState and you know, there
(14:01):
realized that, uh.
You know, here, I mean, it'sthe, the focus shifts entirely,
um, or quite dramatically, Iwould say, to an emphasis on
right.
The, the Mexican period ofCalifornia.
And, um, the, uh, just the factthat, you know, there are so
many sites in Sonoma County,such as, um, you know, Petaluma,
(14:25):
Adobe State Park General,Vallejos, Rancho, uh, mission
San Francisco, Solano, um, and,you know, other Adobe sites or
historic sites connected to the,uh, the Mexican period.
Um, that, uh, really that, thatbecame a new focus of research
for me.
(14:45):
And then I, I started to kind ofconnect the dots, so to speak,
with, uh, things I had readpreviously associated with these
basket collections, right.
That, uh, I had been studying inSacramento and realizing that,
um.
You know, some of these basketcollections, uh, were coming
(15:05):
from right, or had been handeddown from these Rancho owners,
uh, either the, the, the Dawns,the, the soldiers or their
wives.
And, um, uh, so then I becamereally fascinated with stories
of, um, uh, the Donia, uh, youknow, women wives of the
(15:28):
soldiers who own Ranchos outhere.
Um, not just, uh, uh, you know,Venetia Viejo, um, Mariano's
wife, but, uh, for example MariaCreo, uh, who is, you know,
considered the founder of SantaRosa because she was granted a
very large land grant out there.
Um, and then also became veryinterested here in Napa we have,
(15:51):
um, what we call the old Adobe Isee Juarez, Adobe.
And that was, um.
One of the homes of Kai Juarez,who was a soldier of Mr.
Vallejo, uh, served un underhim, both at the Presidio in San
Francisco and, um, in thebarracks, uh, at um, Sonoma.
(16:13):
And, um, you know, and, andthrough those different, the
different research I was doingfrom my grad school work, I
realized right there wasdefinitely a theme here with,
um, specifically with the women,um, the, the wives and, uh, how
they came to end up being, youknow, married to these fairly
(16:35):
powerful men, uh, prominent men,uh, here in, um, you know,
Sonoma and Napa and, uh, what itmeant to them, right?
Culturally, um, socially,economically.
Um, how it impacted the nativepeoples that were still living
in the area right at the timethat like, mission San Francisco
(16:57):
Solano was established, uh, upthrough secularization.
Um, so yeah, that, you know,that's how I, I really, um, I
think it wasn't until about2017, 2018 that I, I literally
started going down the rabbithole, so to speak, with the, um,
(17:20):
uh, looking at the earlyCalifornia population project
database, the wonderful resourceof all the, uh, you know,
mission, um, baptism, marriageand death records.
Um, and, um, just, just findinglike incredible stories, um,
(17:40):
being told just through thoserecords alone, right.
Just through those, um.
Uh, uh, records that, you know,thankfully were digitized and
automated, and I know that wasan incredible amount of work
that put was put into that, butit's incredibly valuable to
researchers such as myself, um,'cause we can off often not, we
(18:02):
don't have the time or the meansto right.
Visit the archives in person,uh, and, and look at those, uh,
actual documents in person.
So.
Damian Bacich (18:12):
to be able to do a search a name or a date or a
particular mission or what haveyou is, is just invaluable.
That that database is anincredible resource.
I, I can't imagine what it musthave been like.
Well, I can't imagine a littlebit what it must have been like
(18:32):
to, to work.
With those, kind of, thoserecords, before that database
existed, you had to go thedifferent archives and sort of,
you know, try and pluck a needleout of a haystack.
It's, it's an amazing database.
I.
April Farnham (18:49):
Right.
It really is.
Um, so, I mean, you know, and ithelped me get through graduate
school.
'cause again, my, my son wasstill in, uh, high school and I,
I didn't have the time or meansto visit a lot of the archive.
I did visit a few, um, I wentdown to the California
Historical Society Archives inSan Francisco.
(19:11):
Um.
And to look at primary sourcematerial there.
Um, I spent a little time in thearchives at the Sonoma Barracks.
This is prior to my, um,acquiring a position there with
state parks.
Um, but, uh, for the most part,right, it was these digitized
records and that database thatreally, um, saw me through my
(19:35):
master's work.
Um, and ironically, so, uh, mymaster's thesis is actually, uh,
more on, um, Hawaiianimmigrants, Kamali immigrants
who came here, uh, just beforethe Gold Rush as part of the he
and tallow industry.
And then through the Gold Rush.
And, um, it, again, it had adirect connection to my work at
(20:01):
the Maidu Museum, um, becausesome of them settled down along
the Sacramento River and hadfamilies with some of the
indigenous Maidu women, uh, whoare, um.
You know, again, living andsurviving through a fairly
chaotic, tumultuous time.
Um, and just trying to, youknow, preserve their culture
(20:22):
and, and survive, um,economically.
And, um, that's where theseHawaiian immigrants really, um,
come into that story.
Damian Bacich (20:31):
Oh,
April Farnham (20:31):
Um,
Damian Bacich (20:32):
interesting.
I'm not familiar with that.
I mean, I knew that there wereum, Kanaka, as they call them,
right on the, those shipscoming, those, uh, those trading
ships coming down the coast.
But I had, I didn't know aboutthem settling in the Sacramento
Valley.
That's interesting.
April Farnham (20:50):
yeah, it's, it's a little known story.
It, it, it ties into, you know,I won't go into the politics,
but there are some rancherias inand around Sacramento and up in,
um, Placerville Auburn, thatarea, um, that, you know, the,
the peoples have both Hawaiianand.
Uh, indigenous descent, um, andare very proud of that heritage.
(21:14):
And, and, um, still, you know,culturally, you know, they
practice both, uh, you know,sides, you know, in terms of the
California, uh, indigenousculture and, you know, some, uh,
the traditions of the Hawaiianculture and, um, like the dances
and songs and, um, and so, butit really kind of opened my eyes
(21:40):
to some of the other, um,literature and the sources that
were out there, particularlyfor, um, places like, uh,
Petaluma, Adobe Park, um, FortRoss, um, you know, just locally
how, uh, you know, the sources Iwas using to tell that story
(22:00):
could be used to maybe flesh outthe nuances of some of the more,
you know, local stories.
Um.
Such as like the Juarez, Adobe,right.
And that family, uh, and, andum, their connections right to
the indigenous peoples here, um,in Southern Napa Valley, um, as
(22:24):
well as in Sonoma as well, someof the other Rancho owners and,
and, um, like Maria Creo and howthey had connections as well.
Damian Bacich (22:34):
You know, it's funny, growing up in the Napa
Valley, um, I remember the oldAdobe restaurant, right?
And I had no idea that it was ahistorical.
Site and then it was connectedto this longstanding family
there, uh, the Juarez family in,in Napa.
I just, you know, I was ateenager so I wasn't paying much
(22:56):
attention, but, um, that one ofthe oldest, uh, Adobe buildings
in Northern California?
April Farnham (23:04):
It is, yeah.
Um, I.
So it, uh, I think it datesaround 1839 or so.
The, the Rancho Land Grant that,um, Kayana Juarez received.
It wasn't official until 1840,is my understanding.
Um, very large 8,000 acre, uh,plus grant called a Rancho Tuka.
(23:27):
Um, and that word itself, right,the name comes from one of
these, uh, uh, Lin Southern WindToon villages that existed in
the area.
Um, and, um, so that, that home,uh, it's still there.
Like you said.
It's a, a very historic landmarkhere in Napa, right off of Soft
(23:51):
School Road.
And, um, it's seen differentrestaurants come and go.
Uh, the latest one is LatBakery.
They're doing very well.
And it was fully restored, youknow, when they, uh, before they
moved in this, this last tenant,um, uh, there was a buyer who,
um, just went in and concompletely restored the Adobe,
(24:14):
um, and, uh, you know, uh, to,to structure it and make it a
little more integrous, I guess,and, um, hold up better over
time.
Uh, but I know they found someextraordinary artifacts, um, in
re flooring, the, the, um, thebuilding and, you know, some of
the other, uh, when they had todo some repairs to the walls,
(24:37):
that made a lot of differentdiscoveries and a lot of that
material, uh, that informationwent to both the, um, Napa
Valley Museum and the NapaValley histor, Napa County
Historical Society.
Damian Bacich (24:50):
That's great.
So wonderful.
So, um, so yeah, tell us, tellus a little bit more then about
the work you've been doing, um,with these women, uh, Maria
Juarez and, and her descendantsand ancestors and, what you're
learning and discovering.
April Farnham (25:13):
Sure.
So, um,'cause I said I, I thinkthis story goes all the way back
to again, when I was, uh,managing those or kind of, uh,
uh, working with those baskets,uh, at the California State
Heritage Center.
Um, there, uh, uh, it was agreat granddaughter of the Juez
family that donated, uh, a few,uh, baskets, um, that both Maria
(25:39):
and Cayetano had collected intheir time here, uh, on Rancho
Tuka.
Um, and, um, these were mostlypatwin baskets, maybe some wao.
And, um, that story just alwaysintrigued me because, you know,
Brian wrote in his bookEssential Art that, um, Maria
(26:01):
specifically, he, he was, he hadstarted this kinda genealogical
research himself, um, was, uh,one quarter alone, uh, uh,
through her mother andgrandmother.
And so I was very intrigued bythat.
Um, and when I moved here, um,I, uh, I, when I was working for
(26:25):
a time for the Napa ValleyMuseum as an educator, um, I
hooked up with, uh, RalphShanks, another well-known, um,
baskets, native Basket scholar.
And, um, and I discovered in myresearch, I just, I'm always
researching this.
I, it's in my blood.
I just, I can't help.
I just, I, I always like to findnew stories.
(26:48):
Um.
Was doing research for the NapaValley Museum at the, uh, Napa
County Historical Society.
And I came across the, uh,memoirs of, um, it was one of
the great granddaughters of the,uh, Cayetano Juarez.
Uh, she was the sister of thiswoman, Dolores Unger, who had
(27:09):
donated the baskets to theCalifornia, uh, state parks.
This sister, her name was VivianJuárez, Vivian Rose Juarez.
Um, she wrote a book called, orwrote a family book called the,
uh, fast, uh, passed as a fatherof president I, I believe.
And, um, and she, uh, this is1970s, and she featured in the,
(27:34):
this book, uh, a Sewing Basketthat belonged to Maria Juarez.
Right.
And it told this specific storyabout this, uh, pat one, uh,
native woman who had given.
And her name was Juanita.
That's all we know.
That's, that's what's in thebook.
Uh, had given the sewing basketto Maria Juarez as a present,
(27:58):
uh, literally a gift for some ofthe work that Maria had been
doing within the nativecommunity.
Um, Maria, according to, uh,this book, she was a ra, um, uh,
a healer, right?
Um, uh, she had learned from hermother and her grandmother, um,
(28:20):
some of the, uh, traditional ethand botanical, um, ways of, of
treating illnesses.
My guess is, it doesn't actuallysay in this book, but there was
a, uh, smallpox epidemic thathit the native community here
pretty hard, uh, in around 1837.
1838.
And I think Maria was involvedin helping, um, treat some of
(28:43):
the, um.
The women and children in NapaValley.
Um, she also understood thelanguage she taught herself, how
even though she couldn't, uh,read or write, um, Maria was
multilingual.
So, um, most definitely spokeSpanish, but also, uh, it's
(29:04):
documented that she knew thelocal, uh, pat one language.
Um, the people call themselvesthe village, understand it's
called tuka, but the people callthemselves Ulka or Ulka, and
that was the language that Marialearn.
And she taught her children aswell this language.
(29:26):
And so, um, you know, they, theyhad this family seemed to have a
very close relationship with thelocal, uh, native indigenous
community here in Napa.
Um, I apologize if I forgetwhere I was going with all this,
but, um, just that, um.
You know, uh, I kept peelingaway layers of the story.
(29:50):
One thing that always botheredme was, um, you know, some of
the local sources here weresaying that, uh, uh, Maria and,
and still to this day, so the,the kind of overcoming this,
this, this stereotype somewhatwas that Maria was, um, you
know, full blown Spanish,Mexican did not have any kind of
(30:12):
mesa heritage whatsoever.
That she was part of this, um,you know, colonial period where,
um, Mexican Dons and Donya were,you know, coming in and claiming
land and, uh, you know, takingadvantage of local native
communities.
But, um, again, my research wasconfirming with what Brian had
(30:35):
already started, and that wasthe mission.
Records prove.
Right, that she is a directdescendant of, um, uh, uh, uh,
these, uh, indigenous women inMonterey that were marrying or
being married to, uh, Spanishand Mestizo soldiers, right in
(30:55):
the early part of the missionperiod, particularly at Mission
Carmel.
And that, um, that heritage,that knowledge, it had been
passed down from her.
So her grandmother was Ana, uh,Maria, right?
And then she, uh, she had amother Maria Gerra, and then
(31:17):
her, her herself, right?
Maria Juarez.
But her nickname was Vivianaafter her grandmother.
Um, for a good reason, right?
Because in, in my opinion, itwas, you know, the, the mothers,
the maternal line.
They were very proud of the factthat, um, you know, the
descendant from this, uh, uh,Alon woman.
(31:39):
Who had married a soldier, like,I think she was age 12 or 13
when she married in 1786.
Um, so like I said, I kept, uh,it, this took some time for me.
This didn't happen allovernight.
Um, it, it started when we firstmoved here to Napa and then I, I
kept reading a little bit morefrom different sources, you
(32:02):
know, and putting thesedifferent stories together to
get a fuller picture of what washappening here with the, the
Juárez family.
Um, and up until right now,even, I'm still, you know, with
your help, uh, uh, translatingmaterial, um, Spanish script
letters from the archives to, tounderstand maybe how Cayetano
(32:28):
was, um, influenced and helpedby his wife's knowledge, right,
of this indigenous world.
Um, and how it affected hisrelationship with, um, like the
Vallejo family and, and hisactivities as a soldier.
Damian Bacich (32:46):
You know, what you say makes me think of two
things.
First of all, how the type ofwork of digging around in the
archives and going back into theoriginal language documents
really helps both.
(33:07):
right?
It helps clarify historicalevents and people and, and
situations, but it also helpsclarify, uh, genealogy as well,
right?
So you can find that, thatinterface of genealogy and
history, which I really findfascinating because you, you see
(33:29):
how family connections are soimportant, and yet they're often
really below the surface.
They're not, they're not evidentto the world.
And sometimes exactly the, um,because of the situation we find
ourselves in, with, with theway, you know, California was.
(33:54):
Was annexed pretty quickly in acouple of years, and then things
changed very fast that, thatpeople have to do a lot of work
to recover their history.
And then secondly, the thing youmentioned about how this has a
work of, of years, thatsometimes it's, you can't just
go and do research and find youranswers.
(34:16):
Sometimes it's over time lettingsomething percolate and certain
connections emerge between onething you've seen here one thing
you've seen over there.
And then the, picture starts to,to take shape maybe in a way
that you didn't expect when youstarted out.
Do you, do you find that to betrue yourself?
April Farnham (34:39):
Absolutely.
Um, absolutely, and that's whatI really enjoy about calling
myself an ethno historian is,you know, we're, we're trained
to, um, and I've had some verygreat professors, uh, uh, train
me very well on this.
And, you know, uh, looking atdifferent sources, you know,
from, you know, anthropologicalliterature, archeology, um, you
(35:04):
know, I mentioned the museumcollections, the baskets, um,
oral histories.
Um.
Letters, diaries, of course, youknow, the, the paper trail left,
um, by, you know, differentwritten sources.
Um, and, um, and it's, it's thewhole of that, right?
(35:26):
Looking at it from all thesedifferent perspectives and
angles that, um, is whatmotivates me to, uh, uh, dig
deeper, right?
And, and I keep, like I said, Ikeep finding these new details,
um, by looking at it fromdifferent perspectives.
Um, and, uh, yeah, so now I'm,I'm really focused on the
(35:50):
archival research, particularlyat the Santa Barbara Mission
Archives there.
And, um, wishing I had a littlemore, uh, training in Spanish,
uh, um, you know, translation orearly Spanish script.
But, um, um, it's just, youknow, takes time.
(36:20):
This is the California FrontierShow.
If you would like to know moreabout the California Frontier
Project, visit Californiafrontier.net.
If you would like to support theshow, scroll down in the show
notes and click support theshow.
Then be sure to tell all yourfriends about the podcast.
If you would like to connectwith me, the host, send me an
(36:43):
email atdamien@californiafrontier.net.
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