080: Soldiers' Wives on the California Frontier Part 2 | April Farnham, Ethnohistorian

Join us as we conclude our interview with ethnohistorian April Farnham, delving into the lives and contributions of mixed Spanish and indigenous families in Northern California during the late 18th and 19th centuries. 

From the Anza Expedition to the intricate social fabrics of families like the Juarez and Carillo, we explore matrimonial investigations, multicultural interactions, and the significant roles of women in preserving and merging diverse cultures. 

Discover how these early settlers shaped the cultural and historical landscape of California, specifically in the areas surrounding San Francisco Bay, Napa, and Sonoma. 

Don't miss out on learning new historical revelations and the ongoing efforts to uncover more about California's rich heritage.

00:00 Introduction to the Interview with April Farham
01:52 Exploring Matrimonial Investigations
04:08 Connections to the Anza Expedition
05:22 The Carillo Family Lineage
07:32 Multilingual Influences and Relationships
14:23 Research Directions and Future Projects
23:55 The Role of Women in Preserving Culture
30:16 Events and Activities at Sonoma State Historic Park
32:46 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

0:00

So today we're going to finish off my interview with ethno historian April Farham, and we're gonna talk about some of the families, these mixed families of Spanish and indigenous people that came together. In the late 18th century and populated California down into the 19th century. April's going to talk about specific names, people, places, especially in Northern California, in the area north of San Francisco, and get into what. Their contributions, what their lives were like, and we're gonna bring it back as far as the Anza Expedition, which brought the whole big group of settlers from Northern, what is today, northern Mexico, Southern Arizona. So Nora to California and to specifically the northern part of the San Francisco Bay area. We're either going to talk about, you know, what it was like to be a California, uh, uh, Mexican, California woman and live in the south of the United States during the 1860s at the time of the Civil War. So I. There are some real fascinating details that April's gonna lead us through, and I hope you'll find some interesting nuggets in it. I definitely did, and I'm really looking forward to the things that April is going to publish and write about in the future. So let's sit back and, uh, watch or listen to my interview with April Farnam.

Damian Bacich 1:53

Is there anything recently or even not so recently that has surprised you or that maybe was unexpected that you found out?

April Farnham 2:04

uh, yeah. So, um, in looking specifically at this, these matrimonial investigations, um, the one that was done particularly for, uh, Maria's grandmother, Ana, and a soldier that she married, Marcus Illa. Um, it's really been a fascinating window to, a couple scholars I really appre, um, respect and admire Rosemary B right. And Robert Sanquez, and their research and their writings. The fact that the soldiers themselves, uh, had a direct participation, um. In these marriages and baptisms, um, you know, both as witnesses and padrinos, you know, godparents, um, very, um, directly involved, right? With these, at least it seems, again, from the writing, uh, with these, um, different events. And, um, I mean, I knew about Rosco, I knew about God parentage and the importance of that. Um, there's a really great book, uh, father of All by Louis Poz, um, uh, they had us read in graduate school, and that really gave me appreciation for how much the, like the De la Gures were involved when the, um, you know, the different baptism ceremonies and marriages, uh, down south. Um, but just recently looking at, you know, some of these matrimonial investigation, it's really given me appreciation for how involved, particularly like these early soldiers of the um. Uh, the different, uh, you know, founding expedition, Spanish Expeditions of California, like the ONS expedition or the Portola expedition, uh, how much they were involved, right? In these early, um, intermarriages, uh, between soldiers and native women at the missions. That, that's been particularly interesting to me.

Damian Bacich 4:05

Yeah, I think that's really interesting as well. And didn't, some of your research has actually gone back to the ONS expedition, right? Um, uh, to, uh, Maria Felician Arba and her descendants are, and the, the Juarez women are connected to her line as well. Am I wrong or am I getting two things mixed up?

April Farnham 4:28

Well, uh, no, you're, you're not getting 'em mixed up, so it has to do, um, it's not a direct blood lineage. So, so, so what it is, is, um. Ana Maria, uh, you know, she was from, uh, a local village in Monterey called the Chasta, which we think might have been a, uh, a ranch area that was, uh, created. Uh, again, I'm going by some of, uh, research by Randy Milliken, um, uh, that was created or relocated right next to Mission Carmel, right, for the purposes of, um, converting local costanoan rums and eSalon people, uh, uh, to the Catholic religion in that area. And, um, so, uh, her parents, um, were specifically, uh, sorry, I have to look up the names here real quick. I apologize. Uh, uh, her, her father's name was, uh, Joseph Cristobal Carillo, right? That was his Spanish baptized name. His Christianized name, and the reason why he had this last name Carillo. Is because his godparent at his baptism, uh, was Jose Mundo Carillo, right? The one of the founding, uh, clan fathers, if you will, of the Carillo family in San Diego, right. Jose Mundo, Carillo. Um, and, uh, so his connection with Maria, you know, in terms of the Rio surname, um, uh, so Maria had married my understanding, uh, Joaquin Corillo and Jose Mundo, and Joaquin, and you might know more about this than I do. Um, so feel free to jump in Damian on this. Um, as far as I can tell the lineages, Jose Raimundo and Joaquin were either brothers or one was a nephew, uncle. It was that type of relationship. Um, so it's, it's by marriage, right? That, um, the, uh. You know, Jose Cristobal Carillo and his wife, Delfin de Jesus Carillo, right? They had a daughter, Ana Maria Carillo, um, uh, would've been her quote unquote maiden name, right? But maiden name in terms of, you know, under the Spanish, uh, doctrine of, uh, marriage, uh, in, in the mission institution. Um, that possibly right, this, this kinship, kinship was understood between, uh, Maria Juarez and Maria Carillo. I, I can't prove that for sure. I haven't seen anything yet in the writing or the letters that the two of them understood that they had this kinship. Um, it's possible though, um, uh, you know, I'll give credit to Jennifer Lucita, who I know you've had on your show before. Um. And she wrote an amazing article, her and Scott Light on, uh, for, uh, bulletin 2018, um, patriarchal Brokers and Cultural Bedfellows where she explains, uh, very clearly how Maria Carillo was multilingual. Uh, she knew the Diano Diano languages right in San Diego area. And then when she came up here to Sonoma and established her Rancho outside of Santa Rosa, she quickly taught herself, uh, some of the local, um, I think not just Pat one, but Pomo and possibly maybe even wpo, um, dialects, local dialects. And, and similarly, you know, Maria Juarez was multilingual and, um, and, and Maria had seemed to have a relationship with her. Uh. Uh, the servants, the indigenous servants that she had working for her on her Rancho in the same way that Maria Juarez did here in Napa. Uh, so I can't help but think that perhaps they did at one time run into each one each other. Uh, especially when, um, Maria and Cayetano were living briefly in Sonoma before they moved to Napa. Um, they, you know, there was housing there for the soldiers families, um, not just at the, the barracks, uh, when Vallejo moved over there in 1833, but there was soldiers housing cul for the esta guards. Right. And, and CAO was part of the original estas, um, that, uh, served the Padres at Mission San Francisco Solano. So he, he was there as early as 1827. Um, and shortly there. Go ahead.

Damian Bacich 9:24

oh, sorry.

April Farnham 9:25

Right.

Damian Bacich 9:26

knowing how connected all these family. Were, and the, um, and the small number of, of people there were non-indigenous people. Um, I can't imagine that they wouldn't have known each other. It would seem to me, you know, even if there's not evidence that yet, it would seem that they, they must have known each other and interacted.

April Farnham 9:49

I think they did. And, and possibly even Venetia Viejo, you know, being that Maria Carillo was her mother, uh, and, you know, Francisca Venetia Carillo was her maiden name before she became a Viejo. Um, uh, possibly had some interaction with Maria Juarez. Through, through the husband, through Cayetano. Um, Cayetano is often cited as a, a loyal friend of Mariano. They go back to like Monterey Presidio days. I, I think, so Bejo was born first, and then Cayetano was born a couple years afterwards. But they kind of grew up as childhood friends, is my understanding. Um, and, uh, you know, uh, ano was a pretty loyal soldier who served under, you know, by his, um, supervision and his reward for that loyalty. Right. And his service was a Rancho Toula guy. Um, so there was a definitely, it seemed like a close relationship there. Friendship and, um. It, it, you know, Cayetano was there when, um, uh, uh, Mariano was arrested by the Bear flaggers. Right. Um, he sent his brother to try to rescue, uh, uh, Mariano on route to Sutter's Fort. But, you know, uh, at the time, Mariano declined and there's, there's a whole story. You can look that up. Um, and that was CAO's brother Vicente, I believe that was his first name. Um, and so, you know, he was always speaking up and, and writing on, um, Mariano's behalf. Um, and so it, it, it, to me, it, it would seem natural that at some point, I'm sure Benicia had some kind of relationship, or at least acquaintance with Maria

Damian Bacich 11:52

Reading

April Farnham 11:52

the family,

Damian Bacich 11:53

his

April Farnham 11:54

and

Damian Bacich 11:54

Right. It almost seemed like he was. is ano, it

April Farnham 11:59

mm-hmm.

Damian Bacich 11:59

he was defending himself at a certain point not having rescued General Vallejo when he was imprisoned by the bear flaggers. And, and he, he makes the point, well, my brother went over there and, and he didn't, he thought it would be too dangerous, so he told him not to rescue him. and also thought it was funny that, that the brother, uh, dressed as a woman right, to kind of, sneak in and, and talk to them and then, then sneak out. Um, there's so many of these stories that are still in, the archives that, um, that are little by little trickling out, but there's still so much to know.

April Farnham 12:44

Absolutely. And like I said, I keep feeling back the layers and every time I find a new name of a soldier or, um, you know, a, a wife or you know. So just in that, that one matrimonial document that was translated, there's so many different names that have sent me, you know, in different, uh, research paths. Um, one other one I'll, I'll highlight in that matrimonial investigation was, uh, so one of the soldier witnesses who signed off on the, um, the letter for the matrimonial investigation was Vicente Brianne, right? Vincent Brianne, who is one of Brianne's, uh, grandfather and also one of these early soldiers on the, um, I think it's Ons expedition. Um, and, uh, just the fact that he was there at that time, uh, and, and you know, he was signing off another inner marriages as well, right? With, with, uh, Padre Luan Ferman Lessen, uh, and um. So that, you know, every, every time I find names like that, uh, it just fascinates me. And I, I wanna learn more about those particular individuals, um, and how they connect to this story, right? That, um, so far has been centered on Maria Juarez, but, uh, again, it's like it's becoming bigger and bigger, uh, and more all encompassing,

Damian Bacich 14:20

Where are things leading you right now? What, what are you, what direction are you working on at this moment?

April Farnham 14:30

um, with, with this story or with other,

Damian Bacich 14:36

Well, with that story, but if you've got other stories as well that that'd be interesting to know too.

April Farnham 14:41

um, yeah. Um, so I mean, I, I definitely want to, um, you know, with the translation of Kai's testimonial, um. And then this matrimonial investigation that kind of, uh, uh, traces Maria Juarez's lineage right back to the indigenous peoples. Um, I do wanna write an article, serious article for bulletin or another publication, uh, to talk about that. Um, and then, uh, you know, I, um, recently started reading some of the letters of, um, another woman, uh, California woman named, uh, Maria Ampa, um, who had a, uh, you know, highly educated California and a woman, which was unusual for the time, um, uh, who she had a direct relationship with, uh, Mariano Bejo. Um, a correspondence and, um, uh, a num a few scholars have, have, have written about her, um. But a lot of our letters have just been published in Spanish and, um, which I think is wonderful. Um, but I think it would also help the general public to understand a little bit more about, um, specifically about the California's feelings about the Bear Flag revolt and about annexation. Um, if those letters were all translated from Spanish to English. Um, you know, my understanding is, uh, Rosemary Beeb and, and, um, Dr. Seitz, Dr. Beeb and Dr. Seitz have already translated a few of those letters and we'll be publishing them. But I, there's a whole collection, um, different archives. Uh, one of 'em is at the, uh, um, Santa Barbara Archives Library. I think another collection is at the Huntington Library where I would like to kind of, um, I. You know, go down that rabbit hole, so to speak, and, and see if we can't, uh, translate those letters. So, uh, we can understand, um, you know, uh, uh, more about Mr. Vallejo himself, right. And, and, uh, what his values were and, you know, why did he choose to correspond so much with this particular, uh, Californian woman? Um, and, uh, see what, what she, what light she could shed right on, on the history here, Sonoma through the American period. Um, so that's, that's kind of where I'm going right now with that. Um,

Damian Bacich 17:22

she write a, a novel, Squatter and the Dawn is that Maria Ruiz?

April Farnham 17:27

yeah, a couple of them. Yeah. But squatter and the dawn, supposedly the dawn character is based on ano, uh, inspired by him and his life. Um, and, um, I forget the other book she wrote. She wrote a couple books and she was married to a civil war, um, uh, gentleman, civil war officer, lived in the south for a while, so, and that, that is very interesting to me, right? How she navigated this. You know, she was a California nana, uh, in the 1860s living in the American South, and she still had very strong feelings about, uh, the way in which, uh, Mexican, California had been annexed by the us. Um, but then she also had very strong feelings and opinions about the Civil War itself and what was going on there. Uh, so just really fascinating lady. Um, and I've just now, you know, just the tip of the research tip of the iceberg in terms of what I'm learning about her and, and reading up on. Uh, her life. And, um, you know, like I said, some people have, uh, written full biographies on her, but as far as I can tell, nobody's published all of her letters in English, just in, uh, mostly Spanish.

Damian Bacich 18:51

Yeah,

April Farnham 18:51

Um,

Damian Bacich 18:51

had, I think, I we'd probably know because I'm, I'm certainly not aware of it.

April Farnham 18:58

yeah. Yeah. And, um, and I know I realize that when anytime there's a translation from one language to another, as, as I, uh, witness and experience with translating Hawaiian newspaper articles right into English, that there's some cultural meanings lost, there's some, um, some understandings, right, that are sometimes lost in translation. And, and so I respect, you know, wanting to publish right in the original language that it was written. But again, um. I think if, if it could be published in multiple languages, um, then it would just go further in educating everybody right about that history

Damian Bacich 19:46

Yeah, I

April Farnham 19:46

and, and then.

Damian Bacich 19:47

you have languages, then you can sort of a dialogue about. what, what is the meaning of this and what is the meaning of that in its context? And, and you can go back and forth, but, but yeah, you need them both and you definitely need them both. Even though, um, there are, know, a growing number of, of Spanish speaking people in California, which is great, but, but we also need, you know, the vast majority of people are still, uh, mainly English speakers. And, and I think for English speakers to be able to access that material, it also helps make, um, round out the picture of our history better, right? Um, because you do get access to things that you wouldn't have access to otherwise and, and helps you, complete the mosaic, you know, so to speak. So,

April Farnham 20:48

Right. Definitely. I,

Damian Bacich 20:51

Have

April Farnham 20:52

yeah.

Damian Bacich 20:53

oh, sorry, go ahead. Have you interacted with, any of, uh, any Juarez descendants?

April Farnham 21:03

Um, I did briefly. So, um, shortly after we moved here to Napa, um, I had a stint as a librarian in Napa County Library. And, um, one of my first talks, um, was about, uh, uh, you know, just kind of what I learned about these basket collections and the connection to the Juárez family. And so some of the descendants. So they were, as I recall, they were the, the children and grandchildren of Vivian Wares, Juarez, uh, who, like I said, wrote that book, FA passed his father of the present. Uh, and they came, um, uh, uh, again, I think they were from the Vallejo area. Um, and they, uh, they were surprised to. So this is always gratifying to me, right, to, they were surprised to learn. Um, that where those baskets ended up, right. They didn't realize that like the sewing basket that Maria Juarez had and uh, now resides, uh, doesn't reside with California State Parks. It resides over at the, uh, Phoebe Hearst Museum collection. Right. And, um, I think they were seeing that basket for the first time in probably years. I don't know. Um, and, uh, I, I could be wrong, but I think they were also surprised to kind of understand this connection to the indigenous peoples of Napa. Um, because the mem the family memoirs themselves are so focused on the Spanish and, um, Mexican, uh, lineage, uh, from those early Anza expedition, um, soldiers and, and families coming into California that um. You know, the, maybe the indigenous parts of the story had kind of been, you know, erased a little bit over time and, um, so I'm hoping to reconnect with these individuals. Um, I know that they were also, uh, consulted when, uh, the old Adobe here in Napa was fully restored. Um, and, uh, hopefully, you know, maybe they'd be willing to, you know, sit down and share their memories. Maybe they have stories, family histories that were passed down that weren't documented previously. Um, again, to really kind of maybe build up this Maria's story a little bit more. Ano gets a lot of credit here in all the Napa history books, but, and Maria's kind of like, okay, she's a soldier's wife, she's holding down the fort, you know, the Adobe. But obviously she had a little more significant role to play, I think. Um. In early Napa's history, um, and in and in, in the Mexican period.

Damian Bacich 23:55

Well, I think there's a big movement or a big movement. There's a movement now, that started some years back to bring out. Out the stories of these women because their role was so central. And I think that, um, as you are demonstrating, a lot of it was in maintaining and preserving culture, but also, uh, and connecting different cultures. Right? Um,

April Farnham 24:24

Yeah.

Damian Bacich 24:26

the, the, the, the Hispanic, the indigenous, and you know, of course women who marry married, uh, Anglo-Americans or, or Russians for that matter, you know, or Hawaiians, right? There's, played such a, a huge role from that standpoint, and there seems to be a. A movement to, to bring them out and, and tell their stories, you know, I think is great. And I also think that, um, one of the things that I'm seeing is that when you do local history or work on local families, like you're doing, um, that really, these families, especially in the, the Spanish and Mexican periods had connections all over the, the state, the territory, right? And

April Farnham 25:19

Right.

Damian Bacich 25:19

even if it's a family in Napa, right? They have connections in Monterey, in San Diego, in San Francisco, in Sonoma. And so it's never really the story of just a small isolated place, but it's a, a web of connections and relationships that this spreads all over the coast.

April Farnham 25:44

It really is right there. One phrase you used in one of your podcasts earlier is this kind of the interweb or complicated kind of, uh, complex fabric, right? Social fabric that, that was created through the system, Rosco and uh, and baptism and so forth in the Spanish and Mexican period. And I, I, every day I see evidence of that here in, um, the history that I talk about and write about for Napa and Sonoma. Um, can I mention one other book that, uh. Was kind of very influential in my research for this. I neglected earlier to mention that one of the first books I read when we moved here to Napa was, it's called, this Land was Mexican Once by Linda Heidenreich. And uh, so I, I, you know, she really, I get credit for, uh, really kind of shifting the focus first from Cayetano to Maria, uh, Juarez and talking about, uh, you know, some of the, uh, indigenous history here in Napa. So I, I feel like I'm just kind of continuing on that work, right. Adding to the story. 'cause it, there was a few things, again, as I was peeling away the layers in my primary source research that, um, I don't think Linda was aware of, right? Like these baskets that I was uh, mentioning at. The state in the state park, uh, collection and the Phoebe Hearst museum collection and, and how that, um, was evidence of her involvement when the indigenous community, and also the fact that mission records prove that she had this direct blood, you know, lineal descent, um, to, uh, the, uh, uh, indigenous women in the Monterey region. So,

Damian Bacich 27:38

I agree. You know, I met Linda this last October in, um, at the, in Kansas City at the Western History Association Conference.

April Farnham 27:47

oh.

Damian Bacich 27:48

And, um, talked, you know, I just, I saw her there and struck up a conversation with her because, you know, both, both of us having grown up in the Napa Valley and, and I had read her book. And so yeah, it was really, it was great to meet her. And I think that, that, um, that book she wrote, um, is, is exactly that. It's a great focus on, on the, the Napa area, but also exactly the lives of the women, uh, who lived there. And I, I think it. Hopefully it can be sort of a pattern for, for other books like that.

April Farnham 28:23

Yeah, I agree. And, and, uh, when I was working at the Napa Valley Museum and that, that book was like essential reading, um, uh, for all the programs, interpretive programs that we did, um, because it was one of the first books that I encountered really focused on Napa Valley, um, and the connections between the. You know, early, um, pre, pre Mexican period, right? And the indigenous histories of, uh, Napa going through the Mexican Rancho period and then into the American period. And, um, uh, what, you know, what was the focus on the bear fly revolt and, and what was happening there. And so, yeah, um, love that book. Very influential.

Damian Bacich 29:13

Well, yeah, I am looking forward to. the more, more things that you're gonna be doing. And I think that what you're doing now is very interesting and has a, a very broad appeal. And it's great the way that you sort of tie what you're doing to, to other scholars research and, how you're digging into the archives and bringing out these stories that need to be told. And that I really think, uh, help, help expand our vision of of the West and of this the complicated time period, which was the 19th century, right? I think there's so much that we still need to know about it and I think you're really contributing a lot to it. So I wanna really thank you for that and um, appreciate you coming on the podcast and hope you'll come back. And, um, is there anything you wanna mention about. Um, your work with Sonoma, Petaluma Parks, uh, what interesting things there are for people to, to see if they happen to be in the area.

April Farnham 30:26

Oh yeah, absolutely. Um, you know, Sonoma State Historic Park involves Mission San Francisco Solano and General Vallejo's Home. And then we have our sister Park, Petaluma, Adobe. Uh, we are always having new events, uh, activities. Um, we recently had our women, uh, uh, one of the interpreters there organized a very popular Women's History Crawl event. It was attended by over 350 people. Um, different community groups, uh, came together and we were talking about prominent, uh, women, historical women, uh, in and around the area. Um. With Sparks, the Sonoma Petaluma Parks, they continue to sponsor lectures by scholars such as yourself. Um, I gave a talk, um, last week about, um, uh, watercolor artists, little known watercolor artists who, uh, did a lot of paintings of the missions and the Adobe's up and down California in the early 19th century. Um, and, uh, they also sponsor music concerts. So there's, there's always something fun and, um, community oriented going on there, uh, where people not just learn about history, right? But if they could bring their families. And, um, we have Children's Day coming up in June, um, that's at the Sonoma Barracks. Um, so if folks, you know, wanna learn more about these events, I highly encourage you to go to sonoma parks.org. Um, and, um, they're the nonprofit group that supports our state park and everything that we do. Um, and, um, yeah, so I just check it out and, uh, it's definitely worth a visit. I, I give lots of tours, public tours every day. Um, fourth graders included, uh, lots of school groups right now, but eventually also coming in the summer, we'll be offering tours, you know, 45 minutes to an hour to anybody in the public, uh, adults or families that want to just, you know, take a walk through the different structures and get a more, um, you know, broader picture of Sonoma's history and the history there.

Damian Bacich 32:45

That's great. That's great. I think people that come to the Sonoma area, you know, they know it's wine country, but don't think that they often know how, how and, and fascinating the history is there as well. So it can really, round out your visit, you know, while you're, in addition to visiting the wineries and the art galleries and the, the other shops there to really touch and, and see this, this great history that made the place what it is. So, so thank you for that and all the work you do over there.

April Farnham 33:18

Appreciate it. Thank you.

Damian Bacich 33:19

Alright, well April, until, um, next time, it's been great talking to you.

April Farnham 33:26

All right. Thank you so much, Damon. Appreciate being on the show. I.

33:39

I hope you enjoyed this episode of the California Frontier Show. If you'd like to support the show, the best thing to do is to let other people know about it. If you'd like to support it monetarily, there are a couple ways of doing that. One is by scrolling down in your podcast app to where it says, support the show. There you can become a subscriber for as little as $3 a month. And if you wanna give a one-time donation just below, you'll see where it says Give a one-time donation. Finally, the show is supported by California History Teachers, which is a full year of lessons for fourth grade California history and social studies. You can find out more at www.californiahistoryteachers.com, and if you input the coupon code podcast. You'll receive 25% off your monthly or annual subscription, so check it out.