resources

Profiles of California pioneers

Records of the Governance of Southern California

Early Settlers of Old Los Altos/Mountain View  ( a project of the Los Altos Chapter of the DAR 2020-2021)

Guide to the The Society of California Pioneers Collection of Autobiographies and Reminiscences of Early Pioneers (cdlib.org) (153 autobiographies and reminiscences of those who migrated west prior to 1850)

“Who’s Who among the Women of California…” (contains biographies of California Pioneer women, searchable, published in 1922)

California pioneer register and index, 1542-1848: including Inhabitants of California, 1769-1800, and list of pioneers: Bancroft, Hubert Howe, 1832-1918) (More than 1,700 searchable names of men living in California 1769-1800 with some biographical information and Pioneer index)

History of Yolo County California with Biographical Sketches Volume I by Tom Gregory 1913 (Leading men and women of the County identified with its growth and development from early days to the present including Eligible California Pioneers)

History of Solano and Napa Counties California with Biographical Sketches by Tom Gregory 1912 (Leading men and women of the County identified with its growth and development from early days to the present including Eligible California Pioneers)

History of Sonoma County California with Biographical Sketches by Tom Gregory 1911 (Leading men and women of the County identified with its growth and development from early days to the present including Eligible California Pioneers) 

Records of the Families of California Pioneers Gathered by the Various Chapters of the California Daughters of the American Revolution from Original Sources in the Years 1925-1926 Volume II (Includes generational pedigrees of early California pioneers and families including Eligible California Pioneers)

Historical and Biographical Record of Southern California by J. M. Guinn, A.M. 1902 (Contains biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, some of whom are eligible California Pioneers, and a history of Southern California from its earliest settlement to the opening year of the twentieth century)

The Confirmation of Spanish and Mexican Land Grants in California 1974 by Ivy B. Ross Publisher Robert D. Reed (History of Land Grant Validation in Early California)

United States. | Spain. Military Histories | California. Military Records, Military Histories | Illinois. | Hancock. Miscellaneous Records, Probate Records | Logan. Census | Stark. Census, Military Records | Sandusky. Vital Records 1867–1908 | Whitman. Census, Military Records | Carmel. Census | Tishomingo. Directories, History Records. (California patriots during Spain's 1779-1783 war with England)    

The Expedition into California of the Venerable Padre Fay Junipero Serra and his companions in the year 1769 by Francisco Palou, Jose de Galvez, Douglas Sloane Watson, Thomas Workman Temple (Account of Junipro Serra's Life as told by Francisco Palou) 

The San Francsico digital history archive (Early records in San Francisco's history)

San Fransisco County Wiki (Links to San Francisco records)

Blue Book of San Fransiscans in Public Life (Biographies of prominent San Fransiscans)

The Builders of a Great City: San Francisco's Representative men, the City, its History and Commerce: Pregnant Facts Regarding the Growth of the leading Branches of Trade Industries and Products of the State and Coast v.01 (Contains the names and lives of prominent San Franciscans)

Golden Nugget Library (Website with California, Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco San Joaquin and San Mateo databases plus earthquake photos and Biographies)

The Maritime Heritage Project (Database of Ships, Passengers, Captains, Merchants, Merchandise arriving in San Francsico between 1849 and 1899)

Library of Congress Early California History (Overview of Early California History including Spanish and Mexican rule, the mission, gold rush, mines and towns)

https://sfmuseum.org (Chronicle of events in San Francisco 1846-1849)

Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly, 40 March 1958 (Fifteen Decisive Events of California History by Rockwell Hunt)

Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly, 43 March 1961   (Pioneer Builders of Los Angeles by Margaret Romer)

Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly, 39 March 1957  (The Carrillos of San Diego: A Historic Spanish Family of California by Brian McGinty)

Quarterly Publication of the Historical Society of Southern California, 18 June 1936 (Three articles on the Butterfield Stage)

Tuolumne County History: Compiled from the most Authentic Records (Reprint from 1882 edition published by B.F. Alley San Francisco)

Shasta County Dictionary of Early Shasta County History (Alphabetical listing of people with biographies of early residents)

Native Daughters of the Golden West (Index to roster of pioneers prior to 1870)

Spanish Clonization in the Southwest (Frank W Blackmar Batimore 1890 John Hopkins University)

1906 Earthquake Eyewitness Accounts (sfmuseum.org) (32 digital eyewitness accounts, sorted alphabetically by the author-witness surname, from The Museum of the City of San Francisco collection “Eyewitnesses to the Earthquake and Fire”)

The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire (Biographies, narratives, maps and photographs from the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley)

One Hundred Years Ago : Two Days in San Francisco—1906   (Winter/Spring 2005, Volume 51, Numbers 1 & 2, The Journal of San Diego History, SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY)

Crocker-Langley 1906 San Francisco directory Volume 1 - 3 (Contains an alphabetical list of businesses and citizens. It includes officers, churches, schools, associations, banks and institutions.)

San Fransisco County Wiki  (Links to San Fransisco earthquake records)

1850 and 1860 Census Links ( Links to 1850 and 1860 California Gold Rush Counties)

The Gila Trail: the Texas Argonauts and the California gold rush by Benjamin Butler Harries (History of the Texas Argonauts)

The argonauts of 'forty-nine: some recollections of the plains and the diggings by David Rohrer Leeper (The story of the Argonauts travel to California s told by one of the party)

Life on the plains and among the diggings: being scenes and adventures of an overland journey to California: with particular incidents of the route, mistakes and sufferings of the emigrants, the Indian tribes, the present and future of the great West by Alonzo Delano  (Experiences of the author traveling across the plains to California in 1849)

Notes and documents: an official list of the members of the Híjar-Padrés Colony for Mexican California, 1834 by C. Alan Hutchinson (List of the members of the Hijar-Padres Expedition which reached California in 1834)

The overland stage to California: Personal reminiscences and authentic history of the great overland stage line and pony express from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean by Frank A Root (Personal reminiscences of the start of overland stage travel to California)

Gold Fever! The Lure and the Legend (Virtual Tour of the Oakland Museum)

Missions Pioneers

Missions of California   (the Spanish Missions of California)

California Missions Pioneers  (The Early California Population Project (ECPP) database. Includes the historic mission registers—which contains records of baptisms, marriages and burials— on the Native Americans, soldiers and settlers of Alta California. Huntington Library. (The Early California Population Project: A Database Compiled and Developed at the Huntington Library. General Editor, Steven W. Hackel, Lead Compiler, Anne M. Reid. (The Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 2006.)))

The Parochial Books of the California Missions, Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly September 1961 (www.familysearch.org/library/books)

California Missions Foundation Website  (General information about the California mission  CMF)

Pioneer's Residence

Ramo de Californias 1582-1842   ( The "Californias" document series in the National Archive of Mexico comprises historical materials from the vice-regal period of Mexican history that deal with both Lower and Upper California. The documents are not arranged in chronological order and are often separated by wide intervals of time. Many of the vols. include an index.  Films 1857189-1857200,1857215-1857224,1857277-1857293,1909390)

Spanish Archives 1833-1845 Films 978888-978901 

Wagons East Across the Sierra, Allen Fifield  (Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly September 1961) 

Early California and Nogales, Arizona lists of expeditionary members, soldiers and residents, 1752, 1775, 1781-1837: material emphasizes Santa Barbara, Calif. by Santa Barbara Genealogical Society (Indexes and Images at the FamilySearch Library)

Sources for Tracing Spanish-American Pedigrees in the Southwestern United States Part II California and Arizona by Thomas Workman Temple II 1969 World Conference on Records and Genealogical Seminar Salt Lake City 5-8 August 1969 (Lists of members of Governor Don Gaspar de Portola's expedition to San Diego in 1769 plus the location of records for early California)