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We are in the process of collecting resources which can help you research your California Pioneer ancestors. Additional genealogical and historical resources will be posted on a continuing basis. The finding aids contain the names of California Pioneers who have been vetted.


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




Earthquake Pioneers

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.)

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/San_Francisco_County,_California_Genealogy Links to San Fransisco earthquake records

San Fransisco County Wiki Links to San Fransisco earthquake records




Gold Rush Pioneers

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 California Missions Resource Center)

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 membes of Governor Don Gaspar de Portola's expedition to San Diego in 1769 plus the location of records for early California


Historical Resources

Maps at Cyndi's list

Maps at David Rumsey Map Collection

Maps at Library of Congress

Disenos Collection  State of California Spanish land Grant Maps 1866-1871 Hand drawings of 1827-1846 maps, State of California

Solano-Reeve Collection  Nineteenth century survey maps, Huntington Library 


California Digital Newspaper Collection  UC Riverside

US Census on Family Search


Alphabetical index of ships arrivals at the port of San Francsico, California, from ca. 1840 to 1 December 1954 by US, Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Customs (Listing of vessels arriving in San Francisco unindexed)


California Spanish Databases  Assorted Spanish databases compiled by SFgenealogy


Gold and Sunshine Reminiscences of Early California by Colonel James J. Ayres Gorham Press 1922 An account of the early days in California before statehood


Santa Barbara Queen of the Missions by Zephyrin Engelhardtthe James H Barry Company 1923  An account of ealr california with a focus on the Santa Barbara Mission






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