#quick kills

Nice! 1858 wine label from Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo’s vineyard at Lachryma Montis (his home in Sonoma). 

Source: Vallejo family papers, BANC MSS C-B 441, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley (box 11, folder 10).

Creating a finding aid for the Vallejo Family papers here at the Bancroft Library. Here’s a great document in California history. It is Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo’s 1846 parole document in which he pledges not to take up arms against the United States or the residents of California. He made this pledge while being held prisoner at Sutter’s Fort. Note the signature of John A. Sutter at the bottom of the letter. 

The document (which is probably a contemporary copy) reads as follows:

Fort Sacramento

New Helvetia

August 2nd, 1846

This is to certify that having been made a Prisoner by the residents of California in arms asserting the Independence of California, I, in consideration of being set at liberty, hereby most solemnly pledge my sacred word of honor, not to take up arms against the United States of North America or the Residents of California. That I will not furnish supplies, carry communications or in any way assist any person or persons who may be opposed to the United States of North America or the above named residents of California, or leave me proper district without permission from the Commander of Yerba Buena, understanding distinctly that if this pledge is not faithfully performed my life is forfeited wherever I may be found. 

And hereunto I affix my hand and seal.

Witness

John A. Sutter

M.G. Vallejo

Julio Carrillo

_______________________________________________________

Caption: Vallejo Family papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, BANC MSS C-B 441 (box 11, folder 9).

Stud Cards from the Cooper-Molera Family Papers

Just finished processing the Cooper-Molera family papers at the Bancroft Library. These papers, along with the Cooper-Molera papers held by the Society of California Pioneers, document some quite interesting early California families.

John Rogers Cooper (1791-1872) came to Monterey, California from New England in 1823 as captain of the trading schooner Rover. In Alta California, Cooper became a Mexican citizen and took the name Juan Bautista Rogerio Cooper. He married Encarnacion Vallejo (1809-1902), sister of General Mariano Vallejo. In 1829, Cooper purchased Rancho Bolsa del Potrero y Moro Cojo, which sat between the Salinas River and the Tembladero Slough, near present Castroville. Rancho El Sur, a land grant made in 1834 by Governor Jose Figueroa to Juan Bautista Alvardo, was transferred to Cooper in 1840 in exchange for Rancho Bolsa del Potrero y Moro Cojo. Cooper's claim on Rancho El Sur was confirmed by the United States in 1866. Until the late 1920s, Rancho El Sur was a working ranch and farm operated by descendants of John B. Rogers Cooper, including daughter Amelia Cooper (1844-1918) and her husband Eusebio Joseph Molera (1846-1932), and Amelia's and Eusebio's children, Andrew J. Molera (1875-1931) and Frances Mary Molera (1879-1968). On this land currently sits Andrew Molera State Park.

The papers at the Bancroft Library date from 1803 to 1970 and include materials created by patriarch John B. Rogers Cooper (including ship logs) as well as materials from a range of his descendants and their spouses. 

Many of the items in the collection, including the wonderful stud cards pictured above, document, in detail, the operations of El Sur Ranch in Monterey County. 

Lara Michels

The George Elmendorf collection of Mexican miscellany now has a detailed finding aid on the Online Archive of California. The collection consists of a chronologically arranged series of Mexican manuscripts dating from 1584 to 1973. These manuscripts were collected by George Elmendorf of Libros Latinos booksellers and purchased by the Bancroft Library in 1986. The materials are varied in scope and document religious, political, military, economic, and linguistic activity. Although already open to researchers at the Bancroft Library, the collection has been difficult to access because of a lack of descriptive detail. This new item-level listing should help researchers discover the treasures within. The images included here represent just a fraction of the manuscripts in the collection but they do convey the richness and scope of them.

In early December, we had the chance to hear Lynn Lurie read from her latest novel, Quick Kills, alongside Atticus Lish.  We would like to thank her for participating in the event and taking the time to answer a few questions about her personal reading and writing.  If you haven’t check it out already, be sure to also read our Q&A with Atticus Lish.

How did you come to write Preparation for the

Atticus Lish in Conversation with Lynn Lurie December 10th

We are thrilled to have author Atticus Lish read and discuss his first novel, Preparation for the Next Life, at our Columbus store this Wednesday, December 10th, at 7pm.  Lish will be joined in conversation with Lynn Lurie, author of Corner of the Dead, winner of the Juniper Prize for Fiction, and Quick Kills.  Though both writers are based in New York City, critics have pointed out that…