TALES OF MEXICAN CALIFORNIA by Antonio...

TALES OF MEXICAN CALIFORNIA by Antonio Coronel, translated from the Spanish by Diane de Avalle-Arce, edited by Doyce B. Nunis Jr. (Bellerophon Books: $8.95; 104 pp., illustrated, paperback original) In 1877, Coronel dictated this memoir for historian H. H. Bancroft, detailing the intrigues that led to the acquisition of California by the United States. A prominent member of Los Angeles society until his death in 1894, Coronel recounts tales that range from the unscrupulous practices of Gold Rush claim-jumpers to the hospitality of Mexican California: “A traveller could go up to any house in California, confident he could stay however many days he liked and pay nothing for roof, bed, food and even horses to continue his journey.”