As part of my research into the disputed story of Juan
Flores, I bought a copy of Cosas de California, reminisces by one
Antonio Coronel (pictured, in the Joe Louis-at-Caesar's-Palace-phase of his life) where he touches briefly on Orange County's original
dirty Mexican. I thought it was going to be a difficult get since most
older texts regarding California history fall out of print or find new
life as expensive university publications, but there it is on Amazon, cheap. What came to me, however, was just another insult heaped on the Californios.
The publication was fine–complete, with liner notes and footnotes. But
it's presented as a children's book, featuring illustrations a couple
of lines removed from Dora the Explorer. The Newport Beach Public
Library has a copy in its children's section, when it really belongs
alongside more “serious” histories upstairs. I guess such a
classification for eyewitness Californio accounts isn't
surprising–ridiculed in their time, now, and forever as a bunch of dumb
Mexicans. The more things change…
