Californio

A Californio was a Spanish-speaking inhabitant of New Spain's and, later Mexico's, Alta California, prior to its annexation by the United States after the Mexican-American War.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Californios included both the descendants of European settlers from Spain and Mexico, and also included Mestizos and local Native Americans who adopted Spanish culture and converted to Catholicism. Much of Californio culture and society lived at or near the many Missions, which were established in the 18th and 19th centuries. Some Americans became honorary Californios due to their early arrival, marriage to Californio girls, and their adoption of and adaptation to Spanish culture and religion.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Richard Henry Dana, Jr., recorded his 1834 visit as a sailor to California in Two Years Before the Mast.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The end of Californio culture is depicted in the novel Ramona, written by Helen Hunt Jackson in 1884. The fictional Zorro has grown to become the most identifiable Californio due to short stories, motion pictures and television; though the historical truth of the era is sometimes lost in the story-telling.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Spanish: Spanish can mean:...

New Spain: New Spain (Spanish: Nueva Espa?a) was the name given to the viceroy-ruled colonial territories of the Spanish Empire from 1525 to 1821....

Mexico: The United Mexican States or Mexico (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos or M?xico; regarding the use of the variant spelling M?jico, see section The name below) is a country located in North America, bordered by the United States to the north, and Belize and Guatemala to the southeast. It is the nort...