California vieja

"The characteristic look of Southern California - with its red-tiled roofs, stucco homes, and Spanish street names - suggests an enduring fascination with the region's Spanish-Mexican past. In this engaging study, Phoebe S. Kropp reveals that the origins of this aesthetic were rooted not solely in the Spanish colonial period but also arose in the early twentieth century, when Anglo residents recast the days of missions and ranchos as an idyllic golden age of pious padres, placid Indians, dashing caballeros, and sultry senoritas. Four richly detailed case studies uncover the efforts of Anglo boosters and examine the responses of Mexicans and Indian people to the construction of places that gave shape to this cultural memory."--BOOK JACKET.