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• CALIFORNIA DAY OF THE GRIZZLY

  $25.00 $15.00 0 review(s)

  
  

  In 1769, some 10,000 grizzlies roamed California. One hundred years later, these magnificent beasts faced extinction. Today they are long gone. In The Day of the Grizzly, prominent California historian William Secrest, Sr. (California Desperadoes, When the Great Spirit Died) tells the fascinating story of the most ferocious animal in the West and how it met it’s demise at the hand of man. Grizzlies were slaughtered out of fear, used for meat, and even forced to fight with bulls for the sheer sport of it. Day of the Grizzly includes the story of the life of greatest bear man of them all—Grizzly Adams! As with all of Secrest’s books this one is lavishly illustrated with contemporary photographs and engravings. Some never published before.

• THE SAN JOAQUIN: A RIVER BETRAYED

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  The story of the San Joaquin California's heartland river its people, its places, its past. In the maiden embrace of Thousand Island Lake, Garnet Lake and Shadow Lake sparkling gems of the John Muir Trail country the collected droplets of what will become the San Joaquin River gather. At these first resting spots, the waters stand clear and cold, but this pristine distinction is not to last. Wending its way down towering mountains, through deep canyons and between undulating foothills, the river passes some of the most beautiful country in America, yet by the time it reaches the San Joaquin Delta, nearly 400 miles and 10,000 vertical feet later, it has become little more than a public sewer, a fouled, controlled drain for agricultural and municipal wastewater. While nearly all of America's major rivers have been compromised, few have been so misused as the San Joaquin. In its comparatively brief history it has been dammed, diverted and depleted beyond comprehension. Some see the San Joaquin as a river betrayed. This book is not an academic history; rather, it is the story of a real river its people, its places and its past based on the lives and letters of those who have known it firsthand. More than anything, this book seeks to identify the forces and figures who have shaped, altered and corrupted the course of a once mighty river. So come, step back in time and travel along; there's one of the old river steamers now. Hop onboard and journey up the river. You can reflect on the river's rich and colorful past and visit its backwaters and byways. You'll also have a chance to stop and examine those places where the water barons and power brokers left their mark, as well as the spots where government intervention went awry. And perhaps during the journey you'll gain a bit of insight about the hard choices to be faced if the wise use of this essential resource is to prevail.

• FRESNO'S ARCHITECTURAL PAST VOL. II

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  Downtown Fresno?s historic architecture comes to life once more in this review of remarkable buildings. Stunning watercolor portraits, paired with brief passages that address each of the 24 buildings? rich past, highlight a variety of extant structures. Images of buildings familiar to local residents, including City Hall, the Brix Mansion, and Fire Department Station #3, accompany other landmarks famous even beyond the city limits, among them the original McDonald?s restaurant and the Russ Clements Service Station. A useful glossary of architectural terms and additional images of key architectural points complete a fascinating look at Fresno?s charming local heritage.

• THE CALIFORNIA SNATCH RACKET

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  Subtitle: "Kidnappings During the Prohibition and Depression Eras." In California in the 1920s and 1930s, kidnapping—nicknamed the “snatch racket” by a cynical newspaperman—was the most booming criminal enterprise around. Driven by greed, desperation and sometimes plain stupidity, ransom artists preyed indiscriminately on Hollywood socialites, wealthy heiresses and even poor people who couldn’t pay a dime. Every new disappearance sold more newspapers, but for both the kidnappers and their unfortunate victims, even the simplest caper often went tragically wrong. “California Snatch Racket” brings this dark and forgotten era into shockingly vivid life. Richly illustrated, “California Snatch Racket” reflects newspaper, police, court and prison accounts of the times written in a style that places the reader on the scene. Avoiding supposition and sensationalism, the book offers true accounts of the crimes and the people. These 15 bizarre, often ironic tales illustrate the complex cruelties that flourished in the Golden Era of the Golden State. A modern city rises and lynches a pair of kidnappers. A victim begs leniency for his kidnapper in a case where a technicality demands the death penalty. A couple of college kids imitate the Leopold and Loeb kidnapping to prove their intellectual prowess and famed evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson fakes her own kidnapping to cover up an affair. “California Snatch Racket” recounts its stories in the manner of the times, while leaving judgment to the courts and the readers.

• WHEN THE GREAT SPIRIT DIED- [LSI]: THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CALIFORNIA INDIANS

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  "This man has scalped more Indians than any other person living on this coast, and has his trophies to prove the fact." This was the headline of an article in the San Francisco Examiner in early 1899. The reporter had obtained an interview with one Jackson Farley, a pioneer rancher who had settled in Mendocino County in 1857. Was this merely the idle boast of an old man seeking notoriety? Not at all. Farley pointed out dozens of Indian scalps decorating the walls of his cabin. Too, the reporter duly noted the fact that Farley recited his tales while sitting in his "Indian hide-bottomed chair." A member of one of Farley’s 1859 Indian hunting forays testified that: "On the first night we found and surrounded a rancheria in which we found two wounded Indians and one old squaw, all of which we killed; on our return home we found another rancheria which we approached within fifteen feet before the Indians observed us; then they broke for the brush, and we pursued them and killed thirteen bucks and two squaws."

• THE CASTLES OF THE ASSASSINS

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  For nearly 150 years the secret society of the Assassins used subterfuge, intimidation, and assassination to control the Middle East from Syria to Persia. This vast reign of terror reached its zenith in the eary 12th century. By 1256 the Assassins had disappeared without a trace. This is the account of the 1960 British expedition to the Alamut Valley in north Iran, to search for the remains of the Assassins castles.