THE LITTLE LADY OF LAGUNITAS
A FRANCO-CALIFORNIAN ROMANCE
By Richard Henry Savage
Project Gutenberg Editor's Note: There are many French words in this file which have missing letters or invalid symbols because the character set in which this file was produced did not supply letters with the needed diacritic marks. If any reader with skill in the French language is able to correct all these problem words, it would be much appreciated. DW
INTRODUCTION.
Forty-two years have passed since California's golden star first glittered in the flag of the United States of America.
Its chequered history virtually begins with the rush for gold in '48-'49.
Acquired for the evident purpose of extending slave-holding territory, it was occupied for years by a multitude of cosmopolitan "free lances," who swept away the defenceless Indians, and brutally robbed the great native families, the old "Dons."