Highlight: Diary of Pedro Font, Anza Expedition 1775-1776

Father Pedro Font journaled the infamous "Anza Expedition". Juan Bautista Anza (alternately spelled Juan Bautista de Anza) a captain of the Presidio of Tubac in Sonora (present day southern Arizona) led the overland expedition from the Sonoran desert to Northern California (colloquially called the "Anza Trail"). Anza was accompanied by several Padres (Fathers) including Father Pedro Font, servants, a group of military men and cattle.

Father Pedro Font's writings which documented the journey were translated and compiled and edited into a book by Frederich J. Teggart, Academy of Pacific Coast History, in 1913. This book contains the Spanish text and English translation. The book has been digitized by the Library of Congress.

Peer into the Anza Expedition via Father Pedro Font's diary,
http://openlibrary.org/books/OL23278305M/The_Anza_expedition_of_1775-1776


Image source: Library of Congress

Access Millions of Digital Documents from the Library of Congress

An amazing source of information is the Library of Congress' website, http://www.loc.gov/about/

The Library of Congress is a research extension of Congress itself. Additionally, it serves to document cultural information. The LOC is the largest library in the United States (and the largest library in the world). It contains millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections- much of which are accessible online! There is a learning curve to effectively conducting research through their online database but its worth it. Considering their massive online database, you're bound to get lost in the world of historical documents.

For example, there's a write-up about Romualdo Pacheco, a Hispanic who has served as Governor of California who served from 1875-1875 (only 10 months). He was son to an upper-echelon Californio couple, Ramona Carillo de Pacheco and Captain Romualdo Pacheco. He was born in Santa Barbara, California on October 31, 1831. You can read more about his life at the LOC's website, http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/congress/pacheco.html

Romualdo Pacheco
Image source: Library of Congress

For more information about Romualdo as Governor of California, visit http://governors.library.ca.gov/12-Pacheco.html