11/20/2025 Sonoma SHP

Write Long And Beautiful Letters: The Vallejos’ Californio Correspondence, 1846-1888 A Lecture by Rose Marie Beebe and Robert M. Senkewicz

November 20, 2025 at 7:00 pm
Doors open at 6:30 pm

The ChapelMission San Francisco Solano
114 East Spain Street, Sonoma

Admission at the Door
General Public: $10
SPParks Members: $5
Sonoma/Petaluma State Parks Docents and Staff: Free

The American conquest of California and the discovery of gold shortly after, dramatically changed the world in which the Mexican inhabitants of California had lived for decades.

This presentation will explore how one family, the Vallejos, tried to navigate these political, social, and cultural changes. Mariano Guadalupe lamented the family’s loss of property and social standing and told his wife Francisca Benicia, “Ending up poor because the most powerful government in the world has taken over my most valuable properties is not my fault.” But she, trying to raise eight children at home, told him, “You say that you love me and the family so much...why do you leave me alone for so long now that the family needs your guidance?”

The Vallejo family dynamics and their daily life experiences throw important light upon an often neglected aspect of California’s past.

Through their personal letters we see how the Vallejos, like many other Mexican families, struggled to raise their children in an environment they did not entirely understand, and to help each other maintain their dignity and social authority in this new world.

California State Parks supports equal access. Prior to arrival, visitors with disabilities who need assistance should contact Sonoma State Historic Park at (707) 938-9547. 711, TTY relay service.