Roundup: January 10, 2018

Almansor Court – 700 S. Almansor, Alhambra, CA.
Social Hour: 5:00 PM
Dinner: 6:00 PM

Our Speaker: Brian Dervin Dillon
His Subject: California, the Irish Paradise

California, the Irish Paradise: After more than 600 years of brutal occupation by the English, Ireland suffered one of the worst natural calamities of modern times:  the Potato Famine of the mid-1840’s. Now the Emerald Isle truly became hell on earth.  One quarter of the Irish population starved to death, and another quarter emigrated, mostly to the United States.  The story of Irish immigrants on the American East Coast is well known, almost a cliché.  Much less familiar is the history of Irish “conquistadores” throughout Latin America, including Mexican California, long before the Great Famine. Also overlooked is the story of how the Irish, beginning with the Gold Rush, turned California into the best place to be Irish anywhere in the world. At the same time that the Irish were starving back home in Ireland and being discriminated against on the American Atlantic Seaboard, California had become an Irish Paradise, and Irish people were enjoying freedoms in the Golden State that would be denied them for many years to come everywhere else. Dr. Dillon’s California, the Irish Paradise was published by the California Territorial Quarterly in 2016 in issue No. 108: his January 2018, presentation is based upon this recent study.

Brian Dervin Dillon is a fifth-generation Californian with Gold Rush ancestors, descended from Famine and pre-Famine Irish immigrants, including the earliest (1650) Irishman of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  An archaeologist, he is both the son and the father of historians.  A Phi Beta Kappa and Fulbright Fellow, at age 25 Brian was the youngest-ever U.C. Berkeley Ph.D. in Archaeology. Dillon has done archaeology in California since 1972, in Guatemala and three other Central American countries since 1974. Widely published in Maya and California archaeology and in California history, Brian has taught and lectured at UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCLA Extension, CSU Long Beach, The Southwest Museum and for the California State Department of Forestry. He is the recipient of more than two-dozen grants, fellowships and awards, and was just honored with his 6^th consecutive Coke Wood Award for historical writing by Westerners International.  Brian was Sheriff of the Los Angeles Corral of the Westerners for 2017.

Posted by Jim Macklin, Deputy Sheriff.  Read about FIVE BIG CHANGES below.  Especially BIG CHANGE #5 about Your 2018 Dues!

Dinner Reservations

BIG CHANGE # 1 Based on our 2018 arrangements with Almansor Court, the cost of meals to the Corral will increase significantly. You should expect that the price for the later Roundups will also go up after the Trail Bosses meet.  However, a dinner reservation for the January Roundup still costs just $35.00.  Attend in January before the price goes up!

BIG CHANGE # 2 Almansor Court will no longer offer four dinner choices but only three. For the January Roundup, we will offer only beef, chicken or vegetarian dinners. Please choose your entrée and make out your check to “Westerners, Los Angeles Corral,” or submit your payment online as EARLY AS YOU CAN but no later than one week before the Roundup date.  Walk-ins can be served, but entrée choices will be limited to what is on hand.  The “late price” is still just $40.00.

BIG CHANGE # 3 No more “Sheas,” no more “Shuttleworths” and no more “Macklins!” If you insist on sending a check, mail it to Ms. Therese Melbar, the new Registrar of Marks and Brands at 549 South Aldenville Avenue, Covina, CA 91723-2909. Late reservations or questions may be addressed to Therese via Email: tmelbar@cpp.edu or by telephone (661) 343-9373.

BIG CHANGE # 4 Please make your payments on the Corral’s webpage if possible! Paying online is easier and less expensive for you and more efficient for the Registrar and Keeper of the Chips to process. Please pay your 2018 dues and your 2018 Roundup reservations online ASAP rather than sending a check! Just log onto our website (www.lawesterners.org) and go to the Members Only tab.    Click on the Roundup Store option or the 2018 Annual Dues Store option, and follow the instructions. “Old Joe” Cavallo at (626) 372-5126 will gladly help you if needed.

BIG CHANGE # 5 A REAL DUES BARGAIN!  The final big change is the potential increase in the Corral’s 2018 Annual Dues.  The dues have not changed since 2013 when they were increased from $40 to $45.  Just the direct printing and mailing costs of monthly Roundup notices, Branding Irons, Keepsakes, etc. now eat up the $45 dues each member paid in 2017.  Since there are other necessary indirect costs for the Corral, we will probably increase the dues in 2018.  However, if you pay your 2018 dues before the next Trail Boss meeting in January – preferably online at 2018 Annual Dues Store but also with a check sent with your January Roundup reservation, you will be able to pay only the old $45 rate. Don’t let this deal pass you by!

Forthcoming Los Angeles Corral Presentation

Jeannette Davis
February 14th, 2018
The Donner Party Incident:  A Family Perspective                      

 

Contact Jim Macklin, Deputy Sheriff, at 1221 Greenfield Avenue, Arcadia, CA 91006-4148, at  jhmcpa@earthlink.net or (626) 446-6411 with any questions or news items.

Roundup: December 13, 2017

Almansor Court – 700 S. Almansor, Alhambra, CA.
Social Hour: 5:00 PM
Dinner: 6:00 PM

Our Speaker: Peter Blodgett 
Subject: Pioneering Motor Tourists in the Trans-Mississippi West, 1900-1920

This illustrated lecture will discuss the evolution of automobile-borne tourist travel in the American West during the early years of the twentieth century.  In doing so, it will demonstrate the significant impact of the motor car upon the economic, social, cultural and technological history of the region during the era of America’s widespread adoption of the automobile.

Peter Blodgett currently holds the position of the H. Russell Smith Foundation Curator of Western American History at the Huntington Library.  Peter received his bachelor’s degree in American history from Bowdoin College and master’s and doctoral degrees from Yale University.  Since joining the Huntington in 1985, he has been responsible for the library’s rare original documents concerning the history of the trans-Mississippi West.  He has assisted hundreds of researchers in successfully consulting the Library’s holdings and has overseen the acquisition of dozens of collections of historical records.  Peter has spoken and written widely on national parks, tourism and recreation as well as the management of manuscripts and archives.  He has organized exhibitions at the Huntington, most recently “Geographies of Wonder: America’s National Parks,” in 2016-17.

The Corral’s members who know Peter report that he is a dynamic speaker and engaging raconteur. You don’t want to miss his presentation.  Bring a guest for Peter’s special holiday gift to us all in addition to our traditional Cherries Jubilee!

This Roundup is our annual holiday celebration. Also, it’s the time of the year that we pass the gold-panning pans for donations to our servers at the Almansor Court to express our appreciation for their diligent and patient care of us all year.  Remember to bring a generous amount of cash!

Roundups

Roundup: November 8, 2017

Almansor Court – 700 S. Almansor, Alhambra, CA.
Social Hour: 5:00 PM
Dinner: 6:00 PM

Our Speaker: Philip Nathanson
Subject: Santa Fe’s Golds’ Rush: the Indian Curio Business and Santa Fe in the Latter Half of the 19th Century

After arriving in Santa Fe in the 1850s, Louis Gold and his sons Aaron, Abe and Jake became the pioneer merchants in New Mexico dealing in Indian curios and related goods, best known for establishing Gold’s Free Museum and Old Q-Riosity (sic)  Shop on San Francisco Street and Burro Alley in the early 1800s. The three sons managed various  enterprises into the early 20^th century, when Jake was jailed and Abe died. This is the story of my great- great- grandfather Louis Gold and his significant and colorful frontier merchant descendants and their Santa Fe.

Philip D. Nathanson, a member of our Corral since 2012,  was born in Connecticut and went west in time to attend high school in then-smoggy Pasadena. He has a B.A. degree from UCLA and a Ph. D. ( Economics ) from the University of Michigan. He has published on early California photography and purchased an image of Gold’s Free Museum and Old Q-Riosity Shop decades ago before he knew it was his ancestor’s store.

Factoid:  What is the structure on the roof of the “Museum” behind the sign?

Sheriff Brian Dervin Dillon, Ph.D.

You can view Sheriff Dillon’s current endeavors here.  Otherwise, you can view them below.  New entries are in red font. 

Member Endeavors LA Corral Web Page Posting for Brian Dervin Dillon