Roundup: February 10, 2016
Almansor Court – 700 S. Almansor, Alhambra, CA
Social Hour: 5:00 PM
Dinner: 6:00 PM
Our Speaker: Abraham Hoffman
His Subject: “Dangerous Journeys: Mortality Among Jedediah Smith’s Companions, 1825-1831”
Jedediah Smith was one of the most famous fur trappers in Western history, yet little has been written about the men who accompanied him on his many dangerous journeys. Smith’s company of trappers had an unusually high mortality rate. Abe Hoffman will demonstrate that one of the most dangerous places way out west was standing next to Jed Smith. Working with him was almost a suicide mission.
Abraham Hoffman was born in Los Angeles. He attended Los Angeles City College and received B.A. and M.A. degrees from Los Angeles State College (now California State University, Los Angeles), then earned his doctorate in History at UCLA. Dr. Hoffman taught in Los Angeles schools for more than thirty years and has also been an adjunct professor at Los Angeles Valley College since 1974. He serves on the board of editors for Southern California Quarterly, reviews books, and contributes articles to history publications. His books include Unwanted Mexican Americans in the Great Depression: Repatriation Pressures, 1929-1939, and Vision or Villainy: Origins of the Owens Valley-Los Angeles Water Controversy. His latest book is Mono Lake: From Dead Sea to Environmental Treasure published by the University of New Mexico Press. In addition to being a member of the Los Angeles City Historical Society, he is also a member of the Historical Society of Southern California, Organization of American Historians, Western History Association, Western Writers of America, and the Los Angeles Corral of Westerners.
Brian Dervin Dillon
Deputy Sheriff
Roundup: January 13, 2016
Almansor Court – 700 S. Almansor, Alhambra, CA
Social Hour: 5:00 PM
Dinner: 6:00 PM
Speaker: Brian Dervin Dillon, Ph.D.
Subject: California’s Modoc Indian War, 1872-73: Fact, Fiction, and Fraud
California’s Modoc Indians tenaciously resisted the incursions of white prospectors and settlers. Then, after more than a decade of violence, they found ways to coexist with these new neighbors. Wrong-headed bureaucrats, however, forced the Modocs onto a reservation where they found life intolerable. The Indians only wanted to live in California’s lightly populated “empty quarter,” but the U.S. Government would not let them. So, they fought, defeating and defying military forces up to 25 times their size. The Modoc War of 1872-73 was the most unnecessary and preventable of all 19th Century Indian wars. It unfolded like a Classical Greek tragedy with all participants trapped, inexorably doomed. Insult compounded injury when this tragedy was later trivialized by photographic, literary, and cinematic fraud. The Modocs, one of the smallest of all American Indian tribes, still cast one of the largest shadows, over us all.
Make your reservations early for our first speaker of 2016, our own Brian Dervin Dillon, Deputy Sheriff. This will be a fascinating look into a very important aspect of California’s rich Native American history. Come one, come all!
John Selmer
Deputy Sheriff
Los Angeles Corral of Westerners
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