| When "Distant Gold: Inland Southern California
1842-1882" opens at the Museum of History and Art, Ontario, on April 21,
local history stands to be examined from a thought-provoking perspective.
For this wide-ranging project, running through August 1, the Museum has
identified sixteen local historic sites and made them part of its focus on the
post-Gold Rush years in the region, a time -- like today -- of many cultures,
languages and traditions brought together in a changing landscape.
The Museum has also arranged a series of activities and events during April
and May that offer even more pathways to explore one of the most interesting --
and challenging -- times in California history. Included are free History Alive!
Chautauqua presentations of four fascinating real characters from the era, a
special reception and scholar's lecture, and a free family day of stories, music
and traditions of the time.
Like the rest of the state, inland Southern California was transformed
dramatically and forever in the wake of the 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter's
Mill. By 1882, when Canadian George Chaffey founded Ontario, the region once
dominated by sprawling ranchos and cattle was home to railroads, boom towns,
settlement colonies with high-minded religious and moral guidelines, and
agricultural tracts.
New arrivals -- Americans from every other state, Europeans and Asian
immigrants, the Mormons who founded San Bernardino -- had all come to start new
lives, bringing with them a plethora of different customs, traditions and
influences. For those already here, Native Americans and the Spanish-speaking
native-borns known as Californios, it was a time of loss, adaptation, and
struggles to preserve their own identities, cultures and histories.
In less than 40 years, such basics of everyday life as language, religion,
land-use patterns and economic systems, all changed. The ambitious Museum
exhibit asks the question: What was life like for these people with only
location in common?
The title of the exhibit "Distant Gold," reveals itself in a
multi-faceted search for answers. From a geographic perspective, it's an
examination of the legacy left by the Gold Rush to lands far-removed from the
actual event. Considered through the prism of time, it reminds us that history
has much to teach us about today, particularly how diverse cultures dealt with
the challenges of living and working together to forge the new state's own
distinctive identity.
Distant Gold is planned to bring the past alive in several ways, including
the involvement of significant sites where much of the historic action took
place. A free "Distant Gold" interpretive map publication available at
the Museum will serve as a guide for wider exploration, providing locations and
information about historic homes and adobes, ranches, museums and libraries
throughout the region, most featuring special exhibits that further illustrate
the theme as it involved that location.
In April and May, the public will have a rare opportunity to meet and
question Antonio Garra, the leader of the 1851 Indian Tax Revolt against the
United States; Biddy Mason, a successful African American woman who arrived in
Southern California as a slave; Pio Pico, the last Mexican governor of
California; and, Dame Shirley, a writer who chronicled life in the California
mining camps. These unique and entertaining presentations will take place at the
Museum and community locations as listed in the exhibit schedule. Part of the
statewide History Alive! Chautauqua series celebrating California's
Sesquicentennial, Chautauqua's are historically-accurate portrayals acted by
scholars with in-depth knowledge of the characters they portray. Each
performance includes an unscripted monologue followed by interaction with the
audience both in and out of character.
On May 5, Cinco de Mayo, nationally-recognized scholar Douglas Monroy
presents a free public lecture at the Chaffey Communities Cultural Center in
Upland. Entitled "After the Days of the Cows, Fiestas, and Honorable
Caballeros: Forging the Californio Legacy," Monroy delivers a tantalizing
tale and profound analysis of the interaction of Indians, Spanish, Mexicans and
Euro-Americans in frontier California. The lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. Those who
wish to meet the author in person may attend a reception from 6 p.m.-7 p.m.;
there is a $10 charge for the reception only.
On Family Day, Saturday, May 15, from 1 to 5 p.m., the Museum hosts a lively
program of stories, traditions and music found among various Early California
cultures. Co-sponsored by the Arts Council for San Bernardino, the program
features storyteller Karen Rae Kraut, Gabrieleno/Tongva culture bearer Barbara
Drake, Los Californios and Chicken Charlie's California Minstrels. Admission is
free, with reservations advised by calling the Museum.
Discover all there is to learn about today from "Distant Gold," at
the Museum of History and Art, Ontario, located at 225 South Euclid Avenue,
Ontario, and open noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. For more information,
telephone (909) 983-3198. "Distant Gold" is made possible in part by a
grant from the California Council for the Humanities, a state program of the
National Endowment for the Humanities. |
