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California Frontier
Prof. Damian Bacich shares the history you didn't learn in school. Each episode is a deep dive into the fascinating early history of California and the West. Listen to stories and interviews with scholars, experts, and people who are passionate about a time when California was the frontier of empire and imagination.
California Frontier
Latest Episodes
090: The Mission Walker Part 2 with author Edie Littlefield Sundby
In the second half of this interview with Edie Littlefield Sundby (The Mission Walker), she explains why she extended the California Mission Trail beyond San Diego and retraced the original mission route from Loreto, Baja...
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089: The Mission Walker with author Edie Littlefield Sundby Part 1
Today's guest is Edie Littlefield Sundby, author of the memoir The Mission Walker, about becoming the first person to walk the full Camino Real of both Californias while living with stage four...
088: The Portolá Expedition and the Discovery of the San Francisco Bay
In 1769, Spain feared it was about to lose the Pacific coast. Russian traders were moving south from Alaska, British naval power was rising, and Spain had no permanent settlements north of Baja California. In response, imperial officials launch...
087: Exploring Baja California with Author David Kier Part 2
In part two of this interview, Damian Bacich continues his conversation with David Kier, who shares stories from his travels to the Baja California missions and explains some of the legends people tell about “lost missions” and hidden treasures...
086: The Missions of Baja California with Author David Kier Part 1
In this episode, host Damian Bacich talks with David Kier about his lifelong interest in Baja California and its missions. Kier explains how family trips he took as a child sparked a passion that later led him to make maps, write gu...
Fan Mail
I very much enjoyed this episode. I am sharing it with our granddaughter from Virginia who may be attending college in the West, in Los Angeles. As you say at the end, understanding the history of the place you are living in helps you live a fuller life there... at least understanding why so many names in CA are in Spanish! Quite a change for someone raised in the East. Thank you for these episodes. I wish my fourth grade CA History class and the CA History required at UCBerkeley at the time I was there (Bean) had been enriched by this kind of primary material. I was next door to the Bancroft Library many times and never learned that records of my ancestors, such as the diseño of their land grant in Half Moon Bay, were kept there. My drama teacher in high school was the only one who took an interest and kept pestering me about my last name. I did not know my own history until much later. I think with your interest in the people of California a possibly life changing connection might have been made. I believe this disconnect with my history also speaks to the change from Mexican to United States rule.
Crockett, California
