Book Description

Sixty Years in Southern California is a stunning retrospective of California life in the mid-19th and early-20th century, offering vivid first-hand accounts of the state's early history. The six decades of reminiscences by Harris Newmark combine autobiography with the informed social commentary of an insider. The story of California's development informs and captivates, as the author works from his own memory, diaries and the historical records on Southern California to produce a valuable and insightful history. That the author lived and breathed the very culture he describes helps the tone greatly, helping readers to envision the distant past. Newmark confidently portrays life from the years he personally first arrived with his family as a child, through events such as the establishment of the law courts, the town stores, and the evolution of social life. The steady establishment of orchards and vineyards in the distinctly Mediterranean climate, and the settlers' run-ins with the Wild West culture dominant through the early times, is cataloged evocatively. Sixty Years in Southern California is a unique chronicle, being as events in Newmark's life are situated alongside an authoritative history of the region. We see how he personally made friends, became married, established a business, and watched as the society around him grew from humble beginnings to a prosperity staggering in both pace and scale. How the U.S. Civil War was experienced and felt in California, and how technological advances such as the steam train and the telegraph affected life, is mentioned. By 1913 these inventions were already taken for granted: Newmark wisely accounts for the enormous effects such things had, so that the reader may appreciate their significance. Somber events, such as the massacre of the Chinese laborers working on the railways, are also told; indeed, Newmark does not shy from the dark side of California's development. We also see predatory real estate booms, the arrival of sophisticated sales and marketing campaigns to the previously virgin country, and the consequent spikes in population. The later stages of the text account for the great boom in activity in the region, and how the terrible San Francisco earthquake of 1903 affected the entire state. Various commercial dealings between the emergent ruling class of California, many of whom were successful in all manner of enterprise, enlivens and adds drama to the chapters.