The Cattle on a Thousand Hills: Southern California, 1850-1880

by Robert Glass Cleland

Well received by critics when first published in 1941, "The Cattle on a Thousand Hills "describes Southern California in its transition from a cattle frontier of Mexican rule and culture to an agricultural American community on the eve of great industrial and urban expansion. The story includes the conversion of great grazing ranchos into farms and settlements, the gradual displacement of frontier violence and instability by a more restrained, law-abiding society, and the impact of Anglo-Saxon customs and institutions upon the pastoral life of the Spanish-Californians.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1941

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

this ruled

[Jacob Woocher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good materialist history of southern california in the years covered. Focuses on the transition from the rancho-based cattle-grazing economy to the rise of capitalist agriculture.