Raven Jake Dawes

This Machine Kills Fascists

Folks, I'm on a Woody Guthrie kick lately, you'll just have to bear with me.  Woody was singin' about "Hard Traveling" way back in the mid-'40s, but it's just as true now. Plus, I gotta give Mr. Guthrie major points for style. The simple guitar remains as good a machine for killing fascists as an AK-47, and it's a whole lot cleaner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

América Tropical Mural on Olvera Street

Apparently the Getty has been working on restoring América Tropical for a while and I, for one, will be pleased to see it come back!

 

This is Robert Bredecio, one of David Siqueiros' associates standing in front of the mostly-completed mural back in 1932. Here's the official scoop:

 

 
An ultra-saturated re-imagining, but you get the idea...

 

Charles Perry at the Arboretum June 26 - POSTPONED

 Unfortunately, folks, this one has been postponed 'til fall:

 
Now one of my resolutions for the summer is to get a little more proactive about posting and maybe promote some events before they happen instead of writing about it months after. Case in point: The Californio barbecue thing.

So Charles Perry has another event coming up, that I'm sure will be of interest to a few people reading this blog, and that's "Of Beer and Baseball with Charles Perry," at the LA County Arboretum on Sunday, June 26.

Here's the skinny:

A lecture by Charles perry followed by a tasting of several craft brews from local breweries, among them Craftsman Brewing Company and Eagle Rock Brewery.

When: Sunday June 26, 2011 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Cost: $25 for members/$30 for non-members

In 1850, Los Angeles was a wine-drinking Spanish pueblo, but as Yankees filtered in, they soon started breweries, despite the lack of ice or cool caves for aging lager. By the end of the century a thirsty, fast-growing city had made Bavarian immigrant Joseph Maier one of its leading citizens. The Maier family promoted public entertainments, above all baseball – Eddie Maier pitched for numerous local teams before taking the helm at Maier Brewing in 1909 and organized his own Pacific League team, the ultimate ancestor of the Hollywood Stars of 1938-’58.

Along the way, Eddie lived life on the grand scale, organizing car races that set world records and throwing barbecues for 4,000 at a time at his Simi Valley ranch. The Maier Brewery closed in 1974, but the 101 Freeway still makes a jog just east of Alameda Street, where the brewery stood when the freeway was built.

Charles Perry is the president of the Culinary Historians. He has written and spoken widely on food history and is the co-author of Medieval Arab Cookery and Spuds, Truffles and Wild Gnocchi: The Patina Cookbook, and the author of The Haight-Ashbury: A History.


To register please call 625.821.4623

 

LA's Turning 230 on Sept 4

Sunday, Sept. 4 is going to be LA's big 230. Well, no I ain't picked out my outfit yet, but it's bound to be pretty Raven-Jakey, as usual.

I was down at Olvera St. last week to meet up with some of the Spainish Trail people, then headed over to Our Lady; it happened to be Ascension Day and the church was packed.

I'll be honest, I just wanted to check out how Joseph Chapman's ol' church was doing (close to perfect, actually) and wasn't aware of the subtleties of the Catholic Calendar. I have to say that being partly raised that way myself, I would've paid more attention in Sunday School if it had featured drumming and Aztec Dancers like the service we caught. 'Course maybe that's just for Ascension Day.

Now that got me thinkin' on the original settlers. The Tongva, of course, had a village right there, Yang-na, which is undoubtedly why the Spanish pegged it as a viable location. But how about those folks that they got to make that hard, dangerous trip for the "privilege" of subsistence farming some place else? I grabbed this off the LA City website.

Original Settlers (Pobladores) of El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles, 1781

Recorded Family Head	Age	Race	Birthplace	Name, Age & Race of Spouse	Children***
Manuel Camero*	30	Mulatto	Nayarit	Maria Tomasa (24, Mulatta)	None
Jose Fernando de Velasco y Lara	50	Spaniard	Spain	Maria Antonia Campos (23, Indian)	3
Antonio Mesa	38	Black	Sinaloa	Ana Gertrudis (27, Mulatta)	2
Jose Cesario Moreno*	22	Mulatto	Sinaloa	Maria Guadalupe Gertrudis Perez (19, Mulatta)	None
Jose Antonio Navarro	42	Mestizo	Sinaloa	Maria Regina Dorotea Glorea de Soto (47, Mulatta)	3
Luis Manuel Quintero	55	Black	Jalisco	Maria Petra Rubio (40, Mulatta)	5
Pablo Rodriguez	25	Indian	Sinaloa	Maria Rosalia Noriega (26, Indian)	1
Alejandro Rosas*	19	Indian	Sinaloa	Juana Rodriguez (20, Indian)	None
Jose Antonio Basilio Rosas	67	Indian	Durango	Maria Manuela Calixtra Hernandez (43, Mulatta)	6
Jose Maria Vanegas**	28	Indian	Jalisco	Maria Bonifacia Maxima Aguilar (20, Indian)	1
Antonio Clemente Felix Villavicencio	30	Spaniard	Chihuahua	Maria de los Santos Flores (26, Indian)	1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

*Married just prior to leaving for the new pueblo because new settlers were required to heads of families.
**Vanegas was appointed to be the first alcalde (mayor).
***Children at the time of the settlement of the Pueblo. Some of these settlers went on to have other children.

A twelfth settler, Antonio Miranda Rodriguez, a 50-year-old Filipino, and his 11 year-old daughter were also slated to settle in the new pueblo. They set out with the rest of the pobladores in early 1781 enroute to their new home. While in Baja California, however, they were among those who fell ill to smallpox and remained there for an extended time to recuperate. When they finally arrived in Alta California (the present-day State of California), it was discovered that Miranda Rodriguez was a skilled gunsmith. He was subsequently reassigned to the Santa Barbara Presidio in 1782 to be an armorer.

Maria Guadalupe Gertrudis Perez, wife of Jose Moreno, was the last surviving original settler. She died in 1860, having lived almost 100 years.
Her granddaughter, Catalina Moreno, married Don Andres Pico, brother of Pio Pico and Mexican military commander at the Battle of San Pascual.

 Whatever Happened to the Original Settlers?

Antonio Clemente Felix Villavicencio - Moved to Santa Barbara in 1797. Died there in 1802.
Jose de Velasco y Lara- Received permission to move to Ventura in 1782 to establish the Mission San Buenaventura and later to Santa Barbara to establish the presidio. Died in Nayarit on an unfortunate return trip to Mexico in 1783*.
Luis Quintero- Received permission along with Jose de Velasco y Lara to move to Ventura in 1782 to establish the Mission San Buenaventura and later to Santa Barbara to establish the presidio. He may have wished to be near his three daughters who had married soldiers stationed at the presidio in Santa
Barbara. Died in Santa Barbara in 1810.
Antonio Mesa - Apparently became disillusioned with the hardships in Alta California and received permission to return to Sonora, Mexico in 1782.
Jose Antonio Navarro- Sent to San Jose in 1790 and later to the Presidio in San Francisco. Buried at the Mission Dolores in San Francisco in 1793.
Pablo Rodriguez - Moved to San Diego in 1796 then to San Juan Capistrano. Buried at the Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1816.
Jose Vanegas- Remained in Los Angeles for 20 years during which he served as its first alcalde (mayor). Upon the death of his wife in 1801, moved to San Diego and the Mission San Luis Rey.
Manuel Camero- Remained in Los Angeles. Served as a Los Angeles regidor (councilman). Died here in 1819.
Jose Moreno- Remained in Los Angeles. Served as a Los Angeles regidor. Buried at Mission San Gabriel in 1806.
Alejandro Rosas- Remained in Los Angeles. He and his wife died here only a month apart in December 1788 and January 1789.
Jose Antonio Rosas- Remained in Los Angeles. Buried at the Mission San Gabriel in 1809.

• Jose de Velasco y Lara was ordered back to Mexico by the authorities when he confessed to Father Junipero Serra that his first wife, whom he had maintained had died, might actually still be alive. He was already remarried with children. He unfortunately never returned to see his second wife and children in Santa Barbara, having died not long after returning to Nayarit.

In short, their lives sucked. Brutal and short and most of them couldn't wait to move someplace else. Vanegas did alright by himself, in a regional way, but none of these other folks went on to found great dynasties and receive absurdly huge land grants. Still, Los Angeles persevered.

There are around 250 descendants in an organization called Los Pobladores, who are planning a huge 'do on Sept 3 with a special mass and everything. Rosary starts at La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles at 4:30, Marian parade, bagpipes, Spanish costumes, Knights of Columbus: the works.

It's also pretty common (at least some years) to make that final walk from the San Gabriel Mission to the Plaza in commemoration of the journey's last nine miles - takes about three hours, 'cause this ain't a fun run and speed ain't a factor. My plantar fasciitis says "no" to the walk, but maybe I'll roll through in a wheelchair or do a special car caravan or something. Anyone down for a Pobladores stroll & roll with Raven Jake?

Charles Perry's Californio BBQ

Now in the previous post, I mentioned that  last week we went up to the Old Spanish Trail Association's annual conference, and that one of the presenters who really caught my imagination was a fellow named Charles Perry, President of the Culinary Historians of Southern California who gave a talk, "Cuisines along the Trail: Beef, Mutton & Game," but it really focused on the history of barbecue, in particular the old-fashioned pit roasting method. So here's some more about that.

No no one roasts a whole cow underground any more because it takes forever, it's expensive and labor-intensive, but that didn't even slow Charles down. He got one going at the ol' Palomares adobe (they have a pre-dug pit with a giant pipe sunk in the ground to make it slightly easier) and started the 24-hour process.

Now back in the day, the head was considered a pretty fine delicacy and not just somethin' to grind into sausage. Fact is that in my own personal life I don't really eat a lot of meat, but I considered this a worthy experiment. I ain't eating a puppy to find out if it really does taste like lamb, and I didn't eat cow face either. That sucker was frozen like an iceberg and Charles ended up not cooking it for fear that the rest of the meat wouldn't get done. So that's just somethin' that'll have to wait for another day. Or maybe not. I'll leave it to fate.

So there's a lot involved in doing this kinda cookout, and this was the old authentic style without any of those modern touches that might be a temptation nowadays. Charles marinated the meat in red wine vinegar, popped it into muslin bags and then put those in water-soaked burlap sacks. The meat went on a rack on top of the coals, a lid went on the pipe (to keep the whole process cleaner) and then dirt was shoveled on top of everything.

Cook for 18 hours or so then git the shovels, it's time to eat.

Final result? Interesting.  The meat is  fall-off-the-bone tender. There's no burned charcoal flavor that we're used to with barbecued steaks. In fact, the meat is so mild that it really doesn't have a lot of flavor, period, which might have been the point on the old ranchos - "this meat is so fresh you can barely taste it,"sort of thing. And of course, tastes change over time. Excellent when formatted as a taco or burrito with a nice salsa. Probably even better with a more flavorful sort of meat like goat or venison.

I think that a more aggressive marinade might be in order, but then we're talkin' about one of those modern modifications that didn't really fit with the muy authentico theme of the event. Indeed, I hope that we don't have to do a trapper meal of pemmican and a rock-hard biscuit at the next OSTA conference just to get the point that sourdough was a great invention.

So I'm not diggin' a pit in the back yard, which will probably save a lot of strife with my landlord, but I am thinkin' that Spanish Colonial-style barbecue could probably be simulated in a slow cooker. It doesn't have the thrill and the romance of course, but then again, how often am I cooking for 100 of my closest friends and household staff? So a big shout out to Charles Perry and the Culinary Historians of Southern California for an unforgettable (and darn near un-replicable) dinner. I'll be following up with more of their events in the future.

A Mission BBQ of the 1830s

Y'all, last week we went up to the Old Spanish Trail Association's annual conference, which was a blast and I'll be posting some entries regarding same in pretty short order. Now one of the presenters who really caught my imagination was a fellow named Charles Perry, President of the Culinary Historians of Southern California who gave a talk, "Cuisines along the Trail: Beef, Mutton & Game," but it really focused on the history of barbecue, in particular the old-fashioned pit roasting method.

These days, no one roasts a whole cow underground any more because it's slow, expensive and labor-intensive, but that didn't even slow Charles down. He got one going at the ol' Palomares adobe and I'll be posting about that next, for it really was quite spectacular.

BUT - all that talk about pit barbecue got Jane reminiscing about one of Hugo Reid's letters. Now Hugo was a Scottish sailor who jumped ship in L.A. back in 1832, and married a Tongva woman called Victoria, who was one of Dona Eulalia's favorite proteges. They ended up with the Rancho Santa Anita grant (originally called Rancho Huerta de Cuati), which became Arcadia and some of the surrounding area. In 1852, right before he died, he wrote a bunch of letters to the Los Angeles Star, LA's first newspaper (which was bi-lingual) about the missions and Tongva/Gabrielino culture.

So this was a letter written in 1852 about a mission barbeque, which was probably held in the late 1820s or early 1830s. For reasons that will become obvious, it was a memorable occasion. This isn't for the squeamish.

Hugo Reid's Letter # 20

Better Times

The Padre Jose Bernardo Sanchez had, for some time previous, been a colleague of Salvedeas [Zalvidea] but attended only to matters connected with the church. On the translation of Padre Jose Mariato San Juan, he became his successor. He was of cheerful disposition, frank and generous in his nature, although at times he lost his temper with the strange, unruly set around him.

He was a great sportsman and capital shot, both with rifle and fowling piece. Although no one could complain of Salvedea, in regard to his kind treatment, still there was a certain restraint in his presence, arising from his austerity and pensiveness, which even custom did not erase from the mind. Padre Sanchez was different; his temper was governed according to circumstances. In Ecclesiastical affairs, his deportment was solemn; in trade he was formal; in the government of the Mission, active, lively and strict; in social intercourse he was friendly, full of anecdote, fond of a joke, even to a practical one. Picnic parties were of weekly occurrence and generally held at the Mill, when, independent of a yearling heifer baked under ground, many other good things reigned on the table.

I cannot refrain from relating an anecdote connected with those parties of pleasure, as it shows the relish the old man had for anything ludicrous. A few of the actors are still alive, but the greater part have been gathered with the Padre, to the dust they sprang from.

Don J. M. M., an old Spaniard, who had large commercial relations with the Mission, having a negro cook, called Francisco, who was science itself in all relating to the kitchen, the Priest and M. made up a plan to carry out a joke at the expense of their guests. So having procured a fine fat little puppy, he was stuffed and roasted in a manner that would have tempted the most fastidious epicure to “cut and come again.” This was brought on as a last course under the name of lamb, with an excellent salad to correspond.

All eat of it and praised it much, with the exception of the two concerned in the joke. -- After concluding with a glass of wine, the old man enquired of his guests how they relished the Dog? No one would believe it, until the negro made his appearance with the head and paws on a plate.Then a mixed scene ensued, which brought tears into the old man's eyes, while he nearly killed himself with laughter.

All, of course, were squeamish, but while the quiet portion retired to ease themselves, in discharging the detested food, the pugnacious remained to fight M. first, and do the other afterward. The Padre eventually procured harmony, but for many a day after, roast lamb and salad were viewed with suspicion by the former partakers of his cheer.

New Renderings for the Michael White Adobe

So there's been a lot of discussion about how the Michael White Adobe could best be utilized by San Marino High school as an on-campus history lab, and the idea that's taken hold and seems to make the most sense is that rather than creating a house museum, the space could be a hall of fame for the Three A's - Acadamics, Athletics, and the Arts.

This house has served a lot of functions in it's 165-year history, and one of the keys to its restoration is that it be used and enjoyed by the San Marino High School community.

These renderings give a sense of what the adobe could look like - historic yet contemporary, and very functional with a minimum of change to the existing structure.

Map of L.A. Adobes

Hey, Folks -  I'm gearing up for the Old Spanish Trail Association convention that's coming up over the weekend, and noticin' that some of my content from the days of VOX have become a bit confused. So here's a map of L.A.'s adobes. If y'all haven't checked out John Kielbassa'a Historic Adobe book be sure to do it - it's the most comprehensive guide I've found.

View Los Angeles Adobes in a larger map