Californio to American: A Study in Cultural Change (Teaching with Historic Places)

This lesson is part of the National Park Service’s Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) program.

Surrounded today by all the bustle of a metropolitan area, Rancho Los Alamitos (Ranch of the Little Cottonwoods) began as an outpost shelter for vaqueros (cowhands) away from the main ranch property. The land, with its natural spring, was once part of the Indian village area of Puvungna. Later, Californios, Spanish settlers in what is now the state of California, erected several small adobe dwellings in the midst of their cattle ranges. Successive owners made changes to one of these adobes until it was transformed into an elegant 18-room ranch house.

Today, Rancho Los Alamitos provides a tangible example of the physical and cultural change that took place in the region from the Spanish colonial days through the Mexican territorial era to the modern American period. Use this lesson plan to learn more about Rancho Los Alamitos.

Objective

1. To describe the history of California prior to 1848 and its early Californio culture;
2. To relate how the Californios were changed by the coming of the Americans;
3. To analyze documents and plans that describe Californio architecture
4. To explain how the architecture of buildings can reflect basic changes in the way people live.
5. To investigate properties in their own community listed in or potentially eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

Background

Time Period: 19th century

Grade Level

6-8th

Full Lesson Plan