Volume 90, Number 1 - California Historical Society

collections
Mexican Californiana
Among the examples of early Californiana
in the Geil J. Norris collection
is this pairing: a photograph of
Manuel Castro, prefect of Monterey,
in his later years and in military regalia,
and an English translation of his
March 5, 1846 letter to Captain John C.
Frémont ordering him to remove his
forces from Monterey. The letter was
written at a time of escalating tensions
between the United States and
Mexico culminating in the Mexican
War (1846–48).
Photograph of Manuel Castro (undated) and English translation of his
letter to John C. Frémont (March 5, 1846), Geil J. Norris family papers,
Vault MS 156 [f.10].001.tif
The grouping represents a collection
rich in correspondence, broadsides,
baptismal certificates, land records,
and ephemera documenting the political,
military, economic, and social life
of Norris’ prominent Mexican ancestors.
Other noteworthy examples from
the collection—the majority of which
are in Spanish—are an 1844 broadside
announcing Thomas O. Larkin’s
appointment as U.S. consul; letters by
Larkin, Agustín Zamorano, and Pío
Pico; and documents pertaining to the
Mexican War.
Norris was a descendant of the Cota,
Pico, Castro, and Sanchez families,
whose members—notably Pío Pico,
Manuel Castro, Juan B. Castro, and
Rafael Sanchez—were leading figures
in the affairs of Mexican California.
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