B. M. Bower 
The Gringos 
A Story of the Old California Days in 1849

Though not yet a state, California is now a U.S. possession. The old Dons possess vast tracts of land, but how good is their claim to this land? Enter California in transition, experience insight into the lives of the Spaniards of California and the irreparable gulf between the cultures, and prepare for some surprising twists in one of Bower’s deepest novels.