Product Description

This comprehensive history of the San Joaquin Valley begins with a study of the indigenous Native American tribes of the area and their interactions with one another. It then explores the occupation by the Spanish, the trapping industry, the arrival of settlers from the eastern United States, and the formation of expansive cattle ranches. The development of agriculture and irrigation and the subsequent battles over land and water rights are addressed. Also discussed is the grand era of the railroad, which would forever change the valley, bringing light industry and modern agricultural practices.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #636620 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 600 pages

Review

About the Author
Wallace Smith was a professor at Fresno State College and a leading authority on the history of the San Joaquin Valley.

Customer Reviews

Not Wally Smith's book
Wallace Smith's original 'Garden of the Sun' was written while he was a professor at Fresno State College (now Fresno State University). I had the pleasure of attending one of his lectures, late in his life and early in mine: it was a hoot. Upon publication in 1939 it became an instant success, and was for many years it was the only authoritative history of California's San Joaquin Valley. It has however long been out of print, and available mostly through valley libraries, or reprint editions that like the original have become hard to come by and quite pricey. [My uncle disappeared with my copy, one Christmas many years ago]. Editor William Secrest Jr. has now issued a 'second edition' of this classic, and has gone back to Smith's original materials in an attempt to improve accuracy and. Secrest has taken the opportunity to rearrange materials, including incorporation of appendix material into the main text, and rearranging of some blocks into a more linear format.

Mr Secrest is to be commended for making Smith's materials available to a new generation, and it would be churlish to deny the value of this new edition for students of California history. That said, despite his stated hope that the "captivating voice of Wally Smith" will come through, I find that the insertions of new material often vitiate that voice, and the stylistic jumps between old and new are often quite sharp, especially for those familiar with the older narrative. I'll keep browsing old bookstores for one of the old reprints.