Travelling the state region by region from San Diego northward, Sanchez explains where California’s names came from: missions and saints, Spanish explorers and rancheros, Native words and later corruptions. Each entry carries a story, and she acknowledges help from scholars such as Herbert Bolton and A. L. Kroeber, as well as John Muir.
A readable gazetteer of California history, as rewarding for curious locals as for historians. Download the free EPUB.