Maria Angustias De La Guerra Ord

Women`s Studies:
Maria Angustias De La Guerra Ord
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Women`s Studies:
Maria Angustias De La Guerra Ord
Introduction
The history of mankind is one that is filled with stories of injustices and inequities, which have shaped people and nations. Indeed, from these stories of injustices came the greatest tales of heroism and revolution. Yet during the time in which they were occurring, events and things were not as pretty and adventurous as they were later portrayed in history books. In fact, some tales often go unheard for a long period of time. One such case of the lack of acknowledgement involves the contribution of women in the history of America, especially California.
When historian Howe Bancroft sent out data gatherers and interviewers in the 1870s to collect stories from the pre-statehood population of California, he did not take into account women. Women as sources of history were only resorted to as an afterthought when men were not available for interviews CITATION Ell08 \l 1033 (DuBois & Dumenil, 2008). Still, these accounts from the women of California were not included in the published historical books and were instead archived at the University of California, where they remained forgotten and untranslated until recent years.
One of the stories included in these accounts is that of Maria Angustias De La Guerra Ord. Thus, in relation, this paper is an attempt to explore her life, her people, and the history of our nation through the eyes of a woman who witnessed the drastic change her country went through. This paper will first look into a brief biography of Maria Angustias De La Guerra Ord, followed by an exploration of her social class, the roles that she played as a member of her social class, and the struggles that she, as well as her fellow females went through as part of this social stratum. Most importantly, this paper will look into the significant contributions of Maria Angustias De La Guerra Ord.
Brief Biographical Background
On the 11th of June 1815, Maria Angustias De La Guerra Ord was born into the prestigious Spanish family of Jose de la Guerra and Maria Antonia Carrillo. Before her parents` union, Maria Angustia`s father, dubbed "El Capitan" by the Californians, had to acquire a Royal permission for him to be able to marry Maria Antonia Carrillo. Around one and a half month after she was born, Maria Angustia`s family moved to Santa Barbara, California, where her father took up the post of the commander of the Presidio. It is in here that Maria Angustias was exposed to the different intricacies and dynamics of politics and the intrigue that comes with it.
Around the year 1833, Maria Angustias married Manuel Jimeno Casarin, and they moved to California`s then-capital, Monterey. Casarin served numerous government positions throughout his career, including governor, senior member of the Assembly, and even Secretary of State CITATION Dia93 \l 1033 (Telgen, 1993). It is through these political positions that Maria Angustias was able to become first-hand witness of the power struggles, political unrest, armed rebellions, and personal conflicts that occurred as an inevitable result of the Declaration of Independence by the California Departmental Assembly.
In her narrative entitled "Occurrences in Hispanic California" (1956), she related the stories of the era in which she lived in. A primarily revolutionary era, she witnessed even in her earlier years the inner workings of the government, the power of influences and connections, as well as the darker side of human nature, wherein even though they tried to protect the Mission of Santa Cruz against looters during one probable invasion, it was still "well looted by Indians and even others who were not Indians" (Ord, 2002, p.97). As she became the wife of Casarin, she again witnessed the alliance between the natives of California and the United States` "force of foreign riflemen" (325). She witnessed numerous other events that molded the Californian history, in the process becoming part of it as well. In the next section of this paper, her social class will be further explored.
Social Class
Angustia belonged to a very prominent and rich family of politicians and leaders. Both of her parents were from prominent families, with her father a captain of the Californian ranks and her mother a child of another captain. She belonged to and revolved in a social class that was entirely wealthy, and this wealth and prominence gave her a VIP seat in the film that was the Californian transition from Spanish-Mexixan rule to United States statehood. As a proof of the prominence of their social class, Angustia grew up surrounded by power and wealth. Indeed, her father was captain of the presidio of Santa Barbara, and her godfather was the governor of California.
In addition, Angustias also married men of power and influence. Her first husband, Jimeno Casarin, served numerous posts in the Californian Assembly; and when Casarin died, she married another man of great lineage and influence. When Casarin died of cholera in 1853, Angustias married James L. Ord, a medical doctor and surgeon of the US Army. James Ord is the grandson of King ...