Saved: Locke, CA.

Star Theater, Locke, California.  Photo found on flickr by Kansas Sebastian

The Sacramento River's ebb and flow mimics the rhythmic changes in migrant labor throughout California's Central Valley history, where ethnic groups coursed from farm to farm in search of seasonal work as unpredictable as any undercurrent.  Harsh living conditions, abusive employers, a nomadic lifestyle, but mostly a story of perseverance all contributed to a life of uncertainty in a foreign landscape.  Life was (and is) challenging for migrant workers and best encapsulated by author Richard Steven Street in Beasts of the Field: A Narrative History of California Farmworkers, 1769-1913.  Yet we can moor our preservation barge in Locke, California and wander through what remains of one town that immigrants called home...even if they intended to leave sooner rather than later.

There is no better way to experience places than to visit them firsthand.  Sometimes however, we need to rely on others: Bitter Melon, Inside America's Last Rural Chinese Town by authors Jeff Gillenkirk and James Motlow offers readers a view that is both sensitive and articulate.  Originally written in 1987, the 2006 fifth edition includes an afterword by the authors that contemplates Locke's future. Today, stakeholder groups including Locke's ethnically diverse modern population, California State Parks, the National Parks Service, and local governments have all dropped anchor within the community.  Locke is indeed a place to watch as it draws upon its past to navigate its future.

Threatened: Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park, Allensworth, CA.

Tulare County Free Library.  Photo found at the Library Road Trip.

There is no denying that writing about Allensworth has its challenges, but not for reasons one might think.  Readers could argue that this State Historic Park should not be listed as threatened, given its protection under the state's umbrella. Can we however, definitively declare that our parks are really saved?  The continued budget problems in Sacramento have caused many state parks to be fiscally challenged.  Subsequently, they are suffering from deferred maintenance and understaffing, particularly parks involving historic buildings.  Until the state parks are supported by sufficient funding, their sustainability is at risk.

What perturbs this blogger most is missing Allensworth's story for the 48 years I have been a Native Californian.  During my formative years, California history was limited to grand statements of land and gold discoveries, romanticized visions of the California Mission system, and field trips to seek out a railroad's golden spike.  A similar narrative was presented on our American history, which I always associated with "over there" and to the east of California's left bank.  Places affected by Civil War in particular seemed far, far away.  

It was not until I watched California Forever, a film David Vassar and Sally Kaplan, that I discovered Colonel Allensworth and understood California's connection to American lives affected by the Civil War. His story, and the story of free people creating a self-governing place in California's Central Valley, is indeed a story that follows the American dream.  It is also a story that greatly contributes to the mosaic of California's past.