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COMMITTEE NEWS | THE COLONY NEWS | APRIL 2022 | 17 The Ramona Pageant in Hemet is the longest-running outdoor drama in the country and California's Official Outdoor Play. Established in 1923, the annual community-based event has taken place for the past 99 years. The play is based on the novel Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson. It was published in 1884 and became an immediate bestseller. Its effect on public consciousness about native populations was similar to Uncle Tom's Cabin a generation earlier about enslaved black people. The story is a romanticized version of the intersection among three distinct cultures in 1850s Southern California: the Californios who settled vast ranchos with cattle, sheep and horses; the native groups being "civilized" by Catholic missions who provided labor for ranching and farming; and the onslaught of "Americanos" flooding the West after the discovery of gold. Images of sun-drenched California, gracious hacienda life, lively fiestas, colorful caballeros, and a society of honor and hospitality created by Jackson still persist today. Set in Californio culture, Ramona created nostalgia about lost innocence as the country industrialized. For a brief period of 60 years, this romanticized group of rancheros cut an exotic swath across regional history. The Californios were mainly Spanish or Mexican soldiers rewarded with large land grants by the Mexican government from 1830- 1880. Much fertile agricultural and grazing land was wrested from the Missions after secularization in 1834. Pio Pico was a prominent Californio, twice governor of the Mexican province, and his family received grants of 700,000 acres. Pico's El Ranchito Adobe is now a state park in Whittier. Californio grandees' lifestyle emphasized personal alliances, family bonds, honor and generosity. They hosted fabled fiestas, lavishly feeding and entertaining everyone, including native workers. Guests were treated as family, welcome to unlimited stay, and sometimes given money to ease departure. Men were consummate horsemen and women were genteel and beautiful. Both were ceremoniously dressed. But theirs was a hierarchical caste society based on the work of natives. Their ranchos covered lands which natives still claimed, leading to raiding and revenge. By 1900, most ranchos had passed to American ownership. Ramona's story takes place in this setting. Raised by the Moreno Californio family, Ramona is a secretly part-native adopted daughter. Expected to marry the heir Felipe, she falls in love with Alessandro, a local Indian working on the rancho. The star-crossed lovers endure hardship and tragedy, revealing native exploitation and discrimination, but also Ramona's strength and nobility. Hemet's Ramona Pageant takes place Saturday, April 23, Sunday, April 24, Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1. For tickets and information, visit www.ramonabowl.com or call 951-658-3111. The Outreach to History Committee is pleased to bring you the history of the Colony and surrounding areas. If you know of stories and information that we could include in this column, please contact Rita Nastri at 698-8640. Also, we invite you to join us if you enjoy history and/or writing. OUTREACH TO HISTORY By Lennie Martin Ramona and the Californios Californio Ranchero "The Vaquero" by James Walker Wikimedia Commons Public Domain