You'll find bigraphical sketches of many early pioneers of those counties which we know as the California Wine Country in this reprint of Campbell Augustus Menefee's 1873 history. The publisher added an index to the Historical and Descriptive Sketchbook..., and set the book in a new, more readable typeface. This first history of the wine country tells the story of an Indian legend of a devil fish which inhabited a lake in Lake County and was seen only about once each decade. The Indians believed that a sighting meant bad luck for them. The last sighting is reported here. Also inside, is a report of an Indian sweat lodge, and a description of what was used for shortening in the bread the Indians baked.
The book tells of the early wine industry and other agricultural pursuits and of the early settlers of that area. This is the first county history which uses only California artists in illustrations. Bound in a handsome leather-like cover, this is a collector's item.
