Numbered references are to the tour section of the book.
Founded amidst the din of timber mills in 1876, this small, attractive and peaceful village evolved out of a colorful and restless past, full of conquest, conflict and reckless ingenuity, with more peculiar characters than the funny papers, and more conflagrations and natural disasters than even the naughtiest town deserves. Long inhabited by coastal Native American tribes, the area now known as Occidental is part of land first claimed as real estate by Juan Francisco Cabrillo, a Portuguese navigator in the employ of Spain. In spite of this, California continues to be explored and settled by Spain. De La Bodega y Caudra sails into what is now Bodega Bay, ushering in an era of Spanish settlement in the area. While the land is under Mexican rule, a number of other U.S. citizens apply for Mexican citizenship in order to qualify for land grants.