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Showing posts from March 13, 2016

Women's History Month: Who is Doña Bernarda Ruiz (1802–1880)?

How a Woman Helped End the War in California As the mother of a son born during the Vietnam War, I can understand a mother's apprehension about her son one day entering the war arena.  For me, I was terrified.  Boys I had grown up with were killed or maimed in war.  I would have done anything to keep him safe, as would most mothers.   However, Bernarda Ruiz trumped anything I could even imagine, especially since she accomplished what many men could not and she was a woman in the mid-1800s.  A Trip Back in Time During this time period, the US and Mexico were at  war  over the land each felt ownership. Los Angeles was considered significantly important due to its position on the southern end of the west coast .  Of course, the military came in and established control over the area and other strategic locations as well.  Problems arose when they became a bit too heavy-handed with the locals.    Californios, Mexicans living in California had recently fought against Mexican Fe