s in state politics, their contributions to the state, and the ways in which improving their position politically may affect the course of social and political development in the state.
The influence of Spanish speaking groups on the history of California is evident in the predominance of Spanish place names throughout the state. These names reflect the work of Spanish speaking immigrants who helped develop California's economic base. Indeed, it is well to remember that California was first settled by Spaniards and that the Spanish Empire ceded control to the Mexican government after Mexican's war of independence in 1821. Control of California passed from Mexican to American hands in 1848, after the Mexican War (1846 1848). Throughout this period, as Alistair Cooke has noted, "an ambitious man of any nationality could purchase a land grant and, with sufficient industry and panache, make himself the rough and ready lord of all he surveyed."1
Politician and landowner Pio Pico (1801 1894) is an example of the type to which Cooke refers. Pico served in the California territorial assembly from 1828 to 1834, when he became governor of then Mexican controlled California: "In 1846, with the American conquest imminent, Pico sold out handiong out enormous land grants in return for bribes. He fled to Mexico when his government fell, but returned two years later and reclaimed his vast ranch lands."2 Pico became wealthy on land speculation and by 1869 had built Southern California's first luxury hotel. But Pico "never developed a firm command of the English language or basic business principles, and began losing one ranch after another through bad investments."3 He died in poverty. Similarly, the history of the Southern California community of El Toro "can be traced back to the early 1840s and Don Jose Serrano, whose father, Don Francisco Serrano, was a member of the Portola expedition. A Spanish land grant to the Serranos . . . ...