Ramona

Franklin Walker, in his Literary history of Southern California (p. 123-124), states that "The literary document most important in its influence on the growth of the Spanish tradition in Southern California was the immensely popular Ramona ... Appearing in 1884, just before the spectacular boom, it created a nation-wide interest in South California, and it served as a sort of romantic guidebook during the tourist rush." According to Gary F. Kurutz, "Ramona did more to promote Southern California than just about any booster publication. Readers mistook her sad story of injustice as a tender love story and as a recreation of a mythical Arcadian paradise. The story of Ramona and her lover Alessandro became a fairy tale and not a message of reform;" see California calls you: the art of promoting the Golden State, 1870 to 1940 (Sausalito, Calif.: Windgate Press, c2000).