Tag: #CLIRWater

Posted on by swaminathanv

Travelling further in the ‘meta’ world

This week, I continued to work on the metadata on the items left over. I am happy to know that I am nearing completion on one of the boxes, which would lead me to work on some new items from next week.
Another interesting aspect that I came across was when I was working on preparing a tweet for the social media page. I had to do some research on rainfall and water discharge measurements which was the main topic we were planning to address through the tweet. Thus, I had to look out for any interesting items that we thought we could share to the viewers. While looking for items I did come across many rainfall reports that were done in the regions surrounding the Temecula Creek. It ultimately led me to looking at the developments that took place in meteorology. Though some of the technical terms were new to me, I was able to get a broader perspective on what lead to such accurate developments on weather forecasting.
Posted on by cgu-gitiz

Driving Down Arrow Highway

What
I am about to share is not a Hollywood movie script but a true story. If you
remember my post from last week, you will know that John Rains married Maria
Merced in 1856. The marriage led to five children, three murders, and
reportedly the juiciest scandal of the time (Maria married Rains only a day
after her father’s death). Was the marriage a
love-filled haze?  It is reported that
his relationship with Maria was stormy but was a love match! The couple lived
in a beautiful fired-brick home (the house is still standing today on Vineyard
Ave. north of Foothill Boulevard). But was he a cowpoke? Maybe. But he was also
described as gallant and impulsive. This love story reminds me of one of the
most memorable lines from the classic movie Casablanca,
when Rick tells his former lover; “We’ll always have Paris.” In this case,
maybe John and Maria will always have Rancho.
After all, he purchased Rancho Cucamonga for $16,500.

 

Rains
was ambushed, lassoed, shot, dismembered, and tossed into the bushes along
today’s Arrow Highway. Thus, Arrow Highway is the silent witness of the
unsolved mystery of John Rains’ final moments! May he and Maria have a happy Valentine’s
Day wherever they may be.

 

 

Citations:

Murder in Mud Springs by Paul McClure http://www.lawesterners.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/2014-06-14-Murder-Mystery-Story.pdf

San
Bernardino County Museum http://www.sbcounty.gov/museum/branches/rains.htm

Eternity Street by John Mack Faragher
https://books.google.com/books?id=kfR1CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT296&lpg=PT296&dq=was+the+marriage+of+john+rains+and+maria+merced+based+on+love&source=bl&ots=lc6_duIUJM&sig=ACfU3U2edreNjJ7E7DMDzTY7oBshwAMaDQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwid_Kv8i7fgAhXdPH0KHX0pBKc4ChDoATAAegQIABAB#v=onepage&q=was%20the%20marriage%20of%20john%20rains%20and%20maria%20merced%20based%20on%20love&f=false

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Posted on by swaminathanv

Retour

I have to begin by saying that it was indeed a long break away from the Willis S. Jones papers. Traveling back home during the winter holidays was indeed rejuvenating. Coming back to work, I began the first week by continuing my work on the metadata of the items I had scanned and photographed last year.
I am surprised to know there are still new subject terms and locations that seem to arise even after adding many terms from the previous folders. Some of the locations have been modified over the years and a simultaneous research had to be done on them in order to maintain accuracy. One of the items that caught my eye was the Nevada-California electric lines map. It was quite fascinating to see how the planning and construction was done to form an electric line from Churchill County in Nevada to the border of Southern California, ending near San Diego. The following materials that followed were proposals on the rates the electric corporation established along with a mini-book on the rules and regulations of the corporation.
Posted on by lilyanr

New Spelling, Same Southern California

This map from 1931 centers around the Boulder Canyon Project in the southernmost tip of Nevada. However, looking at the bottom left corner there is an interesting view of early unincorporated Southern California, city names are still mostly relevant except perhaps spelling.
Examples that are easily identified are “Santa Anna” (now modern day Santa Ana, seat of Orange County) and “Tia Juana” in northern Baja California, Mexico.
048-19-0001-364-A.jpg
NARA Series: Boulder Canyon Project Series, 1948-1966. Record Group 48: Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior, 1826-2009. National Archives Identifier: 2292774
Posted on by cgu-gitiz

The Mysterious Case of John Rains

Today I had the opportunity to skim
through the San Antonio Water Company-
Local History, Inventory, and Appraisal. I admit that this book is one of
the hidden gems I discovered while working on the CLIRWater Project. As I was
skimming through the pages, a name caught my eyes, “John Rains!” No family relations and not because it has been raining
for the past 5 days but due to the fact that John Rains was murdered rather mysteriously. According to The Press-Enterprise,
he came to California in 1847 as a sheep and cattle herder but married up and
became one of the wealthiest men in SoCal. Reportedly, “he convinced the girl
he was interested in to ignore the sheep poop on his boots and agree to the
marriage.” What a charmer?! Maybe this
story will brew into a real love story right in time for Valentine’s Day! I
will keep you posted as I read through the history.

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Posted on by sophiar

Signing off!

These first few weeks of this semester I am finishing up my time here at CLIR CCEPS. This experience has taught me so much and has shaped how I think about local history. The Inland Empire is such a unique place and has experienced more than a few waves of change. It has been so rewarding to not only learn more about the place that I have spent the last three and a half years, but it has also been rewarding to learn the skills required to preserve historical documents in the digital age. There is one thing I will not miss, however: the computers. I have been at war with each of the computers here at CLIR CCEPS and I have most definitely lost to them. Despite the technological frustrations, I have grown and learned so much here. I also would like to say thank you to Tanya for supporting me and teaching me so much. Thanks for reading!

Posted on by cgu-gitiz

Is Choice the Problem?

Civilization as we know it
depends on a widespread belief in the notion of free will. Benjamin
Libet and many other scientists, however, have repeatedly demonstrated otherwise.
If there is no free will then the problem is not choice. This notion would
solve a lot of problems and may create new ones.
The most beautiful
scientific theories are also the most parsimonious. Therefore, I will refer to
a dialogue between C. A. Swan and Tony Wendice in one of my favorite Hitchcock
movies. How does Wendice know Swan will agree? “For the same reason that a
donkey with a stick behind and a carrot in front always goes forwards and not
backwards.”

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Posted on by anitrab

Transitioning from NARA to Special Collections

While being a CLIR CCEPS Fellow did not make me a government employee…. My project of scanning documents at NARA means that I too suffer the consequences of the Government Shutdown. While it has been a difficult, and boring, month off from scanning, today starts my new CCEPS Fellowship with Honnold/Mudd Special Collections. My new assignment is to complete the processing of the John Laurence Seymour Papers. My colleague working on the project before me completed processing nearly all of Dr. Seymour’s correspondence, which leave me with all of his documents relating to research, family, teaching, travel, productions, music, and of course his impressive collection of meticulously kept diaries. I look forward to getting to know Dr. Seymour better over the course of the semester, as well as making the collection available to future researchers. 

Posted on by vinht

Computers of Yesteryear, Part I: Libraries

As the Moore’s Law continues to sweep through various basements and computer shops, Windows 7 specimen with less than 16 GB in RAM are no longer the favored pets as nerds and filthy casuals alike find the newer breeds of Mac and PC the ideal companions. These dinosaurs have to migrate to libraries, where high processing power is not a prioritized trait. Here, they are made to perform tedious tasks like converting PDF files for their new owners. Unfortunately, even these jobs are proving to be too much for the pre-6th gen Intel units. One would expect these poor things to be retired happily in an 80s hacker’s den upstate somewhere but without means to acquire better replacements, these computers of yesteryear may have to slave themselves until they finally give out, painfully.

Posted on by cgu-gitiz

Document Scanner

Yesterday I
enjoyed an elevated level of comfort in working with the scanning equipment. My
ability to produce clear scanned images coupled with a highly courteous,
interpersonal and cheerful disposition renders me a strong candidate for any
scanning position. For all those on the market for a scanning gig, I highly
recommend building a strong reputation in producing high quality digital copies
of data while keeping track of destination folders. For those of
you scanning enthusiasts, I endorse hours of practice with Apple’s document scanner inside the Notes app.

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