Ghosts of California 

https://lajazzscene.buzz/jazz-around-town-december-2024/

Article By: Scott Yanow, Jazz Journalist/Historian and Author of 12 books.

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GHOSTS OF CALIFORNIA, KATIE RYAN’S NEWEST DOCUMENTARY, IS FILLED WITH UNTOLD STORIES OF THE OLD WEST

 

Producer, author and documentarian Katie Ryan, who paid tribute to Don Edwards (one of the last singing cowboys) in her highly-rated film The Last Coyote, recently completed her newest documentary.

 

Ghosts Of California is a film filled with fresh and largely untold tales about California in its early days. Both educational and entertaining, through photos and informed narrators that include historians, journalists and songwriters, Ghosts Of California discusses the real story behind the 1848 Gold Rush, the scandalous but warm-hearted Rosa May of Bodie, and the contributions of Chinese workers to the construction of the Trans-Continental railroad along with the widespread prejudice and hostility that they faced.

 

Other important but rarely discussed topics are covered. The battle of San Pasqual in 1846 was the bloodiest day of the Mexican War and an important event in the United States gaining possession of California. The Vaqueros (cowboys of Mexican, Spanish, and American Indian descent) left a forgotten legacy that is revealed in Ghosts Of California. While the Missions of California left behind historic buildings that are celebrated, the missionaries’ past treatment of Native Americans, which was horrifying, is revealed in this film. And the largely overlooked St. Francis Dam disaster of 1926 which killed 431 people is explained and remembered.

 

Written by Katie Ryan and David Kaufman (who is the main narrator), edited by Howard Bashew, beautifully filmed, and filled with original music that fits each story, Ghosts Of California is a very valuable addition to American history. It looks towards the future with optimism while paying homage to the past in a truthful and vivid manner.

 

In addition to her documentaries, Katie Ryan is the published author of Horse Wisdom Alchemy and The Secret of the Blood Moon. Her love of horses, cowboys, the American West and history is apparent in all of her works. Ghosts Of California is her latest accomplishment.