The enterprising spirit that led to Sonoma County's storied agricultural heritage defined its earliest denizens. Sail the seas with Captain Bodega y Quadra, whose name graces the coast and beyond, and wave farewell to the last train out of the redwoods. Discover the fate of Charles Henley, spirited from the county jail in 1876 by masked vigilantes. Learn about the rise and fall of Sonoma's tobacco growers and the historic opening of the Jenner Bridge as the automobile rose in popularity. John Schubert and Valerie Munthe reveal Sonoma County's enthralling history.

How can the “father of the California wine industry” still be walking around after more than 160 years? Why do thousands of beer lovers flock to Sonoma County from across the US once a year? Where can we play “top gun” in a real fighter jet? And why are Snoopy, Woodstock, and all the Charlie Brown gang standing around all over the place? Countless curiosities, icons and hidden treasures fill the pages of Secret Sonoma: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. From hidden beaches on a world-famous coastline to wineries unknown even by oenophiles, from the tallest trees on the planet and NASCAR stars to rollicking tales of 18th and 19th century California, this is your ticket to adventure and surprises in the California Wine Country. A veteran author and Sonoma County native, Karen Misuraca reveals her deepest, darkest secrets of where she sees ghosts of centuries past, buys fetishes to vanquish her enemies, and bellies up to the bar in Gold Rush-era roadhouses. Where does she fly through the treetops, stargaze through powerful telescopes, and loll in geothermal hot springs? Even if you and your friends have been here before, and especially if you live here, Secret Sonoma is your new book of wonders.

Excerpt from An Illustrated History of Sonoma County, California: Containing a History of the County of Sonoma From the Earliest Period of Its Occupancy to the Present Time The year following, on September 17th, under the direction of Commandante Moraga, the presidio of San Francisco was duly inaugurated amid the firing of cannons, ringing Of bells and all the formalities usual to typify absolute Spanish possession. The San Carlos had just arrived, and Captain Quiros, Canizares and Re ville, master and mate, participated in the lay ing of the corner-stone of this the future metropolis of the Pacific coast. Something over one hundred persons were present on that occasion. Right then and there it became a fixed finality that civilization held the keys to the Golden Gate to the Pacific coast. In order to punctuate this so as to rivet the attention of the reader, we borrow the language of a writer in the Overland Monthly who says: On that same 17th of September, on the other side of the continent, Lord Howe's Hessian and British troops were revelling in the city of New York. We might supplement this with the observation that if it took from 1776 to 1823 for Spanish occupation to extend its lines from San Fran cisco to Sonoma, it should somewhat break the force of carping criticism in reference to the time consumed by Moses and the children of Israel in their emigration from Egypt up to the land of Canaan. But in this we anticipate history. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.