There was a serious shortage of teachers in the middle of the last century. At that time, after a career in journalism, Donna Reid Connell was persuaded to be the teacher of a one-room rural school. She had no teaching credentials and no experience in the field. During the next twenty-five years she then taught at all levels, preschool through college, and along the way she acquired several credentials and degrees. However, Dr. Connell still looks back at what she calls the most significant teaching experience of her life, the one-room rural school.

""California Badmen"" is a exploration of little-known Western frontier gunfighters. Billy Mulligan, Sam Temple, Peter Olsen, Joe Dye, Bob McFarlane and those responsible for the Rancheria killings are brought back through the pages and taking their stand in Californian history. The riotous lives of these unique collection of mean men with guns spill over the California frontier and rival the likes of ""Wild Bill"" Hickok, Billy the Kid, and the Earp Family.