Mendocino’s Mirror: Reflections on Immigration

We are all immigrants.  Seems like a self-evident statement, but having made it, there are qualifications.  If one goes back in time far enough, the Native Americans in this region, known as the Pomo, were here when everyone else began arriving, and had been for tens of thousands of years.  But, even they weren’t always here.  Our exhibit reflects on the people who came to the Mendocino Coast, what brought them here, and what has become of them since.

People came to Mendocino’s coast from all over the world, as they did to California as a whole, because of the Gold Rush.  Work was available, and for some, land was also available.  Descendants of the people who came and started families in the early days are still here.  We’d like to tell their stories, as well as those of the people who were here, but whose numbers have decreased, for many and various reasons, not all of which are pleasant to contemplate.