Juana Machado—whose family stretched back nearly to the beginnings of Spanish Alta California. Courtesy San Diego Historical Society.
Rosalia Vallejo and husband Jacob P. Leese. Rosalia’s brothers were imprisoned by John C. Fremont during the Bear Flag Rebellion, and she carried the resentment decades later. Courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento.
Eulalia Perez—alleged to be the oldest woman in the world. One of her daughters even contracted to have her exhibited in San Francisco and at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Courtesy of the California Historical Society, FN-36278