Over several years, Bess Garner collected family stories of the daily life of the old Spanish community in the Pomona Valley of California. Her book is an enduring regional classic of Californio life on the Rancho San Jose, told through incidents in the lives of descendants of Ygnacio Palomares and Ricardo Vejar, who first came to the valley in 1837. The Palomares Adobe, built in 1854 and restored in 1939, was once a popular waystation for travelers on Southern California stage routes. The book includes a small glossary and several family trees.