Californios: The Saga of the Hard-Riding Vaqueros, America's First Cowboys

By Jo Mora

In this accurate portrayal of the California vaqueros, Jo Mora pays tribute to the skill and bravery of the original American Cowby. Californios was first published in 1949.These Jo Mora illustrated Cowboy and Indian posters were printed in the 1930's and they have never seen the light of day We have the only remaining editions from Jo Mora's basement, and they are in mint condition. Regulary sold at antique auctions for $400 to $800 apiece in less-than-mint condition, we are selling our mint condition prints for $600 per set, or $200 for the Indian print. Only 25 sets and 100 Indian prints remain We also have reproductions of the Cowboy and Indian prints -- $30 each.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0922029199
• ISBN13: 9780922029198
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: UNKNO
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.8" x 0.8" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Mora's Last Book

Completed three weeks before his death, Californios is Jo Mora's highly individual ode to America's first cowboys -- the vaqueros: missionary-trained horsemen who worked the herds 80 years before Texas cowboys came on the scene. Mora, in keeping with his legendary status as the Renaissance Man of the West, wrote and illustrated this book, paying tribute "to the daring and skill of these hard-riding pioneer cow hands, bring[ing] to light much fascinating information about their methods and equipment, their evolution from wild Indians to finished cowboys, their contributions to the economy of the province during seven decades, and their tremendous influence on the techniques of the cattle industry today..." As is to be expected with Mora, his is a loving, expert, and idiosyncratic account, rooted in history, oral history, and folklore. Mora started in journalism and his work has always been directed towards a wide audience: the reader and the viewer, the expert and the novice, the adult and the young. Looking for Americana about California and the Southwest? Look to Jo Mora. Hardback: cloth over boards with a sewn binding, released with dustjacket. 175 pp. 44 b & w line drawings, many of them on full-page plates.