hist197

   March 2, 1938: Los Angeles River floodwaters washed away a Southern Pacific railroad bridge. Photo taken from North Figueroa bridge. (Los Angeles Times)        Sorry but I just realized I was missing the first section of my blog. My apologies .       My research topic is the Flood of 1938 within Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California. This flood was one of the most damaging floods within southern California which destroyed thousands of buildings and roads. The flood was so severe due to the increase of population within the flood plains in southern California without any adequate flood control. The flood presented the issue of flood control to many politicians and the population. This led to the increase of flood control devices throughout southern California which was initially led by the Army Corps of Engineers. My project will focus on the effects of the flood on the population of Southern California and how they reac...

  In my research project I wanted to look at the environmental impact of artillery and rocket munitions, specifically that at Fort Ord. The base opened in 1917 as an artillery range and would soon become the training base for many different divisions, with the final occupant being the Army’s 7th Infantry Division. It would continue to operate as an artillery and training range until its close in 1994.      Pictured above is an infiltration course in 1970, roughly 1.5 million soldiers were trained on base between 1940 and 1973. The most common chemical found in the soil would be HMX, with levels found to be in the concentration of 307 milligrams per kilogram of soil taken 3 years after the base's closure in 1997. There are also lesser concentrations of RDX, at 0.25 mg/kg, and TNT, at 0.2 mg/kg, in the same soil samples. The HMX is the biggest problem in the area, with both TNT and RDX contaminants being below hazardous levels. TNT is the most dangerous for the enviro...

                            My research topic for the final poster is the history of the extinction of the California Grizzly Bear, also known as the California Chaparral Bear. I decided to choose this topic because I signed up as one of the co-moderators for the week on endangered species and after reading the Alagona piece on the California Grizzly Bear and how it was driven to extinction despite it being the main symbol of the state of California. I was a part of the majority of the American people who are unaware of the fact that the grizzly bear, the same one that is on the California state flag, has been extinct from our   state for nearly a century. Once I became aware of this sad truth, I was very interested in researching   more about the history behind the decimation of the grizzly bear population and the factors that contributed to its actual extinction. The history of the California gri...

As more and more historical information becomes readily available to us, a trend that becomes apparent is the government's/corporations' readiness to subvert the development of lower-income and minority communities by any means possible. The most significant instance of curbing development is "redlining," a tactic in which the Home Owners' Loan Corporation ( HOLC ) would declare neighborhoods with higher ethnic diversity as unsuitable for investors. These consequences of redlining still cause diverse areas in Southern California to suffer from poor public maintenance, lack of investment and opportunity, and even a higher risk of health issues resulting from toxic exposure. One such case is Wilmington, a neighborhood in Los Angeles which was declared unsuitable for investment due to the "infiltration of subversive [racial] elements" and subsequent discovery of oil and development of one of the country's largest oil fields. Today, its inhabitants suff...

  Hello everyone, after hearing a couple of discussions about topics I thought I would do my topic on wildfires in California. Specifically the wildfire that occurred in 2003, the Cedar Fire that took place in San Diego County. I found this topic interesting because these past years we have been seeing more and more wildfires occurring. It seems like they are coming in more frequently. Another interesting thing is that most of the wildfires were in this state, than any other state. I would like to focus on this particular historic wildfire, and perhaps compare it to others?     Something I do want to do, is research different ways to prevent wildfires, specifically some ideas here in California.   Please let me know if this project topic is good enough/ headed in the right direction. Thank you! 

                                                      Chambers they used to expose people to ozone for research In my research project, I really wanted to explore why California has such strict policies when it comes to emissions and air pollution. I became interested in this because I mod vehicles and the policies really have made it expensive for me to make my vehicle faster and still comply with smog. I decided to start with researching what big event started the need for smog control in SoCal. I narrowed it down so that I am focusing on the Los Angeles area because that is where the big event of the “Smog Attack of 1943” happened and the creation of the first Air Pollution Control in the state was in LA County. In my project I plan on going into the early policies and how they were formed, the research that was done on e...

  My inspiration to do a research topic related to military history started when I took Dr. Biggs History 20 class and he talked about some of the lasting impacts of agent orange on some of the jungles of Vietnam. This triggered me to be more thoughtful about what impacts military conflicts or actions have on the environment as a whole, then leading me to think about the destruction of WWI. Entire ecosystems were decimated, reduced to nothing but mud and fire. I wanted to explore some of the exclusion zones in France that are still deemed too toxic from the war but Dr. Biggs was able to turn me onto a much more doable topic right here in California. Doing a topic about the closure of a pistol weapons range in the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station stood out to me as I have actually been personally borne witness to the activities of the network of bases in the weapons station, being intimately familiar with the Seal Beach Surface Naval Weapons Station Detachment in Norco California....

   Reading about the native lands and the theft that took place by the US government made me grow an interest in studying the effects of government occupation on the native  lands. For so many years I have wondered why the government would pick certain lands to build and profit on. As I dug deeper and further into history, I stumbled upon the Duluwat Island located on Humboldt Bay in the city of Eureka, California. This land was fruitful when in possession of the Wiyot people, it is surrounded by a body of water which supplied a substantial amount of water and minerals to the land. The Wiyot people owned this land for many years, but one day a tragic event occurred. In 1860, not too long after the California Gold Rush, European immigrants that settled in Eureka sought to take over the Duluwat Island. This led to a massacre of over 100 men, women, and children. The land was now stolen and occupied by the European immigrants.     Furthermore, these immigrants viol...

 In my research project I want to study the effects that the radium age of the 1920's had on the environment within California, specifically Los Angeles. I chose this topic because it is something that I have found very fascinating for several years now and ties into one of my hobbies which is watch repair. Watches and clocks from this period were often painted with glow in the dark luminous material made of radium and it had devastating affects on those who had worked in the factories painting the dials. Almost all of those who came into contact with radium in the factories suffered from radioactive poisoning due to them ingesting the radium.  Overall, there was a huge enthusiasm for radium and radioactivity in general in the 1920's which undoubtedly led its way into plaguing the environment. Radium lasts for a very long time and it was used in everyday materials from watches and clocks to even makeup and butter! Along with this it was also used in military equipment well int...

     In my spare time I have often read much on military history, and a common footnote in these readings is the environmental devastation wrought by military actions both in times of war and peace. It is common knowledge that battles tend to leave hazardous materials all over wherever they are fought, and many military bases become Superfund sites even before they are abandoned. That is why the readings on an emerging military-environmentalism was so fascinating to me, as it directly challenges the notion that military actions are strictly bad for the environment. Further readings on this topic drew even more interest from me as various examples made it clear that perhaps there is some merit to the idea; perhaps its not just some PR stunt.       There are several important trends both in favor and against this idea. In many ways the idea even makes a degree of sense as military lands are off limits to the public and the majority of them are ...

I have only recently learned more about Native Americans. I have taken a couple of classes that briefly mention them and what truly occurred when their lands were being taken from them. Currently I am taking the Colonial America course with Professor Dubcovsky I learned quite a lot since the beginning of the quarter. She does not hold back on what is being taught to the class. Coming back to this course, I knew little to nothing about environments history, especially in the connections to Native Americans. Professor Trafzer’s writing helped me understand a ton more. To me it is crazy that Native American lands are still being sought after. I found it interesting the fact that Native People know a lot about this environment and land that we live on, since of course they have been here much longer than the rest of us. It is somewhat best to turn to them at times.  I think that there should be more people like Professor Trafzer, he actually goes above and beyond into his own research ...

I've considered myself to be very knowledgeable about American history for years now. I enjoy constantly explaining random history facts to my friends and co workers because I'm proud of knowing these things. However this weeks reading have blindsided me because I knew absolutely nothing about environmental history and the Native Americans relation to it. I knew generally about things like the trail of tears and the many different conflicts with the Native Americans as the United States moved further and further to the west. The reading that stood out most to me was the "Whose land is it really." History classes often glaze over the harsh and unfair relationship between the United States and the Native Americans. It shouldn't be right for the government to just move into lands that have been occupied for centuries and just move people out and take over the land. Moving those indigenous people like the Paiutes 350 miles away into a small reservation not only must h...

 I had not really considered how big environmental history could be in relation to Native Americans so the readings really opened my eyes to their experiences and how important this kind of history is. I am currently taking a class on Native American history as well as a Colonial America history class where some of the first readings for it were also on Native Americans so I kind of got an overload of Native American History last week. I really enjoyed the readings from Professor Trefzer as well as hearing him speak about his readings. Someone brought up a good point about the readings during the discussion and I believe that they said they just do not understand how Native Americans are treated the way that they are and why people can not just respect their ideals and the places that they live. I heavily agree with that sentiment and that was a lot of what I felt when doing the readings. The situation of the Paiutes in the "Whose land is it really" reading bothers me because...

      The Native lands discussion along with the articles we had to read were very enlightening, not just for myself but for the class as a whole. On page seven of Integrating Native Science, I learned that the Navajo tribal leaders and elders helped the CDC discover where and what did the mysterious virus come from. The fact that native people helped discover this virus that caused many deaths in the region is outstanding, but that it was recognized and made public is refreshing. It is refreshing because we don't often see recognition given to native people for their incredible input to society. Which of course highlights the importance of uplifting the native voices instead of ignoring them.  The high admiration and respect given to the native people by professor Trafzer was definitely something that struck me as interesting. As he mentioned in discussion, many historians just develop their books and writing based on the primary sources they find in archives, but i...

This week's discussion and readings were particularly eye opening for me. I feel like most people are robbed at the chance to learn how nuanced and substantial many aspects of critically underrepresented Native cultures are. Being able to shed the false perception that Natives were simple land dwellers with no understanding of the land they inhabited for thousands of years is something that everyone should experience at some point. The benefits of how Natives understood their land is an overlooked resource that could potentially save hundreds of lives and billions of dollars, not to mention preserve the environment, from catastrophic fires. The highlight of this week's reading was Trafzer's Tribal EPA reading. I found the history behind Chemehuevis and Serrano's interactions with their environment, as well as their various relocations, to be particularly fascinating. How the Chemehuevi worked with different levels of government to contribute to the study of cultural sci...

    I like to think that I look at these articles from a slightly different perspective than some people due to my background in the field of public policy. The readings really highlighted many of the policy issues that I have worked though or personally observed myself to one extent or the other. Trafzar served to highlight the importance of the religious and cultural understanding the Natives have of their lands and what the United States has done in response to that. It is heartbreaking to find that many tribes are ignored, with the US Federal government choosing to do whatever they would like to the lands ultimately leading to severe degradation of the natural environment. There are some amazing success stories however of government cooperation with the natives to stop crises such as the discovery and subsequent management of the hantavirus that was plaguing the Navajo communities. With the Navajo knowledge of the seasonal cycles and relationships between the animals and t...

    I sadly have had little interaction with Native Peoples and have only met a few in passing. This lack of interaction gave me a keen interest in the readings. It was very interesting reading about the intricate Salt Song rituals and how they are important to native peoples. I found it important how fundamental these rituals were to maintaining the social fabric of the Southern Paiute people. That ritual provides them a history that would have otherwise been forgotten. Their oral tradition is fantastically unique and is something that must be understood to fully appreciate native people.      I also believe that the incorporation of Native Science in the Tribal environmental protection agencies is an important step in the right direction. The inclusion of the Native People who have lived and worked on this land for thousands of years is simply a logical step. They have important experience in conservation that no doubt will help end devastating problems like o...

 The guest speaker we had was very insightful and I appreciate his respect of land and the peoples whom occupy them. It reminded me of my friend Geronimo, who has lived on a reservation for many years. When we would travel together through California, he would thank the land for its abundance and beauty, always reminding me to be mindful of whose land we are on and to not disturb the wildlife. And I was appreciative to then  see an academic with similar values was very refreshing. Sorry but that was just some insight into my thought process as these ideas are not new. In my experience, when we get home from traveling we sage ourselves to remove any lingering energies. On familiar land we would walk barefoot to connect ourselves to the land, and say a prayer. I think as a "modern" society that lives in cities we've lost that connection to the mountains, trees, plants, those things that are alive and take care of us. I don't understand how we pay for water, and it is il...

 This week's discussion and readings on native lands was one that I found to be very informative, fun, and interesting. I particularly enjoyed our discussion on the cultural science aspect of Native American life and the benefits that have been bestowed on the land through these practices. It brought up the topic of whether or not western science and cultural science could play a role in working hand in hand and I personally believe that it could. Traditional science is all about trial and error, experimenting with different ideas and question bright forth. If it could be fused with cultural science, from people who live on the land or are from there they already have personal experiences and an understanding of the climate of the land in question. They could provide solutions to the questions that traditional scientists would be asking and work together to bring about a more healthy land that will reap benefits for the wildlife living there as well as for crops.  I also found...

                     This week's readings and discussion on Native lands was very interesting and important to me.  I              have been interested in Native American culture, history, and lifestyle and I have taken a couple                   classes during my time at UCR, so this discussion we had in class was very intriguing. I thought                   that having the author of the reading himself in class for the discussion was also very beneficial                       since he was able to clarify certain parts of the reading as well as tell his impressive and relevant                 stories and experiences. I thought that professor Trafzer made a great poin...

 This weeks reading and discussion on the topic of native land was insightful and thought-provoking. I have previously studied native American history, specifically religious history, but I have never read in depth on the injustice of land repossession from the native people. Of all the readings for this week, the most compelling was Stoffle's "American Indian's and the Nevada Test Site". This reading stuck out to me because it addressed an interesting point that I had not considered. Through this reading I learned of the interalized bias the United States government had against Native Americans. This bias was combated by the native American organizations emulating the practices of the United States government. This "corporate mentality" allowed them to move forward with proceedings to benefit the native people in the area. The lecture with Trafzer was very insightful as well and I learned a lot about the unfair treatment of the native americans. Trafzer...

     This week's readings and class discussion on environmental history within the Native population has been very informative and interesting. Personally I do not have extensive knowledge about Native American history, and to be able to view and start to understand it from an environmental perspective really taught me a lot. Trafzer's book explained the cultural origins of Native people's care for nature, while Millar's article showed how fast deterioration began in Malheur without the Natives to protect and take care of the local land. Native people's deep connection with nature stems from their cultural belief that everything in nature is alive and connected, with specific landmarks being sources of sacred spiritual power. Whereas western society seems to view nature as something separate from itself, the Native people see nature and the land as part of their culture and history as humans. Understanding this made it clearer as to why western society is also gener...