Susanna Bryant Dakin's A Scotch paisano: Hugo Reid's life in California (1832-1852), 1939

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Summary

Creators:
Dakin, Susanna Bryant.
Abstract:
Hugo Reid was nicknamed the Scotch Paisano during his days as a Scottish settler in Mexican Southern California. He was born in 1810 and he settled in the San Gabriel area in the 1820s, became a Mexican citizen, married a native California Indian, and was a leader in his community. This biography of Hugo Reid is divided into two sections. The first part of the book describes the major points in Reid's life. The second part of the book consists of reprints of Reid's letters to the major newspaper, the Los Angeles Star. Printed in 1852, these letters concern the welfare of the Southern California Native American population.
Extent:
335 leaves: paper; 28.5 x 22.5 cm.
Language:
Finding aid is written in English.

Background

Scope and content:

Hugo Reid (1811-1852) left Scotland at the age of eighteen and settled in California in 1832. He married a woman of the Gabrielino tribe and became a rancher near the San Gabriel mission near Los Angeles. This biography of Hugo Reid has two parts. The first part is a general narrative about his life, including his marriage, participation in the Mexican War, mining activities, and attendance at the Constitutional Convention at Monterey. The second part of the manuscript contains copies of twenty-two letters Reid and his wife, Victoria, wrote the to the Los Angeles Star. Reid's fortunes had faltered with United States seizure of California, and he may have written the letters in hope of being named a federal Indian agent. They focus on the Native American tribes of Los Angeles County and the history of the San Fernando and San Gabriel missions. These letters were published in 1852 under the title The Indians of Los Angeles County : Hugo Reid's letters of 1852 (an edited version of the letters was also reprinted in 1962, by the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles). The manuscript is arranged into ten titled chapters, with a separate appendix for the letters. Includes an index and bibliographical references.

Biographical / historical:

Susanna Bryant Dakin (born Susanna Bryant in 1905) was the daughter of Dr. Ernest Bryant and Sue Bixby. Her maternal grandfather was John W. Bixby, former owner of Rancho Los Alamitos. Dakin attended the elite Marlborough School in Los Angeles, and went on to study at Vassar College, graduating in 1925. She married Richard Y. Dakin in 1930, and raised a family of five children. Dakin had an active interest in writing and Southern California history. Her first book, entitled A Scotch Paisano : the Story of Hugo Reid in 1939, was published by the University of California Press in 1939. Dakin was active in Scripps College, the Pasadena Arts Museum, the Pasadena Chapter of the Red Cross, the Santa Ana Botanical Garden, and other southern California institutions. She died in a plane crash in Mexico in 1966.

Acquisition information:
Gift of author.
Physical location:
Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access and use

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
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