Jensen Alvarado

This Sunday's column was about the Jensen Alvarado Ranch in Riverside.  It's the first brick building in the area.  Captain Jensen, who was a Danish citizen, learned that adobe bricks dissolve in heavy downpours, hence his choice of brick.

The Captain had come down from the Gold Rush, having made a great deal of money from selling things to the miners.  He had in modern parlance "A ton of Whack!"  He lacked social position however.

Now, it so happened that the Alvarado's had lots of position but were a trifle lacking in the whack department.

Their daughter Mercedes was only 16 but up for marrying the 40 year-old Captain - today it would be called statuary rape, I believe!  She was staggeringly plain and from the photos somewhat hirsute.  However, they had 12 children, ten of whom made it to adulthood.  So who's to judge! To read the rest of the story go to www.sbsun.com/trevorstravels