I am Barb Weismann.  I started researching the Alta California cattle industry as a docent at Sutter’s Fort, interpreting the Vaquero room.  I found that my main purpose was to answer the question, “what would a Californio ranchero have known in order to be a successful cattle rancher?”  He would have know things like how many bullocks’ fat would fill his try-pot.  He would have known how long it would take to skin a steer.

This site is a collection of answers, by topic.  I expect that many will be added to as time goes on, and other topics will be added as I read about them.