The Journal of San Diego History
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
Spring 1985, Volume 31, Number 2
Thomas L. Scharf, Editor
Book Notes
Raymond Starr, Book Review Editor
Cooper: Juan Bautista Rogers Cooper, Sea Captain, Adventurer, Ranchero And Early California Pioneer, 1791-1872. By John Woolfended and Amelie Elkinton, Pacific Grove, Cal. Boxwood Press, 1983. Illustrations. Maps. Bibliography. Index. Genealogical Table. 159 Pages. $7.95 Paperback.
Juan Bautista Rogers Cooper was a California shipper, rancher and merchant. Although headquartered in northern California (mostly Monterey and Sonoma) his family and business connections brought him into contact with much of California, including San Diego. He knew and worked with many prominent people of his times: California like Governors Juan Bautista Alvarado and Luis Antonio Arguello, and various Vallejos; and Anglo Americans such as his brother-in-law Thomas Oliver Larkin and mountainman Jedediah Smith. This readable biography, based on many family sources, covers both Cooper’s life and career, and a nice view of California in the middle half of the nineteenth century.
