There are both Spanish and English versions of Martínez’ attempt to write a comprehensive history of Lower California. The English edition can be dismissed almost immediately from consideration, since it is not an adequate reflection of the original, being deficient not only in the art of translation, but also marred by hundreds of typographical errors.

Considerably better in typography and literary style is the Spanish original. By historical standards this is not a scholarly contribution, lacking a formal bibliography and index, and having such sparse footnoting that the authority for the writer’s statements is ever in doubt. In all fairness, however, the use of pictorial and other visual representations is admirable, and these provide some source material. In addition, the Spanish version contains several pertinent illustrations and appendices not found in the translation.

After two introductory chapters on the physiography of the region, the work is divided chronologically into subsections, in which Martínez runs a wide range of subject matter. A lengthy section attempts to inquire into the origins of early man in America, and particularly in Baja California, with explanations of certain aspects of the Guaycura and Cochimi Indian tongues based primarily on word and phrase lists compiled by the early priests of the area.

A century and a half of colonization failures is detailed in a satisfactory account of the activities of a series of pearl fishing conquistadores. Interesting digressions into the etymological origins of local place names add useful information. Of maximum interest and value is the reproduction in chapter XXXI of twenty-five cartographical sketches of California from the time of Hernán Cortés to Miguel Costansó. These demonstrate the changing concepts of California geography during the Spanish period.

The mission periods of Baja California are treated, with abundant sympathy for the Jesuits and some for the Dominicans. The Franciscans are charged with responsibility for denuding the area of its economic resources to support the occupation of Alta California. The entire missionary impetus focuses on the unique geographical and cultural conditions of the region.

Subsections entitled “From Iturbide’s Empire to Our Times” and “The North: From the Establishment of the District to the Creation of the State” complete the work. In the reviewer’s opinion, it is in these two sections that the author bogs down in a morass of superficial detail. Martínez appears at his most objective self and his literary best when he writes of the periods during which he was not an active participant in the history of Lower California. Concerning things that date from his lifetime, the author permits his strong prejudices to show, whereas they were sufficiently concealed or non-existent in the earlier sections. In the period familiar to Martínez, his anti-Yankee, pro-socialist, and fiercely nationalistic sentiments are clearly evident at the expense of sound scholarship.

Particularly singled out for criticism, both merited and unmerited, were the strong efforts of United States and other foreign investors to gain economic advantage, by obtaining concessions from the Mexican authorities, in the undeveloped sections of Baja California. Martínez is highly critical of the U. S. in the matters of Colorado River water development and distribution, in the Pious Fund controversy, and in its non-neutral attitude toward some warring Mexican factions who received aid in California. He is equally critical when the United States assumed a policy of strict neutrality in dealing with other factions which had the author’s sympathy. In short, Martínez’ thesis concerning the northern neighbor is that “The United States can do no right,” a view as irrational as that frequently held north of the border that the United States can never be wrong. Except for a brief mention of the favorable effects on the Baja California economy of the passage of the Prohibition act in the United States, there is notably absent from the work any satisfactory treatment of the close economic relationship that makes Baja California (Norte) more dependent on Upper California than on Mexico proper.

In summary, Martínez has attempted much and has succeeded in bringing considerable material, both old and new, to bear on the subject of his homeland. When he misses the mark, it can be ascribed to lack of objectivity and to faulty historical techniques. When he is correct, it is the result of much effort, detailed acquaintance with the area, and a genuine interest in the little known history of Lower California.