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74 . Historical Society of Southern California

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tamales . The jams would keep for years in these receptacles.
An herb called cha grew in abundance in the orchards. It
was similar to the plant from which the Chinese make their
cha (tea) and the Californians years ago called tea cha. Now
they use the Spanish word te. The vessel in which cha was
prepared for use was called charera. The herb grew wild in
all of the orchards and nearly all of the settlers made tea from
it by steeping the leaves in boiling water.
But my mother obtained a recipe for the preparation
of the leaves in a more scientific manner. The entire plant
was washed, the leaves picked and put through a steaming
process, then rolled in the hands while still moist, after
which they were dropped into a wooden vessel ( batea de
pdlo) When dry each measure was mixed with a certain
number of dried orange blossoms, which gave the tea a de-
licious, aromatic flavor. It was also valuable medicinally,
being a heart sedative. (It resembles the orange pekoe
tea of today). The tea was used in the home and sent to
the stock ranch, called El Rancho de Chico Lopez, which is
about seven miles south of Elizabeth Lake, then La Laguna de
Chico Lopez, for the use of the vaqueros.
The seed of the cha was black, about one-quarter of
an inch long, crowned at the upper end with tenacious
stickers. The Americans called them Spanish needles.
This home product was delicious, and once played an im-
portant part for the government. During the latter part of
the Civil War, several valiant Southerners, probably orig-
inally from Texas, as the Californians called them Tejanos,
became dissatisfied with conditions in El Monte, where they
had settled with their families. They were dyed-in-the-
wool Democrats, and the presence of so many Northerners
and Federals filled their souls with ire. They decided to
seek a new home, where they could breathe pure Demo-
cratic air. They moved to a little valley in the Tehachepi
2 Rumors reached the Federal headquarters
Mountains .
that the Southern Mountaineers were collecting arms and
recruiting an army for an attack on Los Angeles. Orders
1. These were sent to the ranch for the vaqueros’ lunch.
2. Near the present town of Tehachepi.