California, as it figures in the stories from Didion’s youth, came into existence when it ratified its state government and joined the American Union in 1850. Prior to this, Indigenous peoples had lived on the land for centuries until Spanish explorers began colonizing the region in 1542. The land became a part of Mexico following the conclusion of their war of independence in 1821, and it then became American territory following another war, the Mexican–American War, which concluded in 1848. 

During this era, the preeminent American ideology was one of expansionism and “Manifest Destiny”—the belief that it was the American colonists’ divine right to spread West, conquering the land and building their “civilization” on it. Such expansions often occurred explicitly and violently at the expense of California’s Indigenous peoples, such as during what came to be known as the “California Genocide” during the Gold Rush: “[F]ollow[ing] the discovery of gold in the Sierra foothills in the mid-1800s […] Settlers, private militias and the U.S. troops carried out massacres across California, with the intent of exterminating the Native population. By 1900, only about 16,000 Native Californians remained, many living in small groups away from their original homeland” (Jones, Carolyn. “The Brutal Story Behind California’s New Native American Genocide Education Law.” AP News, 10 Oct. 2024). 

California as an economic and political entity developed rapidly after 1849 due to the discovery of gold in San Fransico and the ensuing Gold Rush. Massive swaths of prospectors migrated into the region from other American states and from across the globe to seek riches in the western mountains. The exponential increase in population necessitated the building of “boom towns” and all the civic infrastructure necessary to support social and economic life. Mining was the major industry, but migrants also found prosperity in lumber, transportation, and agriculture. New citizens tended to have entrepreneurial or enterprising personalities and found niches where they could use their skills and resources for enrichment (“Historical Impact of the California Gold Rush.” Norwich University). California gained a reputation as a land of opportunity, luck, and wealth for white Americans of all classes. As a child, Didion was taught that Californians had an innate gambling spirit, a willingness to strike out for something new, and a restlessness that, while negative elsewhere, thrived in this unique environment.

This is the story of California that Didion investigates in Where I Was From. She is curious about the kinds of people California attracted, the perilous journeys they undertook to realize their ambitions, and the consequences of building a society on such speculative morality. Didion was taught an embellished version of this history by her family, schools, and government, and this fabled Californian identity at once dazzled and confused her. She uses these lifelong questions to prompt her research. Didion claims that the book will dismantle this idealized identity, uncovering the negative consequences on both the individual and political level of uncritically absorbing these myths. She does not, however, engage with the effects of white colonialism on the Indigenous peoples in any sustained way, which reveals some of the limitations of her investigation and her own biases in treating the experiences of her pioneer ancestors.