Back in June of '09, a friend of mine who resides in Santa Monica - CA, first confronted various Santa Monica bureaucrats (via e-mail - including an e-mail to the Mayor) regarding a blatantly false synopsis of Santa Monica's history which was posted on an official banner at the new Santa Monica Annenberg Community Beach House.
The Original Synopsis Claimed: The first inhabitants of Santa Monica were the Tongva, also known as the Gabrielino, people. They were followed by Mexican rancheros called Californios, who were given Mexican land grants to promote settlement in California.
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As you can see - there was an obvious attempt to promote the false idea that the region's roots (like all of the South-West U.S. accordingly) are Mexican. Spain's 300 year influence and 50 year ownership of the region prior to Mexico's 20 year ineffective stint was omitted.
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Me thinks maybe somebody was trying to delegitimize U.S. sovereignty in order to influence the immigration debate?
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After my friend persisted (for about a year) in confronting the issue, those responsible for signing off on the synopsis admitted the inaccuracy and made the correction.
The Correction States: The first inhabitants of Santa Monica were the Tongva, also known as the Gabrielino, people. Next came settlers of Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo descent, the first of whom received land grants from Spanish governors in the early 1800s.
Of course they never admitted a political agenda was behind the rewriting of the regions history or gave any other explanation for the bold destortion.
Here are a few informative links regarding Santa Monica's history:
Santa Monica: A History on the Edge