California

It was to California that Helen traveled to further recuperate from some health problems. On her trips to the state she traveled all around the state including Yosemite, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, and Santa Cruz. One of the stops she made was to the Normal School in San Jose (it eventually became San Jose State University). The natural beauty in the state is what most appealed to her. Part of her stay was at a ranch (seen in the photo above) in Southern California. While visiting here, she was inspired to write her most famous book Ramona (her handwritten manuscript is shown in the photo above). Her goal was to provide the same impetus that Uncle Tom's Cabin had provided for the anti-slavery movement. This was the culmination of her fight to improve the situation for Native Americans.

In addition to her fiction and her historical books, Jackson also was famous for her travel books and articles. Some of the travel books that Jackson wrote about California include the following: Father Junipero Serra and the Mission Indians of California, Glimpses of California and the Missions, My Day in the Wilderness, and Ah-Wah-Ne Days: A Visit to the Yosemite Valley in 1872. She even preferred to use the Native name of Ah-Wah-Ne instead of Yosemite.