The Life and Times of Jake C. See

The story of Jake C. See is the stuff of legend during the early days of the California frontier when San Luis Obispo was cow country―a time ruled by cattle ranchers and the cowboy way where the vigilante’s rope and the law of the gun prevailed. This particular story originated with Rachael Jane See whose family adopted the orphaned Jake while crossing the Great Plains by covered wagon train on the way to California. It was then told to her child Georgia (Callaway) Ruda who then passed it onto her daughter Georgia (Ruda) Martines who, with the help of her daughter Diana (Martines) Domenghini, transcribed and illustrated the story in 1968.

Jake C. See was the quintessential American cowboy―a mountain of a man with a wide handle-bar mustache and sparkling, clear eyes; his cheeks and sharp nose were chiseled by decades of wind, rain, and dusty trails until his face became as burnished as the leather boots he wore; he was bow-legged from constant horseback riding, donned a wide-brimmed Stetson hat and a bandana, wore a gun on the hip, and when riding carried a 100 foot riata―the use if which he was famous for. Con­sidered the “Robin Hood” of the West by friends and the devil incarnate by the rest, in 1880 was eventually arrested and convicted of sheep rustling but served only two years of a four year term in San Quentin Prison after local residents petitioned the governor for his early release. He ran unsuccessfully for Sherriff of San Luis Obispo County in 1918. The paper reported that Jake died of influenza in the same year but a new book by Diana Domenghini tells of a different demise and colorful life.

For more information about the book see: http://www.lulu.com/product/file-download/the-life-times-of-jake-c-see/12476280?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/1