How it got its name...

Helen Hunt Jackson is best known as the author of Ramona, a novel that, beneath its fictional love story, serves as a poignant historical depiction of the injustices faced by Indigenous people in Southern California. First published in the late 1800s, Ramona became immensely popular, with over 300 printings and five film adaptations. Since 1923, an outdoor play based on the novel has been performed annually in Hemet, California. The book had a significant influence on Southern California’s cultural identity, romanticizing the region’s Mexican colonial past and shaping its image. Its publication coincided with the expansion of railroad lines, drawing tourists eager to visit sites believed to be linked to the novel’s setting.