Orange County's pioneer history is filled with harrowing tales every bit as entertaining as a western novel. These stories, culled from oral histories recorded by old-timers in the 1930s as part of the Works Progress Administration, offer a rarely seen look into Orange County's frontier days. From bear hunts and bullfights to social gatherings at the home of the most famous Shakespearean actress of the day, these tales are a window into the earliest days of every corner of the county. Join editor Charles Epting for these wonderfully evocative portraits of the past recounted in the words of the eyewitnesses.

Born in Santa Monica and raised in Huntington Beach, California, Charles Epting is an undergraduate student at the University of Southern California. He is studying history and geology. For several years, he has been a volunteer at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, studying paleontology. He is the author of University Park, Los Angeles" and "The New Deal in Orange County."Mrs. G.E. Ashby was the project supervisor in the 1930s for the U.S. Works Progress Administration Project #3105, containing oral histories of Orange County pioneers."