María Ruiz de Burton

María Amparo Ruiz de Burton (July 3, 1832 – 1895) is considered the first female Mexican-American author to write in English. In her career she published two very popular books and one play: Who Would Have Thought It? (1872), The Squatter and the Don (1885), and Don Quixote de la Mancha: A Comedy in Five Acts: Taken From Cervantes' Novel of That Name (1876).

Biography

María Amparo Ruiz was born in Loreto, Baja California on July 3, 1832 to and aristocratic family. Her grandfather Don Jose Manuel Ruiz was a Commander of the Mexican northern frontier in Baja California and later governor of the region from 1822 to 1825. Due to his outstanding work in the services, Don Jose Manuel received two sites of over 3,500 hectares of land in the Ensanada region. This land became very important for the Ruiz family for Ruiz de Burton's entire life. Then many years later, Francisco Ruiz, her great-uncle, was a commandate in San Diego. When Ruiz de Burton's family moved to the United States, they settled in San Diego where they had the most family ties. While living in San Diego, Ruiz de Burton had an English tutor by the name of Mariano Vallejo who taught her the basics of being a writer.

Ruiz de Burton met her future husband, Captain Henry S. Burton of Norwich, Vermont, when he was stationed in Loreto, Baja California Sur, as occupied territory of the United States during the Mexican-American War . In 1848 she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area upon the signing of the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo. Just prior to the implementation of the treaty, U.S. officials promised certain residents of Baja California transport to Alta California on refugee ships and full U.S. citizenship. She married Burton on July 9, 1849 in Monterey, CA, six days after her seventeenth birthday. The couple's first chiled, Nellie, was born on July 4, 1850. In 1852, Captain Burton was assigned to San Diego, CA and their second child, Henry was also born this year on November 24. In 1853, the couple bought a ranch, Rancho Jamul, where the couple made extensive renovations and lived for many years. In 1859, Henry Burton was sent to the East Coast to help the Union military towards the end of the Civil War, Ruiz de Burton and their two children accompanied the Captain there. Over the next ten years, they lived in Rhode Island, New York, Washington D.C., Delaware and Virginia. Captain Burton died of malaria in 1869.

Ruiz de Burton returned to San Diego, CA in 1870 after her husband's death, and spent the rest of her life in lawsuits trying to keep the title to Rancho Jamul and also began her writing career. While the Burtons bought Rancho Jamul in the 1850s, the deed of purchase did not come through until the 1870s. As a result of the long and extensive litigation process, squatters settled onto parts of the ranch. However, the ranch was never without the presence of a member of the Burton family even when they moved east with Henry. Finally, in 1875 Ruiz de Burton received the land grant, but after years fighting legally over the land it was very heavily mortgaged. Ruiz de Burton then had no choice but to apply for a homestead instead which granted her only 986.6 hectares of land. Even after this small victory in 1887, the government still fought with her over the land for the next two years, which ultimately remained in her name.

Ruiz de Burton published two novels and one major play between 1872 and 1885: Who Would Have Thought It? was her first novel, published in 1872, The Squatter and the Don (1885) was her second novel, published in 1885, and Don Quixote de la Mancha: A Comedy in Five Acts: Taken From Cervantes' Novel of That Name was her play, published and first performed in San Francisco in 1876.

Towards the end of her life Ruiz de Burton moved east to Chicago in order to fight for claims to another family ranch, Rancho Ensenada de Todos Santos, that her grandfather had inherited. However, she was unsuccessful and died there in 1895 trying to get the title for it. Her body was taken to San Diego for burial. Due to all of the years she spent in lawsuits over lands, she died bankrupt but had spent her entire life pursuing her all of her work with energy and the hope to preserve her Latina roots.

Theatre Career

Ruiz de Burton is credited with the authorship and publication of one play in her career, entitle "Don Quixote de la Mancha: A Comedy in Five Acts, Taken from Cervantes' Novel of That Name," published in San Francisco, CA in 1876.

Literary Works

Most of Ruiz de Burton's works were published under the pen name C. Loyal. She chose C. Loyal for the meaning Loyal Citizen, which in Spanish translates to Cuidadano Leal. The idea from her pen name came from the way government officials in Mexico would end their letters in the nineteenth century.

Who Would Have Thought It? does not actually have her name attached to it; however, in the Library of Congress the novel is under the names H. S. Burton and Mrs. Henry S. Burton. This novel deals with the Civil War in a very sardonic manner. In Who Would Have Thought It? a Presbyterian minister and the wife of one of his friends engage in a love affair that in the context of the Civil War illuminates the hypocrisy and racism of this Northern abolitionist family.

The Squatter and the Don is her most famous literary piece. This work of fiction adopts the narrative perspective of a conquered Mexican population that felt exploited and inferior to Americans, despite the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848. This novel came after Ruiz de Burton and her two children moved back to California after her husband's death. The story of The Squatter and the Don fictionally documents the many Californio families that lost their land due to squatters and litigation, which is something with which Ruiz de Burton had first hand experience.

List of works

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References

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• {{citatioin||Urraca, Beatriz. Rev. of Critical and Pedagogical Perspectives. The Americas 2008: 434-35.