BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) – The year 1776 isn’t just the semiquincentennial celebration of America, it’s the quarter-millennial of the arrival of Father Francisco Garcés in what is now our area.
May 3, 1776, to be exact.
250 years after he passed through the southern tip of the San Joaquin Valley, Father Francisco Garcés is still a well recognized name in Kern County, but many may be oblivious to his enduring impact on the American southwest and on Bakersfield…