In 1780s California, a mixed-blood scout, torn between his native heritage and Spanish conquerors, is thrust into a battle of survival and identity as he navigates oppressive mission life and brutal colonizers.

SYNOPSIS:

ALTA CALIFORNIA is an historically correct script viewed through the eyes of a fictional character, Paco Palido. Paco has three tasks before him: 1) Revenge the murder of his mother by a Spanish soldier; 2) Discover who and what he is and who are his people in a rapidly evolving world; and, 3) Aid his new-found people prepare for the coming of the white man from the East.

The script divides into three sections.

Section One: Who Am I?

Paco Palido (fictional) is a mixed blood whose tribe and mother are slaughtered. Before her death, Paco’s mother gives her son a clamshell necklace: an object that recurs in the story.

Paco is taken to a residential school where, despite repeated punishments, Paco refuses to give up the “heathen” necklace, or to accept baptism into a faith that assigns his dead mother to its Hell.

He is rescued from the school by Captain Felipe de Neve who employs Paco as a native scout.

In that role, Paco witnesses the repeated confrontations between Neve and Padre Junipero Serra over the treatment of “neophytes” (baptized Indians), misused funding, and clashes over protection and safety.

Paco also witnesses how some Spanish soldiers, against Neve’s express command, abuse native women. Two Spanish soldiers invite Paco to accompany them on a “deer hunt.” He refuses and is jailed overnight.

Neve, suspicious of what this “hunt” involved, sends Paco to talk with the leader of the local tribe. The Headman informs Paco what happens, but insists the two soldiers face native, not Spanish, retribution. “Our way is poison.”

The Headman also informs Paco that it is in Santa Barbara, among the “heathen” Chumash, where Paco will find his people.

Section Two: I Find My Home, My People

Paco is captured by the Chumash! The necklace his mother gave him saves Paco. The Chumash recognize him as one of their own.

In a powerful and haunting scene, Paco, aided by a young and beautiful Chumash girl, Ifapi, meets the ghost of his murdered mother.

He leaves the Chumash having found his purpose, knowing he has to help his people prepare for a place in this rapidly evolving world.

Section Three: How Can I Help My People?

With the Spanish preparing to leave Alta California, all focus is upon preparing the neophytes for the coming invasion of white men from the east.

Two opposing solutions are offered. Serra believes the neophytes must remain in the missions where God will protect them. Neve disagrees, believing the neophytes must return to their tribal ways away from the mission. Only one solution will succeed.

Paco, who carries Neve and the King Carlos’s decision to various missions, soon learns how determined, uncompromising and Machiavellian the “Good Padre” really is. His solution will win by fair means or foul.

Serra and Neve die in the same year. Paco returns to his new-found tribe, the Chumash, and his new-found love, Ifapi.