Dueling in California: Victims of the Code

The Benicia Historical Society & the Benicia Capitol State Historical Park present a free event for the community: 

Dueling in California: Victims of the Code

Between 1848 and 1861, more than 70 duels were fought in California, at a time when dueling as a practice was dying out elsewhere. Over the course of the lecture, I’ll describe several of the most famous and important duels in California, and attempt to answer the following questions:
 
Who fought in duels?
Why would you fight a duel?
How would you fight a duel?
How would you cheat in a duel?
Why was dueling so common in California when it was in decline elsewhere?
Why don’t we fight duels anymore?

This Historic talk is by Reese Brooks. Reese is a Senior Park Aide whose been working at the Capitol for six years, with a degree in history from UC Irvine.