A novel by Helen Hunt Jackson that was published in 1884. A romantic novel, Ramona created the romanticized view of the California Missions and of the Calfornia of yesteryear.
Named after the title character, Ramona is a part-Indian orphan who is taught to think she is Spanish. She falls in love with the Indian, Alessandro who dies when he is forced to fight the Americans for a land grant only to die by the protagonist, Jim Farrar.
Jackson hoped the book would have the same effect on the public as did Harriet Beecher's Uncle Tom's Cabin. It failed in that respect, but one lasting reminder of the novel is the Ramona Pagent in Hemet (Outside of Riverside) since 1923 that uses hundreds of local residents to act out the play.