It Happened in Northern California takes readers on a rollicking, behind the scene look at some of the characters and episodes from the state's storied past. Including famous tales, famous names as well as little known heroes, heroines, and happenings.

Northern California is well known for its towering redwoods, Spanish missions, and gold mines, but few know about the two-year-long Native American occupation of Alcatraz, efforts by some northern Californians to establish the US's fifty-first state, or that John Sutter never capitalized on the gold rush that began on his land. It Happened in Northern California goes behind the scenes to tell these stories and many more, in short episodes that reveal the intriguing people and events that have shaped the Golden State.