Years ago, (before Amazon was invented), my mom would take me to the Christian book store almost every weekend, and I always had to leave with something. And that is how I stumbled across Elaine L. Schulte and ended up reading just about every book in the California Pioneer Series. Ms. Schulte is a wonderful author who wrote a lot of historical romance novels. The California Pioneer Series encompasses the stories of one family, some as they travel to California, and others as they learn to live there.
This one is probably my favorite. It’s a little bit Christy by Catherine Marshall and a little bit of a mystery as well.
I very much recommend this series if this time period in history interests you. I have reread several of these books many times! I started the series out of order, but if you read these, you might want to start from the beginning!
remaininhislove 
Wow these are pretty awesome! Thanks for sharing! I haven’t heard of her or the books before!