Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

Michael Mathes, well known as an award-winning historian and professor of history, was a many-faceted individual with a variety of talents that endeared him to legions of admirers. An expert in all things Mexican and a specialist in the history of Baja California, Mike was truly bicultural and awlessly bilingual. those who interacted with him, even slightly, never forgot his willingness to help, his valuable suggestions, his ability as a teacher, his talent as a tour guide, and his success as a writer of history. Mike was honored by the government of Mexico in 1985 with the order of the Aztec Eagle and by the government of Spain with the order of Isabel the Catholic in 2005— both for his efforts as a foreigner in promoting the history of those countries.