Jo Mora
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Jo Mora also known as Joseph Jacinto Mora (1876-1947) was a cartoonist, illustrator, Tex-Mex cowboy, who lived with the Hopi and wrote extensively about his experiences in California. He was an artist-historian, sculptor, painter, photographer, illustrator, muralist and author. He has been called the "Renaissance Man of the West".
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[edit] Childhood
Joseph Jacinto “Jo” Mora was born on October 22, 1876 in Montevideo, Uruguay to artists Domingo Mora and Laura Gaillard. His father was Catalan and his mother was French. He came to the United States, the family settled in New York. Mora studied art in the New York and Boston, at the Art Student's League in New York and the Cowles School in Boston. He studied with William Merritt Chase. In Boston, he worked as a cartoonist for a newspaper called the Boston Traveler and then worked for the Boston Herald.
[edit] 1903 trip to California
In the Spring of 1903, Mora arrived in Solvang, California. He stayed at the Donohue Ranch. He made plans to travel to the Southwest to paint and photograph the Hopi. He spent time at the Mission Santa Ines; those photographs are now maintainted by the Smithsonian Institute.
Mora visited many Spanish missions in California that Summer by horseback. He followed the "mission trail", also called the "Kings Highway".
[edit] 1904 – 1906 with the Hopis
From 1904 to 1906, Mora lived with the Hopi and Navajo near Oraibi, Arizona. He took photographs, painted and otherwise recorded the daily life of these Native Americans, including the Hopi Snake Dance. He learned the Native languages and made detailed drawings of what he observed.
[edit] 1907 – 1918
In 1907, Mora returned to California and married Grace Needham. Their son, Joseph Needham Mora, was born on March 8, 1908.
The Moras moved to San Jose, California, where Mora continued his work. In 1925, he designed the commemorative half dollar for the California Diamond Jubilee. He also illustrated a number of books, and did large murals. He also published charts, maps and diagrams of the West and Western themes.
[edit] 1919 – 1947
From 1937 to his death on October 10, 1947 in Monterey, California, Mora wrote and illustrated Children's books about the West.
[edit] Bibliography
- A Log of the Spanish Main (1934) OCLC 57523092 ASIN B00085UYN0.
- Trail Dust and Saddle Leather (1946) ISBN 0-8032-8145-5.
- Californios: The Saga of the Hard-Riding Vaqueros, America's First Cowboys (1946) ISBN 0-922029-19-9.
[edit] In music
- Western performer Mike Beck's Where the Green Grass Grows album includes a song about Mora entitled "In Old California". It was written by Beck and Ian Tyson.
- The rock group The Byrds used a drawing by Mora as the cover for their album Sweetheart of the Rodeo
