Isabel Meadows was born in Carmel Valley on July 7, 1846, the day the American flag was raised over Monterey's Custom House. The daughter of former whaler and pioneer James Meadows and Loretta Onesimo, a member of a local Indian family, Isabel was a speaker of the Rumsien Ohlone language, the native language spoken in the Monterey coastal region.

(Monterey Public Library, Historic Photo File No. 295.)