Bloody Islands is a series of linked stories, each of a bloody island of sorts, concerning the 19th Century settlement of California and the Bloody Island Massacre of 1850. They tell of those who tasted success only to have it wrested away, of those who fought for and/or sought justice and lost, of the crushing of cultures, of racism, and of those whose lives and/or lands or fortunes were vanquished. These are the stories of Yankee Jim Robinson, William Knight, Lewis Dent, Benjamin and Andrew Kelsey, Charles Stone, John Stark, Captain John Freemont, Kit Carson, James Beckwourth, Salvador Vallejo, Jose de la Reyes Berryessa, Chief Solano, Chief Ba cow shun, William Morris Stewart, Lieutenant John Davidson, Captain Nathaniel Lyon, and others. They document events such as the Bear Flag Revolt, the second relief effort of Donner Party, the Battle of San Pasqual, the case of the People versus Hall, the murder of the Reed family at Mission San Miguel, and the Bloody Island Massacre of 1850, to which they all relate."