In this day of instant communication, with radio, television, telephone and e-mail speeding the news around at breakneck speed, it's difficult to imagine the importance of the events of June 19, 1865 in Galveston, Texas.

On that summer day long ago, the last slaves in America were freed. Or rather, they were told of their freedom -- Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 had ended slavery in the rebellious states, but it took Major Gen. Gordon Granger to deliver the news personally to the slaves in Texas.

Ever since, the 19th of June has been a day of celebration for African-Americans and others who celebrate the end of slavery and the subsequent accomplishments of black Americans. This anniversary date, which is an official state holiday only in Texas, became known as Juneteenth.

As in previous years, the people of Lake Elsinore will mark the historic date with a picnic, hosted by the Lake Elsinore chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The festivities start at 11 a.m. at Yarborough Park on Poe Street, and the whole family is invited.

But why should most of us care?

After all, California was never officially slave-holding territory. The Mexican government, who controlled California until 1848, had outlawed slavery in 1823, four decades before Lincoln's proclamation. When admitted to the Union as a free state in 1850, California's new constitution explicitly forbade slavery in the Golden State.

However, legal realities do not always match what goes on in the real world. The slaves in Galveston, prevented by their masters from learning of their freedom, can certainly attest to this. And so it turns out that slavery did exist in California after all.

The California State University Sacramento library earlier this year established a digital archive called the California Underground Railroad, documenting the history of the hundreds of slaves brought into California by southern slave-owners. You can view newspaper archives, which include a San Francisco slave auction announcement from 1852 and an 1854 notice about an escaped slave at http://digital.lib.csus.edu/curr/.

Nathan Harrison was brought to California from Kentucky by his master in 1848, who was forced to free him in 1850. Nate settled in the Temecula area by Palomar Mountain.

Until his death in 1920, Harrison was a hospitable host to travelers who came by his shanty, giving water to passers-by. The road near his spring was renamed Nathan Harrison Grade in 1955.

Even less known than California's history of black slavery is legalized slavery of Indian children from 1850 to 1866. The patronizingly named "Act for the Government and Protection of Indians" allowed whites to seize young Native Americans and keep them as unpaid workers until they were 40 years old if men and 35 years if women.

Thousands of Indians were enslaved and sold during that dark period of California's history, which came to an end in 1866 when federal investigators forced an end to the practice as illegal under the 14th Amendment.

This Juneteenth, let's remember America's -- and California's -- shameful legacy of racism and slavery. Those who don't learn from history risk being enslaved by it.

Kynn Bartlett of Lake Elsinore is a regular columnist for The Californian. E-mail: column@kynn.com.