Miradero
Miradero is a small town on the American frontier, and the principal setting of the events of Spirit Riding Free. The town serves as the home of Lucky and the Prescott family; Pru Granger and her parents Al and Fannie; Abigail Stone, her brother Snips, and their parents; and others.
Among other structures and settings, Miradero comprises a main street, a one-room schoolhouse, Mr. Granger's barn and its two round horse pens and square ramada, a church, a bank, two bakeries, a café, a saloon, a town hall, a town square with a fountain, a general store, a blacksmith shop, a cemetery, a jail, an inn, a barber shop, the Prescott house, Maricela's house, the Stone house, and Miss Flores's house. Just outside of town stands a train depot for the JP & Sons Railroad. The Grayson ranch is located some miles outside of town.
Perhaps anachronistically, Miradero is shown to have modern amenities like electric lighting (without any visible electric power distribution lines), indoor plumbing, and refrigeration, although these did not become commonplace, even in many cities, until after the concept of the "frontier" had vanished from the American vernacular around 1890.
Location within the United States
The precise location of Miradero is left vague. However, it is known that:
- The town is located in a state (as opposed to a territory that has not yet joined the Union);[1]
- The town is within one or two days' horseback ride from the Pacific coast;[2]
- Given the prominence of the Spanish language in and around Miradero, the town is more south than north.
These three facts together all but rule out any location other than southern or middle California.