USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > A history of the city of San Francisco; and incidentally of the state of California > Part 10
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SEC. 74. Winter of 1849. The winter of 1849-50 was very wet. The streets were soon worked into a deep mud by the traffic, and in many places it became little better than a swamp. Not unfrequently men were in danger of sinking out of sight in the mire, and it was a common occurrence to see them in up to their waists. Two horses sank so deep in the mud in Montgomery street, between Clay and Sacramento, that they were left there to die; and die they did of starvation, while hundreds of merciful men would have been glad to relieve them, but could not. Be- tween Washington and Jackson streets, three men got into the mud of Montgomery street at night, probably in a state of intoxication, and were suffo- cated. Dirt and brush were thrown into the street at some of the crossings, but no gravel or lumber could be hauled to the places most in need of improvement, nor was there any arrangement to pay for such work out of any city fund. Labor and materials of all kinds could not be obtained for less than five or in some cases even twenty times as much as in New York, and all that could be done was to lay a board here and there, or throw a box, barrel or a keg into the mud. The people waded through the winter as well as they could.
The abundant rain was, however, not an unmixed evil. The merchants soon observed that gold dust was far more abundant than before. The monthly yield of the mines was three times greater after No- vember than it had been in the summer. Thirty thou-
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sand men at least of the new arrivals did not get well at work until the wet weather commenced. The rise of the rivers drove the old miners from the river bars where they had been employed, and they were aston- ished to find that the ravines offered far more exten- sive, and to the majority, more remunerative diggings. The vast increase in the production was soon felt as a stimulus to the trade of San Francisco, which made rapid advances so soon as the streets began to dry in the spring of 1850. The monthly gold yield of 1848 averaged perhaps three hundred thousand dollars; that of 1849, one million five hundred thousand dollars; and that of 1850, three millions of dollars. At any rate the supply of dust increased with great rapidity, and also the demand for supplies.
SEC. 75. 1850. The admission of California legal- ized the state administration chosen in the previous year, the statutes adopted at the first session of the legislature-including a city charter for San Francisco -and the election of a full set of city officials in May with John W. Geary as first mayor. The exportation of gold, as reported at the custom-house, amounted to twenty-seven millions six hundred thousand dollars, and the number of immigrants by sea was thirty-six thousand, and by land probably twenty thousand more. A federal census taken in June showed a total popula- tion of ninety-two thousand five hundred and ninety- seven in the state, but did not include San Francisco, Santa Clara and Contra Costa, the returns from which were lost. These counties two years later had forty-
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five thousand seven hundred and four inhabitants, and doubtless had thirty thousand in 1850, so that the en- tire population of the state was then not less than one hundred and twenty-two thousand. The taking of the census was an unprofitable business in those days, and was done in a manner that deserved little confidence.
The building on Brenham Place, previously occu- pied for the city offices, being no longer adequate for the increased business, the Graham House, a four- story wooden building on the northwest corner of Kearny and Pacific streets, built for a hotel, was bought for a city hall at the price of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The new government soon got into full operation, though the officials as a class were reck- less and extravagant. The council voted themselves salaries of six thousand dollars each, but as their work occupied only two evenings of the week, a storm of popular indignation arose, and the ordinance was de- feated by the mayor's veto. Not satisfied with this discreditable check, when the admission of the state was celebrated they voted themselves large gold med- als, commemorative of the occasion, but as their liber- ality to themselves was severely condemned by public opinion, the municipal medals were never exhibited with pride.
SEC. 76. Second Great Fire. The second great fire occurred on the fourth of May and burned three blocks, of which two were between Clay, Jackson, Kearny and Montgomery, and one bounded by Wash- ington, Kearny, Jackson and Dupont. The first fire
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in the previous December had injured the gamblers and speculators chiefly; the second fell severely on the merchants, who lost about three million dollars. The third conflagration, six weeks later, on the fourteenth of June, swept away everything between Clay, Cali- fornia, Kearny and the water front, which was then near Sansome. The amount of the loss was about the same as in the preceding fire. The ground burned over was in a few months covered with better build- ings than before; and the growth and business of the city appeared to be rather stimulated than checked by the disaster. A fire-limit ordinance followed, pro- hibiting the erection of buildings covered with cotton cloth, but placing no restriction upon the use of wood. The purpose was rather to improve the appearance than to increase the security of the city. Numerous houses arrived in pieces on shipboard from eastern cities and were put up, some of them south of Market street in Happy Valley, which became the chief resi- dence district of the city. The first directory was published in September, and had two thousand five hundred names.
SEC. 77. Legislative Work. The legislature met in January, and elected W. M. Gwin and J. C. Fre- mont federal senators. These two, like Gilbert and Wright were residents of San Francisco, which thus received four of the highest political honors which could then be conferred by California. No American stat- utory law having ever been adopted, and the law of Mexico having been superseded, the legislature was
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called upon to transact an immense amount of busi- ness, which was wonderfully well done, the circum- stances of the case being considered. Among the bills passed was one to incorporate the city of San Fran- cisco; the charter limits on the west being a line near the present Buchanan street, and on the south a line near Santa Clara street, both lines being considerably beyond any street surveys made up to that time. The limit on the north and east was the water front, and the south-western corner was near the Mission church. The area thus included was about two thousand seven hundred acres. The charter declared that the city should be the successor of the pueblo of Yerba Buena. The city government was to be intrusted to a common council in two chambers, the aldermen and assistant aldermen, each board containing eight members. The chief executive officer was the mayor. At an election held on the first of May, under the charter, Geary was chosen mayor, and all the other city offices were filled. Thus the city government was at last put into complete operation under American law. Besides the city of San Francisco, the legislature organized the county of the same name, including the entire penin- sula for a distance of thirty miles from the Golden Gate, the southern boundary being San Francisquito creek. The county of San Mateo, afterwards organ- ized, took about fifteen sixteenths of the area of the original county of San Francisco. The county had its legislative, executive and judicial officers, so that there were two local administrations in the city.
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SEC. 78. Admission. The Californian senators and congressmen reached Washington in February, 1850, and, on the thirteenth of that month, President Taylor transmitted the constitution to the United States sen- ate, with a message recommending the admission of the state. The ultra southerners did everything to delay or defeat the bill, which was drawn up by Doug- las, as chairman of the committee on territories. Nu- merous amendments were proposed, and secession was openly threatened if the bill should be adopted. At last it passed the senate on the tenth of August, by a vote of thirty-four ayes against eighteen noes. The latter were all southerners, and among them were Jefferson Davis, Wm. R. King, J. Y. Mason, Pierre Soulé, and R. M. T. Hunter. Four days later ten southerners, including Davis, presented a protest, which the senate refused to receive. The following is an extract from it:
We have dissented from this bill because it gives the sanction of law, and thus imparts validity to the unauthorized action of a portion of the inhabitants of California, by which an odious dis- crimination is made against the property of the fifteen slave- holding states of the union, who are thus deprived of that por- tion of equality which the constitution so manifestly designs, and which constitutes the only sure and stable foundation on which this union can repose. * * Against this conclusion [the dedication of all California to freedom] we must now and forever protest, as it is destructive of the safety and liberties of those whose rights have been committed to our care, fatal to the peace and equality of the states which we represent, and must lead, if persisted in, to the dissolution of that confederacy in which the slave-holding states have not sought more than equality, and in which they will not be content to remain with less.
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The threat contained in this protest was far more moderate in language than the resolutions adopted at many public meetings held in various southern states. A mass meeting at Montgomery, Alabama, on the seventeenth of August, declared that the application of California for admission was a stupendous fraud, and that the southern states ought to take measures to vindicate their rights-secession being hinted at in unmistakable terms. The pretext for the opposition was that slavery was excluded from the territory south of latitude thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, but the admission of a state which would give a majority to freedom in the senate was scarcely less offensive to the slave interest, though it was not considered politic to base the opposition on that point. The temper of the north was up, however, and all the attempts to throw the Californian bill into the unfinished business failed. On the seventh of September it came to a vote in the house of representatives, and passed-ayes, one hun- and fifty; noes, fifty-six, the latter all southern men. Two days later the president signed the bill, so the attempt to devote the southern part of California to slavery failed; the state was admitted, and the free states obtained a majority in the United States senate.
SEC. 79. Rejoicing. The news of the passage of the bill by the Senate was received with much satis- faction in California, and it was confidently asserted and generally believed that there would be no long delay in the lower house. When the time came near for the arrival of the October steamer from Panama,
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the people of San Francisco were waiting to hear that their state had been admitted. On the morning of the eighteenth signal guns were heard, and persons who had been watching on the hills, came rushing down into the town with the report that the mail steamer had entered the Golden Gate with an un- usual display of bunting, indicating that there was some special cause of rejoicing. It was understood at once to mean admission, and the news flew over the town as fast as men could carry it. The story of the reception and celebration of the news is thus told in "The Annals of San Francisco:"
October 29th. This day was set apart to celebrate the ad- mission of California into the Union. When, on the eighteenth instant the mail steamer " Oregon " was entering the bay, she fired repeated preconcerted signal guns which warned the citi- zens of the glorious news. Immediately the whole of the inhabitants were afoot, and grew half wild with excitement until they heard definitely that the tidings were as they had expected. Business of almost every description was instantly suspended, the courts adjourned in the midst of their work, and men rushed from every house into the streets and towards the wharves, to hail the harbinger of the welcome news. When the steamer rounded Clark's Point and came in front of the city, her masts literally covered with flags and signals, a uni- versal shout arose from ten thousand voices on the wharves, in the streets, upon the hills, house-tops, and the world of ship- ping in the bay; again and again were huzzas repeated, adding more and more every moment to the intense excitement and unprecedented enthusiasm. Every public place was soon crowded with eager seekers after the particulars of the news, and the first papers issued an hour after the appearance of the " Oregon " were sold by the newsboys at from one to five dol- lars each. The enthusiasm increased as the day advanced.
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Flags of every nation were run up on a thousand masts and peaks and staffs, and a couple of large guns placed upon the Plaza were constantly discharged. At night every public thor- oughfare was crowded with the rejoicing populace. Almost every large building, all the public saloons and places of amuse- ment were brilliantly illuminated; music from a hundred bands assisted the excitement; numerous balls and parties were hasti- ly got up; bonfires blazed upon the hills, and rockets were incessantly thrown into the air, until the dawn of the following day. Such an occasion beyond all others demanded a proper celebration at San Francisco; and the citizens, accordingly, one and all united to make the day memorable. On the twenty- ninth instant, a procession of the various public bodies and inhabitants of the city, with appropriate banners, devices, music and the like, marched through the principal streets to the plaza. The Chinese turned out in large numbers on this occasion, and formed a striking feature in the ceremonies of the day. The Hon. Nathaniel Bennett, of the supreme court, delivered a suitable oration to the people on the plaza, and an ode, composed for the occasion by Mrs. Wills, was sung by a full choir. During the day repeated discharges of fire-arms and a proper salute from great guns carried off some of the popular excitement, while the shipping displayed innumerable flags. In the evening public bonfires and fireworks were ex- hibited from Telegraph Hill, Rincon Point, and the islands in the bay. The houses were likewise brilliantly illuminated, and the rejoicings were everywhere loudly continued during the night. Some five hundred gentlemen and three hundred ladies met at the grandest public ball that had yet been witnessed in the city, and danced and made merry till daylight, in the pride and joy of their hearts that California was truly now the thirty-first state of the Union.
SEC. 80. Clipper Ships. The California clippers, sailing vessels measuring one thousand tons or more, with sharp bows, sides modeled with careful regard for ease of motion through the water, tall masts, long
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bowsprit and yards, and capacity to carry a great spread of canvas, made their appearance in the latter part of this year, in answer to the demand for the quick transportation of large quantities of freight to San Francisco. They were as much superior in size and elegance of marine architecture to the Indiamen of England as these were to the clumsy luggers of Holland. Time being precious in reaching the golden market, they charged for several years on certain kinds of freight fifty dollars a ton, or about four times as much as had been paid usually to sailing vessels for voyages of the same distance; and in return they kept all sail set to the limit of safety. They made the trip from New York to San Francisco often in less than three months, and ordinarily took one third less time than the old style ships. With a good breeze, they could leave ocean steamers behind. Sail- ors saw them at first with amazement and have not yet lost their admiration, though clipper ships have ceased to be the exclusive possession of American shipowners, or to be employed entirely in the Cali- fornian trade. The early clippers earned nearly enough to pay for their cost by the freight of a single voyage; and on several occasions when the cargo was shipped by the owners, the profit on it was twice the cost of the ship.
The names of the early clippers, unlike the " Eliza," the " Euphemia," the "Thomas H. Perkins," the "Mary Jane," and the titles fashionable for the slow ships, were frequently suggestive of the romance of a
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sailor's life. The "White Squall," the "Flying Cloud," the "Typhoon," the "Trade Wind," and the "Sovereign of the Seas," were among the notable pioneer vessels that did honor to the American flag on both the great oceans. As the expenses of lying at a wharf in San Francisco were very high, one hun- dred dollars or even two hundred dollars a day for large ships, it was feared that the long time required for discharging two thousand tons of freight, and tak- ing in a cargo of ballast, would eat up much of the profits. Instead, however, of taking a month for the work, the stevedores, under the stimulus of extra pay, succeeded in doing in a day what elsewhere consumed a week.
SEC. 81. Pioneer Society. Some of the citizens of San Francisco, impressed with the remarkable events in which they had taken an active part, in August or- ganized the Society of California Pioneers, to which anybody who had arrived before the preceding Janu- ary might be admitted. Much fault has been found with them of late that the admission of the state was not the limit of date, but such a limit could not be fixed when the state had not been admitted.
SEC. 82. Wharf Contracts. As the company own- ing Commercial street wharf made an immense profit from it, and as there was ten times as much business as it could accommodate, it was evident that notwith- standing the high cost of wharves, they offered excel- lent opportunities for investments, so there was a rush for franchises. In October, 1850, Market street wharf
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had extended out from the shore line six hundred feet into the bay; California, four hundred; Sacramento, eight hundred; Clay, nine hundred; Washington, two hundred and seventy-five; Jackson, five hundred and fifty-two; Pacific, five hundred and twenty-five, and Broadway, two hundred and fifty. Other wharves or piers running along the water front, and named after individual owners, were fifteen hundred feet long. The aggregate length of all the wharves was more than six thousand feet, and the cost to that date about one million dollars.
Soon after the wharf builders began their march out into the bay, the graders started to follow, crowd- ing upon their heels. The first filling in of a water lot was done by Captain Folsom, on California street, west of the site of the present Bank of California, and although the work was extremely expensive, it was immediately recognized as a good investment, and others imitated the example. After the wharves were built out on Clay and the parallel streets into the bay, it was found convenient to build cross streets on piles, thus inclosing the blocks, and in more than a score of instances shutting in old hulks which had long been dismantled and had been used as storehouses. Of these, the "Niantic" subsequently became the most notable. She measured four hundred and fifty tons and was hauled up at high water to the lot on the north-west corner of Sansome and Clay streets. Her masts were taken out, her rigging and some of her ballast removed, piles were driven on each side to
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keep her from turning upon her side, and she was used for storing merchandise. The May fire of 1851 destroyed all save that part of her hull below the level of the ground and some of her ribs, and on the site was erected a hotel called the "Niantic," the foundation of which rested on the remains of the hull. In 1872 the wooden building was torn down and the hull dug out to make room for the foundation and cel- lar of the brick building which now occupies the place. In the course of their digging the laborers found that the bottom of the hull was filled with dirt, covering various articles of merchandise, including several dozens of champagne, which had been buried for twenty-one years. The dirt was doubtless washed in on the occasion of the fire, and nobody had in the meantime thought it worth while to examine what lay buried there.
SEC. 83. 1851. In 1851, the gold manifested at the San Francisco custom-house for shipment amount- ed to thirty-four million dollars, and the number of immigrants by sea was twenty-seven thousand. It was now considered certain that the gold mines would not be exhausted in a life-time; that they would con- tribute immensely to the wealth of the nation, and that California would continue for years to attract immigrants-points about which there had previously been serious doubts. The establishment of a semi- monthly mail was ordered; the statute " to settle pri- vate land claims in California," as it was called, though a more appropriate term, as suggested by its results,
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would have been, " An act to despoil owners of land under Mexican grants," was adopted; large federal appropriations were obtained for various public works in California. All these measures were carried through congress mainly by the influence of Senator Gwin, who now rose into prominence as the leading representative of the state in congress. His associate, Senator Fremont, and the two representatives Gilbert and Wright, were young men without legislative ex- perience, and their terms expired in a few months after they took their seats. Gwin had been in con- gress before, had many personal friends at Wash- ington, was in political sympathy with men occupying high positions in the administration, was industrious, and had the ability and tact required for success in American politics.
The legislature confirmed all the sales of water lots in the city previously made without legal authority by any ayuntamiento, town council, or alcalde, thus perfecting the titles of the occupants, and putting an end to much uneasiness among the citizens. . A new legislative apportionment gave the city one ninth of the members of the legislature, whereas previously it had one eighth. The city debt had grown to one million and a half dollars, and as the current expendi- tures were equal to any sum that could be raised by taxation, the legislature had to pass a funding act. The police was inefficient, and the frequency of un- punished crime led in February to the organization of a vigilance committee, which in July and August
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hanged three murderers after extra-constitutional but deliberate and orderly trials. Two great fires in May and June swept away property valued at thirteen mil- lion dollars. The Jenny Lind theater, now the old city hall, the American theater on the north-east corner of Sansome and Halleck streets, and two free schools established under the authority of the state, were opened in the last quarter of the year.
Meantime the city continued to grow in population and increase in business. The adventurers became citi- zens; tents gave way to frame houses, and frames gave way to brick. It became a matter of vast im- portance to obtain security against fire, and the erec- tion of fire-proof buildings was commenced.
SEC. 84. Fourth and Fifth Fires. The fourth fire, called the great fire, as surpassing all the others, came on the anniversary of the May fire of the prev- ious year, and destroyed property valued at seven million dollars. It really commenced a little before twelve on the night of the third of May, but was called the fire of the fourth. It swept away the en- tire business portion of the city, and that included nearly everything, for there were few families or fine dwellings in those days. The burned district was three quarters of a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide, and more than fifteen hundred houses were de- stroyed. Sixteen blocks were burned, including ten bounded by Pine, Jackson, Kearny and Sansome; five bounded by Sansome, Battery, Sacramento and Broad- way; one bounded by Kearny, Montgomery, Wash-
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ington and Jackson, and fractions of five other blocks. Many of the brick buildings supposed to be fire-proof, were unable to withstand the intense heat of half a mile of flame fanned by a high wind. Vast quanti- ties of goods were destroyed, and the destruction of these contributed greatly to swell the loss. Among the buildings burned were the custom-house, the Jenny Lind theater, the Union hotel, on the north- eastern corner of Kearny and Commercial streets, and the banks of Page, Bacon & Co., Burgoyne & Co., and Wells & Co. The banks of Argenti, James King, and H. M. Naglee, escaped. These six were the principal banks of San Francisco in those days; not one of them remains, nor is any partner of either of them engaged in banking in this city now. The El Dorado and the Verandah, both gambling houses, on the eastern corners of Kearny and Washington, suc- cessfully defied the flames. The custom-house, a three-story building on the north-western corner of Montgomery and California streets, was burned, with a large amount of goods. A number of persons perished in the fire-how many was not known. In some cases men stayed inside of the brick stores with barrels of water, intending to risk their lives in the hopes of saving their buildings and goods. Twelve men were shut up in Naglee's building for three hours, in the midst of intense heat and almost suffo- cating smoke, but they survived. Six who remained in the store of Taaffe, McCahill & Co., were not so fortunate; the store was destroyed, and they lost their lives in it.
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