USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > San Francisco, a history of the Pacific coast metropolis, Volume I > Part 3
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CHAPTER LXI
PEOPLE RISE SUPERIOR TO POLITICAL AND OTHER TROUBLES
INDIVIDUAL EFFORTS SCORES A TRIUMPH-UNBUSINESSLIKE METHODS IN CONDUCT OF MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS-LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN PUBLIC OFFICIALS-STREET IM- PROVEMENT DUE TO INDIVIDUAL EFFORT-LACK OF IMAGINATION-SAN FRANCISCO'S FIRST STEEL FRAME STRUCTURE-IMPROVEMENT IN BUSINESS ARCHITECTURE- FIREPROOF STRUCTURES BEFORE 1906-RESIDENCE ARCHITECTURE-SITES THAT AFFORD MARINE VIEWS GROW IN FAVOR-APPRECIATIVE CRITICISM BY STRANGERS -SAN FRANCISCO'S PICTURESQUE APPEARANCE-GROWTH OF THE HOME INSTINCT
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xxviii
CONTENTS
-REAL ESTATE AND REAL ESTATE DEALERS-OPENING OF NEW DISTRICTS- "GRAFT" AND THE TIPPING HABIT- FRANCHISES NOT REGARDED AS VALUABLE- THE DOOR LOCKED AFTER THE STEED WAS STOLEN-SCHEMES TO SHUT OUT COM- PETITION-CABLE SYSTEM ADOPTED ON MARKET STREET LINES-AGITATION AGAINST OVERHEAD TROLLEY- UNITED RAILROADS TAKE OVER CHIEF CITY STREET CAR LINES-CONTROL EASILY SURRENDERED BY LOCAL CAPITALISTS-MUNICIPAL EF- FORTS AT BUILDING A STREET RAILWAY-NO REAL OBSTACLE TO CREATION OF A RIVAL STREET RAILWAY SYSTEM- BURNHAM PLANS FOR A CITY BEAUTIFUL-THE PARKS-WATER SUPPLY-TELEGRAPHIC EXTENSION-CABLE TO THE PHILIPPINES FROM SAN FRANCISCO .749
CHAPTER LXII
VARIED PHASES OF LIFE IN SAN FRANCISCO
THE AMERICAN PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION- JAPANESE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS-DOC- TOR O'DONNELL AND THE CHINESE LEPERS-CHINESE QUARTER A SORE SPOT-THE BUBONIC PLAGUE SCARE-COMMISSION INVESTIGATES AND FINDS NO CAUSE FOR ALARM-HEALTH CONDITION GOOD-NEIGHBORHOOD SETTLEMENT AND OTHER UP- LIFT WORK- THE ASSOCIATED CHARITIES-RISE OF WOMEN'S CLUBS AND THEIR ACTIVITIES-SOCIAL CLUBS AND FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS-AMUSEMENTS- SHIFTING OF AMUSEMENT CENTER-THE LAST LAY OF THE MINSTRELS-SUCCESSFUL SEASONS OF GRAND OPERA-RESTAURANTS AND NIGHT LIFE IN SAN FRANCISCO- ORIGIN OF MOVING PICTURES-NEWSPAPER SENDS OUT WEATHER WARNINGS-SAN FRANCISCO METEOROLOGY-THE RACING GAME AND OTHER SPORTS- THE BICYCLE CRAZE-AUTOMOBILES DISPLACE CARRIAGES-EDUCATION FACILITIES-PUBLIC AND OTHER LIBRARIES-JOURNALISM-LITERATURE AND WRITERS-EASTERN CRITI- CISMS OF SAN FRANCISCO SHORTCOMINGS-ABNORMAL FEATURES OF SOCIAL LIFE- CONTRACT MARRIAGES-CELEBRATED CRIMINAL CASES-CHINESE CRIMINALS- .777 TECHNICALITIES AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
CHAPTER LXIII
THE GREAT DISASTER AND CONFLAGRATION OF APRIL, 1906
CONDITION OF THE CITY ON THE EVE OF THE EARTHQUAKE- SAN FRANCISCO ON TOP OF THE WAVE OF PROSPERITY- THE WORKINGMEN'S PARTY AND BOSS RUEF IN POWER-COMMERCE AND MORALS MIXED-BUILDINGS BEFORE THE FIRE-OPPOSI- TION TO EXTENSION OF FIRE LIMITS LAST PERFORMANCE IN THE GRAND OPERA HOUSE-NO WARNING OF IMPENDING DANGER-EFFECTS OF THE EARTHQUAKE- THE THREE DAYS' CONFLAGRATION-MUCH PROPERTY UNNECESSARILY SACRIFICED -EXPLOSIVES TIMIDLY AND UNSKILFULLY USED- ORGANIZATION OF CITIZENS COM- MITTEE OF FIFTY-CIRCULATION OF WILD RUMORS-COMPOSITION OF THE COM- MITTEE OF FIFTY-RIGID PRECAUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE MILITARY- FOOD IN GREAT DEMAND-RELIEF POURS IN FROM ALL POINTS-THE UPLIFT WORK OF THE DAILY PRESS-FILLMORE STREET BECOMES CENTER OF ACTIVITY-REJOICING OVER RE- SUMPTION OF STREET CAR TRAVEL- OVERHEAD TROLLEY PERMIT FOR MARKET
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CONTENTS
STREET GRANTED-CHIMNEY INSPECTION-AREA OF THE BURNED DISTRICT-NO- TABLE ESCAPES FROM THE FLAMES-INVESTIGATION BY UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-BUILDING TO GUARD AGAINST TREMORS-FAILURE OF WATER SUPPLY-THE EXODUS FROM THE CITY-RELIEF WORK OF THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC. 819
CHAPTER LXIV
PROMPT INAUGURATION OF THE WORK OF REHABILITATION
FIRST SPECK OF THE GRAFT TROUBLES-SCHMITZ AS THE PRESIDING OFFICER OF THE CITIZENS' COMMITTEE-ORDER PRESERVED WITHOUT DIFFICULTY-MARTIAL LAW NOT IN FORCE-A SUMMARY EXECUTION-GOOD SENSE DISPLAYED BY THE PEOPLE -WORK OF THE RELIEF COMMITTEE-EFFORTS TO RESUME TRADING-NEW BUSINESS CENTERS CREATED-RAPID GROWTH OF BUSINESS ON FILLMORE STREET -NEW SHOPPING DISTRICTS-VAN NESS AVENUE DEVOTED TO SHOPS-HASTILY CONSTRUCTED BUILDINGS-WAGES AND BUILDING MATERIALS HIGH-A SCENE OF HOPELESS CONFUSION-MAKING THE STREETS PASSABLE-STREETS DESTROYED BY THE FIRE-BACK TO OLD BUSINESS CENTER DOWN TOWN-PLANS OF BEAUTIFICA- TION DEFERRED-ACTIVE WORK BY UNITED RAILROADS-FITS OF PESSIMISM-EX- HIBITIONS OF RIVALRY-FORTUNATE ESCAPE OF WATER FRONT PROPERTY- AMOUNT OF INSURANCE RECEIVED-BRISK BUSINESS-REFUGEE CAMPS-FINANCIAL . 857 EXPEDIENTS-ROBBER BAND RESUMES ITS SWAY .
CHAPTER LXV
GRAFT PROSECUTIONS AND OTHER TROUBLES AFTER THE FIRE
CHIMNEY INSPECTORS REAP A HARVEST-EXACTIONS OF LABOR DETER INVESTMENTS- A REIGN OF TERROR-THE "GAS PIPE" THUGS AND THEIR CRIMES-JAPANESE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS- ROOSEVELT MENACES THE CITY-ATTITUDE OF THE PEOPLE ON THE SUBJECT OF JAPANESE IN THE SCHOOLS-CARMEN'S STRIKE OF 1902- TROUBLE RAISED BY THE CARMEN IN 1906-ATTITUDE OF PUBLIC TOWARD PAT- RICK CALHOUN-CARMEN'S TROUBLES ARBITRATED-STRIKE RENEWED IN 1907 AND MUCH VIOLENCE-A DIVIDED COMMUNITY- RUEF AND HIS UNSAVORY CREW- EXPOSURE OF SUPERVISORS BY DETECTIVE BURNS-INDICTMENTS BY THE HUNDRED -POLICY AND METHODS OF THE GRAFT PROSECUTION-PLENTY OF PRECEDENTS FOR GRAFT-RUEF IN THE ROLE OF ATTORNEY-THE SHARING OF THE LOOT-EXPLA- NATION MADE BY CALHOUN-ISSUES OF THE PROSECUTION GREATLY CONFUSED- FLUCTUATIONS OF PUBLIC SENTIMENT-MAKEUP OF THE PROSECUTION-SUSPICION THAT STRIKE OF 1907 WAS INCITED-RULING THE CITY BY THE GOOD DOG METHOD -SHOOTING OF HENEY AND SUICIDE OF HIS ASSAILANT-SUICIDE OF CHIEF OF POLICE BIGGY-BOMB EXPLODED IN GALLAGHER HOUSE-RUEF THE ONLY ONE OF THE GRAFTERS CONVICTED-CASES DISMISSED-ANOTHER TURN OF WHEEL OF POL- ITICS AND A WORKINGMAN ELECTED MAYOR. .873
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER LXVI
THE SUMMING UP OF THE ACHIEVEMENTS AFTER THE FIRE
NO INTERRUPTIONS OF THE PROGRESS OF THE CITY- THE PEOPLE MAKE HISTORY- GREATER SAN FRANCISCO MOVEMENT-A FREE MARKET EXPERIMENT FAILS SAN FRANCISCO'S ORIENTAL POPULATION-REDISTRIBUTION OF THE POPULATION-TITLES NOT DISTURBED-APARTMENT HOUSES MULTIPLY-CHANGES ON NOB HILL-SOCIAL CLUBS REHOUSED-HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS IN INCREASED NUMBERS-CHANGES IN CAFE LIFE-THE SAN FRANCISCO ATMOSPHERE-THE OLD AND THE NEW VAN NESS AVENUE-THE NEW SHOPPING DISTRICTS-RETURN TO THE OLD AMUSEMENT CEN- TER-AMUSEMENTS AFTER THE FIRE-TETRAZZINI'S OPEN AIR CONCERT-VISIT OF BATTLESHIP FLEET-THE PORTOLA FESTIVAL-NEW YEAR'S EVE IN SAN FRANCISCO -CONDITION OF STREETS-A NEW CITY HALL AND A CIVIC CENTER-ABOLITION OF CEMETERIES-THE STREET RAILWAY SITUATION-WATER SUPPLY-BONDED IN- DEBTEDNESS-THE CITY'S GROWING BUDGET-IMPROVED STEAM RAILWAY FACILI- TIES-THE PANAMA PACIFIC EXPOSITION-HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS-GROWTH OF COMMERCE-MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES-MONEY EXPENDED FOR FIRE PRECAU- TION AND PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS-POPULATION GREATER THAN BEFORE THE FIRE-BRILLIANT FUTURE PREDICTED FOR PACIFIC COAST METROPOLIS. .897
THE ANTE MISSION PERIOD 1513-1776
SAN FRANCISCO
CHAPTER I
THE SPANISH HUNT FOR A SHORT CUT TO THE INDIES
BALBOA SEES THE PACIFIC-THE SETTLEMENT OF PANAMA-SEEKING A SAFE HARBOR -- SPANISH TREASURE FLEETS-SIR FRANCIS DRAKE AND HIS PURSUITS-THE SEARCH FOR ANIAN-SETTLEMENT OF CALIFORNIA ORDERED THE HARBOR OF MONTEREY- SPANISH NEGLIGENCE OF OPPORTUNITIES -- A HUNT FOR ISLANDS OF GOLD-REVIVAL OF INTEREST IN THE SHORT CUT.
CITY
HE history of San Francisco begins with the adventuresome march of Balboa across the Isthmus of Darien in the year OF 1513. It might even be maintained with some show of plausibility that it began when Columbus made his con- vincing exposition of the spheroidical character of the + SEAL OF COOLN & CO SAN FRA earth before Ferdinand and Isabella, for the object of that demonstration had as its underlying motive the dis- covery of a new route to the Indies, a quest which started in 1492 and never ceased until accumulating evidence in the piling up of which the Bay of San Francisco and what we know as California, figures largely, proved that there was no short cut.
It is not probable that Balboa when he first caught a glimpse of the Pacific realized the full significance of his discovery, but it is evident from the prompti- tude with which plans were formed for cutting through the narrow neck of land separating North and South America that he, and those with him, comprehended that with the possibility of sailing into the new ocean would disappear the obstacle which stood in the way of accomplishing the desire of shortening the route to the riches of the Orient.
Panama was settled in 1517 and in that year a Spanish engineer named Saavedra, one of the followers of Balboa, mooted the project of a canal. He studied the subject many years, but in 1529, when his plans were nearly completed he died. Charles V became interested and ordered surveys, but the work was pronounced impracticable. His son, Philip II, subsequently gave the matter attention, sub- mitting it to the consideration of the Dominican friars who found in the scriptural injunction, "What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder," and in his indisposition to exert himself, sufficient excuse for neglecting the recommendations of engineers and practical men.
But while the Spanish crown refused to anticipate the accomplishment of what is to be the great achievement of the twentieth century there was no abatement of the desire to explore the unknown ocean. On the 28th of November, 1520, Ferdinand
Beginniog of San Francisco's History
Settlement of Panama in 1517
Straite of Magelian Discovered
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SAN FRANCISCO
Magellan, who had bargained with Charles V to find for Spain a western passage to the Moluccas, sailed into the Pacific having passed through the strait which bears his name. The story of his adventuresome voyage is a familiar one, but the fact that his discovery of the Philippines was intimately associated with the Bay of San Francisco and resulted in its subsequent location is rarely dwelt upon by writers.
The Philippines were discovered in 1521. Magellan and a number of his men were killed by the natives. Some of the survivors escaped and made their way to the Moluccas where they loaded one of their vessels with spices and set sail for Panama. But that port was never reached by the "Victoria." Instead she rounded the Cape of Good Hope, being the first vessel to circumnavigate the globe. Forty- four years later the Spaniards effected a settlement in the islands and from that time onward one of the chief objects of the navigators in the service of the King of Spain was the discovery of a safe port on the west coast of North America which would break the passage between the Philippines and Panama which by this time had become the half-way house for the voyagers between the distant spice isles of the Orient and the Pacific coast countries to the south of the isthmus.
Seeking a Safe Harbor
On the 31st of May, 1591, Luis de Velasco, the viceroy, wrote to Philip II, that the numerous disasters to the ships sailing between the Philippines and Mexico and Panama made it imperative to discover a safe harbor. The king ordered a survey to be made which was undertaken by Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeño, a Portuguese and an experienced navigator. The result of this exploration was disastrous. The "St. Augustin," the vessel sailed by Cermeño, after a visit to the Philippines set sail on July 5, 1595, from the port of Cavite and sighted New Spain at Cape Mendocino on the 4th of November. The diary of Cermeño which gives this information states that the "St. Augustin" subsequently entered a large bay in which the vessel was wrecked.
The description of Cermeño makes it apparent that the wreck occurred in the bay that had previously been entered by Drake, and that the Portuguese had already found the Bay of Monterey, which he named San Pedro. He described it as being fifteen leagues from point to point and in latitude 37º north, while the locality in which the wreck of the "St. Augustin" occurred is fixed by the statement that the islets in the mouth were in 38° 30', and that the distance between the two points forming it was about twenty-five leagues.
The wreck of the "St. Augustin" occurred on the morning of December 8, 1595. It was not attended with great loss of life, only two perishing. The sur- vivors managed to reach La Navidad, and later Mexico City. For many years there was a fiction based on the story of one Miguel Constanse that the party had made its way overland to Zacatecas, but recent researches of Richman establish that the journey was never made, but that the men, some seventy in all, had reached the port above mentioned in a small open vessel propelled by square sails and sweeps.
The Spaniards had as early as 1556 a fleet of fourteen vessels devoted to the carriage of treasure and the transportation of supplies to the subjects of Spain established on the west coast of America. In 1564 Legazpi was commissioned by Luis de Velasco to subdue the Philippines and he accomplished his task, founding Manila in 1571. The purpose was to build up a trade with Mexico, but the islands did not contribute greatly to that result. But a tolerably brisk intercourse between
Wreck of the St. Augustin
Spanish Treasure Fleets
Discovery of the Philippines
LIGHTHOUSE ON GOAT ISLAND, IN SAN FRANCISCO HARBOR
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SAN FRANCISCO
Molucca, Siam and China was brought about, the products of those countries being shipped in considerable quantity to New Spain.
The length of the passage was surprisingly great, many voyages consuming over two hundred days. It was the practice of the navigators to make their course from the Philippines to Cape Mendocino, after sighting which the coast was skirted to Cape San Lucas and Acapulco. It was to lessen the hazard of this long voyage by establishing a station between Mendocino and Mexico and Panama that such earnest efforts were made to find a safe anchorage as near to the former as prac- ticable. There appeared to be no particular desire to explore with the view of effecting settlements. To the contrary there was something like a conviction that the region was uninviting, its chief drawback being its assumed inhospitable climate, the fogs of the coast having created the impression that the country was cold and desolate.
But while the Spaniard regarded California territory as a negligible quantity for purposes of development he was keenly alive to the usefulness of a port of call which would serve as a station whose function it would be to facilitate the trade intercourse established with the Orient. And to his perseverance in the search for the desired harbor, which finally culminated in the discovery of the Bay of San Francisco, may be traced all the causes which contributed to that long repose of two and a half centuries during which perhaps the most fertile region of the globe was withheld from development.
It may be idle but it is interesting to speculate on what might have happened, if Sir Francis Drake, who appeared on the scene about the time that the Spanish were so intent on making secure their intercourse with the Orient by navigating the ocean to which Magellan gave the name Pacific, had been animated by other motives than those of the bucaneer and the chaser of the will-o'-wisp of Anian.
Had Drake when he effected a landing on the shores of the bay which bears his name, like the Puritans who landed on Plymouth Rock, been a refugee from religious intolerance, and a searcher for a home, he would not have hastily decided that the country was too cold, a singular opinion to take possession of a man in search of a northwest passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic. It is not surprising that his search was so easily abandoned, and that so little came of his naming bis discovery New Albion. Sir Francis was a good fighter, but a poor explorer. He had the qualities that go to make up the successful pirate, but was deficient in those calculated to reflect luster upon the country under whose flag he sailed, and absolutely none that confer real distinction.
Drake sailed through Magellan straits in 1578-9 and up the Pacific coast, accumulating in the hold of his ship, the "Golden Hind," a store of silver bars "the bigness of a brick bat eche," according to the chronicler of his adventures, and reached the comparatively sheltered body of water near the entrance to the harbor of San Francisco, which he passed without discerning its existence. When he abandoned his search for Anian, deterred by the cold, he simply effected a landing to make repairs, and concerned himself no further about his accomplishment.
The appearance of Drake in the North Pacific made the Spanish very uneasy. Although Drake was a buccaneer pure and simple, the kinsman of a piratical slaver who had made himself equally obnoxious, they suspected that his motives might be the same as their own. Maritime activity was very pronounced in England, and the desire to find a short cut to the Indies had taken possession of many minds and
Long Passages
California Unappre- ciated
Sir Francis Drake's Pursuits
Drake's Successful Piracies
Spanish Suspicion of Drake's Objects
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SAN FRANCISCO
it was naturally the subject of much discussion of a kind calculated to alarm the nation hugging the delusion that it could monopolize not alone the territory of the new world, but of the routes of communication. When Sir Francis sailed away from the coast, and after rounding the Cape of Good Hope reached Portsmouth with the news of his exploits there was no abatement of Spanish anxiety.
There was a renewal of the inquiry that had been made some years earlier when England threatened to become a rival. A memorial was presented to Philip II, which set forth in strong terms the danger to Spanish supremacy if the English or French heretics should find the strait which would enable them to enter the Pacific by sailing from Labrador. So fearsome of the consequences were some of the advisers of the Spanish king they recommended to him the conquest of China, probably assuming that possession of that country would remove the incen- tive to continued search for the mythical passage.
Philip was not enterprising enough to act on so bold a suggestion and he died in 1598 having done little to forward the ambitious projects of those of his subjects who sought to extend Spanish dominion in the new country. His successor, Philip III, displayed more active qualities. Shortly after his accession he found a memorial from Sebastian Vizcaino, who some years earlier had received a pearl fishing con- cession which had not proved very profitable, asking further favors from Philip II, and proposing to make a voyage of exploration with the view of taking possession of the coast of the Californias for the king. This proposal had received the indorse- ment of the Comde de Monterey, who had reminded Philip that since the wreck of the "St. Augustin" the exploration of the coast in connection with the object of establishing a station for the vessels in the Philippine trade had ceased.
The examination of the document resulted in a cedula to the Comde de Mon- terey to undertake a discovery and settlement in California, and Vizcaino was commissioned to carry out his proposal. He sailed with four vessels from Acapulco on the 5th of May, 1602, encountering much stormy weather, landing November 10th in the harbor previously entered by Cabrillo which he named San Diego in honor of his flagship. Ten days later Vizcaino sailed from San Diego, and on December 16th he cast anchor in a harbor to which he gave the name of the Viceroy Monterey. On January 3d he continued his voyage northward reaching what is known as Drake's bay, which he called Puerto de los Reyes, finally attain- ing Mendocino from which he retreated, like Drake, deterred by the cold fogs of the coast from further investigation.
Harbor of Monterey
The net result of Vizcaino's voyage of exploration was the establishment of the fact that there were at least two suitable harbors on the coast of California, San Diego and Monterey. The latter had in all probability been discovered by Pedro de Unamuna, a navigator of Macao, who on his return from an exploring expedi- tion in 1587 had reported finding a bay the description of which matched that of Monterey, but he never received credit for his discovery.
That Vizcaino, Drake, Cermeño and Unamuna should have all passed the entrance to the harbor of San Francisco without detecting it may seem singular to all but those who have sailed by the opening which even with the landmarks made familiar to mariners by the study of charts and observation, is not obtrusively noticeable. The configuration of the coast is such that the Golden Gate may be easily over- looked even by those searching for it. Only a survey of the sort not common in the sixteenth century would disclose it to those unaware of its existence. It is not
The Search for Anian
Death of Philip II in 1598
Settlement of California Ordered
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SAN FRANCISCO
strange therefore, despite the persistent search for a good harbor by navigators of undoubted courage, enterprise and some skill in their calling, that it should have been reserved for a land expedition to make the important discovery.
The pressing object of the assiduous search for a safe port seems to have been lost sight of soon after Monterey was discovered. The political relations of Spain and England after the opening of the seventeenth century apparently removed the stimulus which moved the Spanish to exert themselves commercially and otherwise. There was something like a complete allayment of the proverbial distrust of the Dons, and from 1600 to 1700 there was not more than a single yearly visit to the coast of Alta California, and that took the form of sighting Mendocino by the galleon from the Philippines, which after having ascertained its bearings felt its way southward to the Mexican port of Acapulco.
Thus it came to pass that the knowledge of the existence of the harbor of Monterey in the course of time became little more than a tradition scarcely kept alive by the cartographers whose imagination often outran their information. But the lively belief in Anian endured, and enterprising sailors still dreamed of finding the passage. Towards the close of the seventeenth century there was a decided revival of interest, the paramount desire being to find a route which would be shorter than that around Cape Horn, and perhaps divested of some of the perils that beset the navigator in rounding the southern extremity of the continent.
With the revival of the Anian fever there was a renewal and strengthening of the conviction that the region known as California was an island, a belief that was not discarded until explorations to the Colorado river in 1701, 1702 and 1706 by the Jesuit missionary, Eusabio Francisco Kino, disposed of the fiction. It can hardly be said that Kino's discoveries were the final word, for the subsequent explorations of the land expedition which started from the Gila toward the close of the eighteenth century were required to remove all doubt.
The chief interest attaching to the search for the short route which occupied so much of the thought and time of the people of the centuries immediately follow- ing the discovery of America, so far as California, and particularly San Francisco are concerned centers in the remarkable attitude of the western world toward enter- prise. The form it took was suggestive of that which governed during the crusades. There was an abundance of courage, and there was a not inconsiderable exercise of the faculties which help the solution of great problems. But there was a note- worthy absence of that highest form of initiative which devotes itself to the develop- ment of resources.
The names of those writ largest in the history of the period are of men who were ready to devote their energies and lives, not to the creation of wealth, but to acquisition of riches already created. This spirit permeates all the accounts of the fruitless search for Anian. It begins with the temptation which caused Fer- dinand and Isabella to succumb to the arguments of Columbus that great wealth could be secured from the Indies where it had already been accumulated if a short route could be found which would serve as a siphon to draw off the accumula- tions.
When the new world was discovered this attitude was but slightly changed. The opportunities presented by regions of illimitable fertility for profitable de- velopment, while not absolutely disregarded, were subordinated to the overween- ing desire to get rich, not by exertion, but by securing the fruits of the exertions of
Spaniards Grow Negligent
Revived Interest in Short Cut
Absence of Initiative
Spirit of the Explorers
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SAN FRANCISCO
others. As a result we are called upon to note the persistence of the lure of the short cut, and the credulous acceptance of tales of isles of gold, and lands abound- ing in those things which contribute to the gratification of the love of ornamentation.
As early as 1543 there was a belief prevalent that there were islands of gold and silver somewhere in the North Pacific. These mythical isles at first known as "The Isles of the Armenian" were so firmly believed in that Pedro de Unamunu was sent to search for them in 1586. The stories concerning their existence prob- ably had their origin in Japanese folk lore, but the credulous and eager Spaniard found nothing improbable in them, for the land in which they originated was rich in the things he coveted and what more natural than to associate beautiful objects with the abundance of the precious metals.
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