USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > San Francisco, a history of the Pacific coast metropolis, Volume I > Part 44
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Terry Becomes a Confederate General
Terry was indicted in San Francisco, but the case was transferred to another county and dismissed. He left the state during the Civil war and joined the Con- federate army in which he reached the rank of brigadier general. He was wounded at Chickamauga and some years after the close of the rebellion he returned to California. His name will be again met with in the course of this narrative, for his career was turbulent and had a disastrous ending. But its vicissitudes need not blind us to the fact that he was the creature of circumstances in his earlier ex- periences in California, and that much that has been laid at his door may be more fairly charged against the institution of which he was a fanatical upholder, and to the exaggerated sentiment of state's rights than to his infirmities. But above all things fairness demands the statement that he was a brave man. His whole career,
Colonel Baker's Oration
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no matter how erring, proves that, and disposes of the implication that he was a cowardly murderer.
The Broderick and Terry duel excited much comment because one of the actors had made himself obnoxious to the majority of San Franciscans by the part he took in the Vigilante uprising. There were other affairs growing out of the political differences of the times which have received no more than passing attention. In August, 1858, George Penn Johnson and William I. Ferguson, state senator from Sacramento, had an altercation over the Lecompton measure and a duel followed in which Ferguson received a wound from which he died on the 14th of September following. The state at the time seemed to be hopelessly divided and the struggle for supremacy between the opposing elements was fiercely maintained.
The situation was complex. Governor Weller in 1860 in a message expressed apprehension for the preservation of the Union which he thought was being im- perilled by assaults "on our cherished institutions," among which he included that of slavery. His idea respecting the solution of the problem, so far as California was concerned, was to side with neither North or South, but to erect "here upon the shores of the Pacific a mighty republic which may in the end prove the greatest of all." His suggestion was not received with enthusiasm by either side. In the election of 1859 Latham had received 62,000 votes, against his chief opponent John Currey, the anti Lecompton candidate, who had 31,000 while Stanford, the republican nominee had only 10,000. It was impossible to divine from these figures the impending revolution, which resulted in placing the republican party in power at the election in 1860.
The tragic death of Broderick played an important part in bringing about the change. It was made the most of by the orators of the republican party, particularly by Colonel Baker, whose glowing speeches in advocacy of the preser- vation of the Union were given point by recent events in San Francisco. One of his addresses in the City still holds its place in the estimation of critics as the greatest speech delivered in California. The results of his fervor were apparent in the complete transformation of California. In the election of November, 1860, the democratic candidate for the presidency received only 38,000 votes, and Lincoln 39,000; and when the new legislature met it professed devotion to the Union. In 1859 the legislature had censured Broderick by resolution for his action on the Lecompton measure; in 1861 its successor voted to expunge the resolution from the record.
An event occurred in 1859, the significance of which has sometimes been misap- prehended in later years. On the 19th of April in that year the legislature passed an act giving the consent of California to the segregation of the six southern counties, provided that the people of those counties should vote for separation at the next election, and the creation out of them of a new territory or state. The privilege was not availed of, nor is there any evidence that any desire for segrega- tion existed outside of that felt by a small coterie of politicians, who thoughit their prospects of political preferment would be advanced in the event of their move- ment succeeding. There was no sectional rivalry involved, and San Francisco manifested no opposition to the scheme of division. Its attitude was one of indif- ference. That too, was the position maintained on the subject of the location of the state capital. At frequent times during the Fifties, schemes of removal were agitated, but the interest in them was mainly confined to the politicians. In 1860
Political Dueis
Proposed Pacific Coast Republic
A Politicai Revolution
State Division Proposed
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the legislature, owing to the flooding of Sacramento was compelled to seek refuge in San Francisco, and its presence revived the idea of locating the capital in the City. An ordinance was passed offering any square in the City other than the Plaza, and $150,000 for the construction of necessary buildings, but the proposition had little public sentiment back of it, and San Francisco remained a mere metropolis without the capital feature being added to its attractions or advantages.
CHAPTER XXXV
CONDITION OF THE CITY AT CLOSE OF THE PIONEER PERIOD
PUEBLO TITLES-VAN NESS ORDINANCE-VEXED QUESTIONS AFFECTING TITLES SETTLED -CONTROL OF THE WATER FRONT-THE IMPENDING WAR-DOUBTS CONCERNING CALIFORNIA'S AGRICULTURAL CAPABILITIES-MECHANIC'S INSTITUTE FAIRS-EXCES- SIVE IMPORTS-SAN FRANCISCO AS A DISTRIBUTING POINT-MANUFACTURES IN 1860 -OBSTACLES TO GROWTH OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY- COMMERCE OF THE PORT -EARLY DEPENDENCE ON WHEAT EXPORTS-FRUIT INDUSTRY IN ITS INFANCY- MINERAL RESOURCES-EXHAUSTION OF PLACERS DISCUSSED-DISCOVERY OF THE COMSTOCK LODE-OPTIMISM OF THE ARGONAUTS-APPEARANCE OF THE CITY IN 1861- GROWTH OF THRIFTY HABITS-DEPRESSION PRECEDING THE CIVIL WAR.
Pueblo Titles
HE uncertainties attending land titles in the City, which were the cause of much friction during the Fifties were OF nearly all disposed of before the end of the decade. It however, required the intervention of the state legislature and the state's courts and action by the United States to OF A SE SAW FRA bring about this result. The former was secured in 1858, that of the federal authorities later, but the matter was regarded as practically settled by the act of the legislature approved March 8, 1858. The trouble arose from the conflict of views respecting the original status of San Francisco lands within the limits of the charter of 1851, and particularly that part of them between the charter lines of 1850 and 1851. Two ordinances had been passed by the city council, one on June 20th and another on September 27, 1855. The object was to definitely decide the moot question whether the lands in dispute were public lands of the United States, or lands belonging to the City by virtue of the old Spanish or Mexican laws.
The first of the two ordinances was passed during the term of Stephen P. Webh as mayor, and the other during the incumbency of James Van Ness, but only the latter's name was connected with the legislation in the popular mind, and the two measures were usually referred to as though they were one. Its main provisions have been described by a historian who made a legal examination of the question as follows: "That while the lands within the city limits should be entered by the mayor at the proper land office of the United States in trust for the occupants thereof; that the City should have such portions as were necessary for plazas, squares, streets and other public purposes, and that the remainder should belong to such persons as had been in actual bona fide possession thereof from the 1st of January, 1855, to June 20th of the same year, or could show by legal adjudication that they were entitled to such possession. It further provided for the laying out
The Van Ness Ordinance
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of streets, and for a liberal selection of grounds for public purposes, and likewise that application should be made to the legislature for its confirmation and ratification, and to congress for the relinquishment to the City of all the right, title and interest of the United States."
As the state courts had decided that there had been some sort of a pueblo at San Francisco, and that the city lands were pueblo lands, and as the United States courts followed them in such decisions it was very important that the city ordinances should be confirmed by the state. This was done in March, 1858, and the acts of the commissioners appointed in accordance with the ordinances were duly ratified. As already stated congress supplemented the action of the legislature by a special relinquishment of any claim it might possess, and thus the vexed question of pueblo titles was finally settled.
The action just recited furnishes an instance of the benevolent attitude of the legislature towards San Francisco. A year later a scheme was introduced in that body which aroused the indignation of the people and called forth bitter denuncia- tions on the stump and in the columns of the press. It was regarded as an attempt to turn over the control of the water front to a corporation by authorizing it to construct a wall and collect tolls and wharfage for a period of fifty years. The opposition of Governor Latham, who intimated that it was urged from bad motives, at the same time calling attention to the fact that the City was up in arms against it, caused the project to be temporarily sidetracked, but in the ensuing year it was revived under the impression that the successor of Latham would be more favorable to the measure.
In this expectation the legislature was disappointed. Despite the protests of the people of San Francisco the bulkhead bill was put through both houses, passing the senate by a vote of sixteen to thirteen and the assembly by forty-three to thirty. In the latter body the measure was advocated by several San Francisco members, who were charged with being under the influence of the projectors of the scheme who were the owners of the existing wharves and had organized under the name of the San Francisco Dock and Wharf Company. When the act came to Governor Downey he promptly vetoed it, accompanying his objections with a vigorous message in which he took the ground that it was unconstitutional and that if it were put into effect it would work an irreparable injury to the internal and external commerce of California, and to San Francisco, which was, and must forever remain, the metropolis of the state. The news of Downey's adverse action gave great satis- faction to San Francisco, and subsequently when he visited the City he was "the recipient of a great public demonstration." An attempt was made to pass the bill over the veto of the governor but it failed, and the schemers were forced to abandon plans which they had been urging on the legislature at several preceding sessions.
The antagonism to the bulkhead scheme was an early manifestation of the fear of monopoly which later took a strong hold upon the people of the entire state, and would have ripened into a crusade against real or imaginary vested rights much sooner than it did had not the outbreak of the Civil war produced conditions which for a time diverted attention from certain evils that later were attacked with great vigor. The mines were still producing great quantities of gold, the product in 1860 being $44,095,163, and the output to that date was nearly $640,000,000. The state, and especially San Francisco, was unable to escape the effects of the great depression which set in at the East after the crisis of 1857, and which affected
Confirmation of Pueblo Titles
Legislature and the Water Front
Control of the Harbor
Effects Produced by Civil War
EMPEROR NORTON, A STREET CHARACTER OF EARLY DAYS Photographed in 1875
THE COBWEB PALACE IN 1856 A place of resort at North Beach in the early days
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England and Europe as severely as it did the United States. Business in San Francisco languished. Despite the fact that the people were rapidly learning that there were other great resources than placer mining, their dependence on the outside world showed little signs of abating. The major part of the immense quantity of gold extracted from the earth had gone to pay for supplies furnished by the people on the Eastern seaboard and by Europeans. Manufactures, even of the modest sorts were not pursued on a scale that could be regarded as important, although there was a vast improvement in that regard over the condition which existed when the gold rush began. There were foundries which supplied some of the immediate needs of the population, and artisans were plying their crafts on what may be called the custom plan. But the manufacturing outlook was by no means encourag- ing.
The first industrial fair held in California was conducted under the auspices of the Mechanics' institute. It was primarily intended to exhibit the progress of San Francisco in the mechanics arts, but when the opening day arrived, September 8, 1857, the visitors found that as much attention had been given to the display of agricultural and horticultural products as to the products of the workshops. Even at this late date the newspapers discussed the exhibits of the farms and orchards as if they thought it necessary to remove doubts considering the agricultural possi- bilities of the state. The impression that the unfamiliar appearing lands of the interior engendered and the doubts created by insufficient rainfall had to be argued away, and the critics of the fair were united in the expression of the belief that such displays as that made on this occasion would prove more potent than words to accomplish that object.
These fairs of the Mechanics' institute speedily took on another feature than the practical one of displaying progress in the fields of industry. They soon be- came the favorite resort of the people, who met each other socially in the pavilion erected for housing the displays. Good music was provided, and for many years these annual exhibitions were a popular institution reflecting credit on the manage- ment, and bringing profit to the institute. It cannot be affirmed of them that they accomplished the chief object for which they were held, for they did not greatly stimulate manufacturing, the exhibits not increasing greatly in number and variety during several years, but they kept alive the desire to make the City a great manu- facturing center until a mistaken monetary policy destroyed the advantage which isolation gave to the City by overwhelming the struggling domestic producer with floods of imported goods.
Although there were numerous foundries and machine shops, they were operated on a small scale. In the vicinity of the City, brick yards were turning out fairly good building material, and the nearby forests were being cut down for that purpose. The lumber industry soon attained considerable importance in consequence, and despite the frequent conflagrations of the earlier years, redwood outside of the business district, which had not extended greatly during the decade, was generally employed in the construction of houses. There was some ship and boat building as early as 1852 and this branch of industry in some respects made better progress than many which seemed to give better promise.
There is an economic fiction that all trade is beneficial, and it has been demon- strated to the satisfaction of an important school of economists that it is even desirable to have what is called an adverse trade balance than to sell more products
First Industrial Fair
Social Side of Mechanics' Institute Fairs
Slow Progress in Manufac- turing
Excessive Imports
Vol. I-21
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than are bought, but it derives no support from the early experience of California. It was to have been expected that the sudden influx of population which followed the discovery of gold would make impossible a concurrent growth of domestic pro- duction, and that dependence on the outside world for supplies would have to be for a longer period than in other countries where development proceeded in a more orderly fashion. This expectation in California was not disappointed by the result. Except in the production of the chief necessaries of life the state remained in a backward state for a long period, and had to struggle with an excess import business which had to be balanced by the product of her gold mines.
San Francisco a Distrib- nting Point
In 1858 the total exports of the port of San Francisco, and they virtually repre- sented the surplus products of the state, were only $4,770,163, while the imports aggregated $7,120,506. These figures more nearly describe the condition of Cali- fornia's relations with the outside world at the time than those of later years do for the periods they stand for, because in the Fifties, and until the transcontinental railroad began to operate, the only mode of transportation to other countries was by sea. The port of San Francisco was practically the only shipping point in Cali- fornia, and its harbor received the ships with cargoes destined for distribution among the people of the state. Thus early San Francisco became a distributing center of great importance, and its merchants formed a habit of mind, from which they have not yet become completely emancipated, of elevating commerce rather than manufacturing to the first place in their consideration.
Obstacles to Mannfac- turing
The manufacturing possibilities in the Fifties could not have seemed alluring to men accustomed to regarding a big market for products as a condition precedent to producing cheaply, and who kept in mind the great difference in the wages of labor in the Atlantic states and Europe. At the opening of the decade in 1860, the population of California was only 379,994, not a sufficiently large number of inhabitants to tempt operations on a great scale, even if they had been concen- trated, but they were scattered over a wide area, and were practically as remote from San Francisco as the City now is from the Atlantic seaboard. As a result, production was confined to those things whose cost of carriage would have been great enough to offset the drawbacks incident to high wages and manufacturing on a small scale.
Manufac- tures in 1860
In the census of 1860 California was credited with a total investment of $22,- 043,096 in manufacturing enterprise, and a production of $68,253,228. As San Francisco was almost the only producing center at the time, the major part of the product must be credited to her account, but as under the term manufacturing, as employed in the census year 1860, all those small activities which represent an order business were embraced, it may be said that there was practically no manufac- turing of the sort which was later developed. But that was also true of nearly all the older communities of the United States in the decade preceding the Civil war, the dependence upon foreigners for manufactured articles being almost as great in New York and Pennsylvania as it was in California at the time.
Rapid Agricultural Development
It is not surprising, therefore, that the minds of men in San Francisco turned naturally to trade, and that a survey of the agricultural possibilities of California should have convinced them that the future of the port depended upon the develop- ment of the interior resources of the state, and that the likelihood of the creation of surpluses of grain, wool and other products of the soil would offer greater op- portunities to profit by exchanging them for the wares of the established manu-
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facturing communities of the old world, than could be secured by attempting to en- gage in rivalry with peoples where the conditions for profiting seemed more favorable. Thus it happened that the sentiment in favor of a domestic manufacturing industry which exhibited itself in an excessive display of admiration for Henry Clay and his policy gradually weakened, and for a time was almost dormant.
There was abundant reason for the increasing confidence in the future of Cali- fornia agriculture. Although the most sanguine could not have foreseen the develop- ment it has since attained, because men in the Fifties did not dream of the possi- bilities lying back of the expansion of human desire, the evidence of prolificness was so marked it could not help making an impression. The value of farm products which in 1850 was only $3,874,041 in 1860 had increased to $48,726,804. The increase in volume was not attended by the diversification of products which later marked the agricultural advancement of the state, but there was sufficient encourage- ment derived from every experiment in new fields to strengthen the belief that there was no crop which could not be successfully grown in California. The growth of this conviction had the effect of allaying the earlier apprehension that with the working out of the placer mines the state would become a slow-growing community, and that its progress would be greatly hampered by its remoteness from the great centers of population. The ownership of large tracts obtained through Spanish and Mexican grants, by single individuals, who manifested no disposition to improve or sell them contributed for a time to this fear; but as the years rolled on it was seen that although vast areas were thus controlled, there was still plenty of land which might be had for the taking and that the disposition to take it up and utilize it was increasing. In 1850 the census enumerators were able to find only 872 farms; in 1860 this number had increased to 18,726, and the area of improved land had been extended from 4,333,614 acres in the first to 6,385,724 acres in the last named year.
The assumption that California would become a great agricultural state has been fully realized, but none of the things which the astute prognosticators of the Fifties predicted turned out as expected. In the early Fifties flour was imported from the East and the hungry miners were compelled to pay fabulous prices for it, but at the end of the decade there was shipped through the port of San Fran- cisco flour and wheat equal to 558,546 centals. There was embraced in this quan- tity 58,926 barrels of flour, the manufacture of which attained to considerable importance later. The comments of the press at this period indicate that there was a general belief that wheat production would always be the great mainstay of Cali- fornia and that a large part of the importance of San Francisco would be dependent on that industry. The acute were able to see into the misty future only a short distance. San Francisco was a great exporter of wheat for several years after 1860. The trade attained its maximum development in 1881 when 24,862,095 centals were exported, but in 1908 the volume of shipments had fallen back to nearly the figures of 1860, the quantity of wheat and flour exported, reduced to terms of wheat being 719,535 centals.
In 1860 there was no longer any object in restaurants announcing, as was done in the early Fifties, that potatoes would be served on certain days. They had ceased to be a luxury, the production having risen from 9,292 to 1,789,463 bushels. Indian corn, of which there was no record of production in 1850, had an output of 510,708 bushels in 1860, and of rye, which does not appear to have been raised at
Dependence on Wheat Exports
Diversifica- tion of Agriculture
Infancy of Fruit Industry
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all before the occupation there was a product of 52,140 bushels. There was a revival of the nearly extinguished grazing industry after 1850, but the products which had formerly figured as the chief ones during the Spanish and Mission regime had lost their importance as exports. They were more than offset, however, by the development of the wool industry, which, after 1854, when a product of 175,000 pounds was reported, increased to 3,055,325 pounds in 1860, the most of which was exported.
Mineral Resources
At the close of the Fifties there was little thought of those branches of horti- culture which have since become great sources of wealth to the state. That excel- lent fruit could be produced was well known, but that its production would become commercially important was not imagined even by the dreamers of great possi- bilities, of whom there were many in 1860. It was several years later before raisin culture was even suggested, and the orange in those days, although there were some few trees, was looked upon as a purely tropical product. The canning industry had its beginning in the Sixties, and it was not until the growing wealth of the United States created a demand for luxuries that its importance as a revenue pro- ducer was recognized. It is only by the light of later developments that the optimism of the Californians, and especially of the San Franciscan, can be fairly measured, and when that test is applied there is a disposition to credit the optimists of the later Fifties with intuition rather than prescience. Those things which they im- plicitly believed would happen did not always occur, but the failure to accurately divine the future of certain industries, when they built too sanguinely upon them, was usually compensated by the introduction and success of fresh ones which their own experience, and for that matter, that of all their countrymen, did not suffice to make them wise enough to foresee.
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