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Category Archives: Before the gold
James King of William
It was in the midst of this period of economic depression that James King of William began publication of the Evening Bulletin, an act that would lead to his murder and the second coming of the Committee of Vigilance. Born … Continue reading
The citrus industry in California
Another early Californian who contributed much to the growth of a major state industry was William Wolfskill, a neighbor and contemporary of Jean Louis Vignes. But while Vignes devoted himself to wine making Wolfskill specialized in oranges and other orchard … Continue reading
The start of California wineries
In the years before California became a part of the United States there were many important men who already exerted a large influence over the events to come. Among the most widely known were John Marsh, Thomas Larkin, John Sutter, … Continue reading
Posted in Before the gold, Noted gold rush people
Tagged California, Los Angeles, wine, wineries
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The origin of California’s gold
Millions of years ago, underneath today’s California, molten hot magma containing a large amount of gold forced its way toward the surface through fissures in the hard quartz rock, cooling before it spewed out in a volcanic eruption. In some … Continue reading
Posted in Before the gold, Gold discoveries
Tagged California gold rush, Mining, Quartz, Shasta, Vein, Whitney
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President Polk and war with Mexico
In the Presidential campaign of 1844 two primary issues were of concern, the annexation of Texas, and the question of westward expansion or manifest destiny and the Oregon Territories, then claimed jointly by both the United States and Great Britain. … Continue reading
Posted in Before the gold, Noted gold rush people, The War with Mexico
Tagged California gold rush, gold rush, James K. Polk, James Knox Polk, James Polk, John C. Fremont, John Drake Sloat, John Putnam, Mexican War, Polk, President Polk, Robert Field Stockton, San Francisco, Stephen Watts Kearny
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Political intrigue in early California
A grandson of the man who gave Paul Revere the horse he used in his famous ride, Thomas O. Larkin landed at Yerba Buena Cove in April 1832. By the next year he had enough money to marry and in … Continue reading
San Francisco’s buried gold rush ships
In 1847 William W. Clark built a small wharf near Battery and Broadway as this was the best spot for boats to land in Yerba Buena Cove. Then in early 1848 the Central Wharf, or long wharf, was built between … Continue reading
Posted in Before the gold
Tagged Broadway, California gold rush, gold rush, John Putnam, Montgomery, San Francisco, Yerba Buena
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Bronze Spanish cannon guard San Francisco
Battery Street, running from Pier 29 at the Embarcadero, across Broadway, past the Embarcadero Center to Market Street, is now a major artery in San Francisco’s bustling Financial District, but once it was an integral part of the waterfront of … Continue reading
The New York Volunteers and Joseph Libbey Folsom
In the fall of 1846 Joseph Libbey Folsom left on a six-month voyage to California with the 770 man First Regiment of New York Volunteers under Colonel Jonathon D. Stevenson, a unit organized on the premise that each man would … Continue reading
