The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1894-05-12
A PICTURESQUE ROMANCE.
Early History OF tho Settlement and City
FrapcIsco.

Early History OF the Settlement and City
of San Francisco.
The story of the little settlements
among the hills of the peninsula of San
Francisco reads like some picturesque
romance, and has always been very in
teresting to me because it is differ
ent from the stories of other American
cities. Spanish priests founded a mis-
sion here, and Spanish soldiers built
fort. or Preside, in the autumn of 177G.
while Gen. Howe was capturing New
York and driving Washington across
into New Jersey. Many of the Spanish
governors lived here
San Francisco bay, the beautiful in
land sea, with its surroundings of fer
tile valleys and high mountains, was
sailed past by early Spanish voyagers
and by Sir Francis Drake himself, who,
in 1879, cast anchor, all critics agree.
| in ''Old San Francisco harbor'' brakes
bay), under Point Reyes The sea fog
must have lain across Golden Gate
when the famous sea king sailed past
For ninety years longer the great bay
was undiscovered. Then, in 1869,
Spanish priests, soldiers, and colonists
| came to California; and. November in
that year, the expedition led by
Gov. Portola and Father Juan
Crespi, of the Franciscan order,
, discovered the bay of San Francisco
Six years passed before the new harbor
was entered by water Then. in 17s6,
Mission Dolores was founded in the val
ley at the base of the twin peaks, and
a Spanish fort overlooked the Golden
Gate, and the Spanish folk began to
settle the long peninsula and the val
leys south, east and north of the bay OF
San Francisco. Missions and settle
mcnts were founded at Santa Clara,
San Jose and Sonoma; and the Indians
were subdued. till, in 1913, Mission
Dolores had twelve hundred converts,
and thousands more We're at the other
missions
About sixty years after Mission
Dolores was founded, an English
| trader named Richardson pitched
tent on the shore of the bay at the
head of Herba Buena cove; Jacob Leese
built the first wooden house, and a few
Americans settled at the place. One
was old Galbraith, the bla cl>smitfI,
who used to take his homemade Ken
lucky rifle at day break and shoot deer
among the sand-hills where the city
hall now stands. The cove had been
called Terba Buena because a fragrant.
whit -flowered little California wing
much liked by the Spanish people was
very abundant along the shore. The
large island in the bay, now Goat
island was also called Yerba Buena in
those days.
So there were really three settle
n1ents within the present limits of the
city of San Francisco; the soldiers
camp at the Preside, the Indian and
spanish village Cle mission, WHICH
was called San Francisco, and the trad.
inE-post of Ierba Buena- Conmuni.
cation was slow and difficult among
these settlements: for boys, rocks.
mountains and sand-hi1ls covered with
scrub-oaks and dense underground
filed the space between. In January,
1S46, eleven years after its foundation.
Ierba Buena contained only thirty
houses, but, July 8, the stars and
stripes We're hoisted over the little
frontier village that lay on the eastern
slope of the peninsula, facing the con-
tinent; and in January, 1917. the Amer.
lean magistrate issued decree adopt
ing the name San Francisco. In few
months more there were one hundred
and fifty-sevcn houses and four hun
bred and fifty people in the town.
Their followed the discovery of gold in
the Sierra foothills, and the Golden
Age of 49, In three years more the
population OF the young metropolis OF
California Increased to thirty-siN thou
sand. H. Shinn, in st. Mich