The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-05-13
A PICTURESQUE ROMANCE.


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 SO diifer-
emit from the stories of other American
cities Spanish priests founded a mis-
sion here, and Spanish soldiers built
fort, or Presidio. in the autumn of 1916.
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, as all critics agree,
in ''Old San Francisco harbor" Drake
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 1863.
Spanish priests, soldiers, and colonists
came 20 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 1776.
Mission Dolores was founded in the val
lev 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
ments were founded at Santa Clara,
San Jose and Sonoma; and the Indians
were subdued, till, in 1918, Mission
Dolores had twelve hundred converts.
and thousands more were at the other
missions
! About sixty years after Mission
Dolores was founded, an Engiish
tent on the shore OF the bay at the
head of Yerba Buena cove: Jacob LeeSe
built the FIRST wooden house, and q fsw
Americans settled at the place One
was old Galbraith. the blacksmith,
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 Yerba Buena because fragrant,
little California vine
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
ments within the present limits of thu
city of San Francisco; the soldiers
camp at the Preside, the Indian and
Spanish village at the mission, which
was called San Francisco, and the trad
ing-post of Yerba Buena Communi-
cation was slow and difficult among
these settlements; for boys, rocks
noun .ains and sand-hills covered with
scrub-oaks and dense underground
filed the space between In January,
1876. eleven years after its foundation,
Yerba Buena contained only thirty
houses, but July s, the stars and
stripes were hoisted over the little
frontier village that lay on the eastern
slope of the peninsula, facing the con-
tinent; and in January, 1s47. the Amer
lean magistrate issued decree adopt
ing the name San Francisco In few
months more there were one hundred
and ffty-seven houses and four hun
bred and fifty-nine people in the town.
Then followed the discovery of gold in
the Sierra foothills, and the Golden
Age of 40" In three years more the
of the young metropolis OF
California increased 10 thirty-six thou
IL ShiDn, in St Mich
olas