Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-04-27
|SAN FRANCISCO in HISTORY
Story Of the Stricken Full Of RO'
nance.
ONCE UNDER RULE OF VIGILANTES.

How the Disorderly Were Made to Be.
have-Days of the Forty Miners
The Lynchins of casey-once De-
populated by Rush Of the Citizens to
the Gold Fields.
San Francisco, the earthquake
stricken city, has long been permeat-
ture. Nowhere may one turn without
being reminded Of the legends that
have been woven around the forty
miners and their immediate followers.
The names of the streets and their
business blocks, such as Kearney,
Suffer, Montgomery. Dupont, Flood,
Croker and Sharon, bring to the
mind Of the visitor long forgotten
stories Of riot or adventure and Of
fortunes whose vastness once excited
his wonder or made him incredulous.
| The sight of the city was first Wis
tied by Europeans in 1859, and in
1875 Bucareli ordered a fort, preside
and mission founded On the bay.
One year later. the year Of the Dec
laration Of Independence, the Span
ish settlers began the work, and when
Vancouver, the explorer, visited the
place in 1892 the preside represented
the military authority, while the pu-
eblo and mission stood for the civil
and religious factors respectively.
The mission was secularized in 1884
AMI a town laid out the year fol-
| lowing.
| In 1846 an American man-of-war,
under command Of Commodore John
B. Montgomery, entered the harbor
and hoisted the stars and stripes
over the town. Mexico, which sue
ceeded Spain as the owner Of Cali
fornia, was then at war with the
United States, and the act Of Commo-
dore Montgomery ended her domin-
ion over San Francisco. Montgom-
cry appointed Lieutenant Washington
A. Bartlett to be Frisco's first alcalde,
or mayor, under the new regime.
Under Spanish and Mexican rule the
town was a sleepy. unprogressive
place, but with the coming Of Amer
leans and the discovery Of gold in
1848 there came an era Of growth
and hustle. This did not eventuate
at once, for the first news of the dis
covery of gold practically depopu-
lated San Francisco.
The town was smitten as by a
plague, and one historian thus de-
scribes what happened: "Its houses
were left unoccupied and unprotect-
| ed, its former trade ceased, its lots
fell to small part Of their value,
its two weekly newspapers were sus-
pended. and the town, deserted by
| the bulk Of its inhabitants, was at
| one time without an officer clothed
with civil authority"
After the first rush to the gold
diggings the town began to regain Its
lost ground, and ere long the influx
Of gold Seekers gave quite an impe-
4 itus to its growth. The. town was in
corporated in April, 1850, and the
first common council elected, pro-
ceeded with diligence to plunder the
city treasury. The same year the
state was admitted to the Union, and
when the steamer Oregon brought
/
| communication in those days-busi-
ness was entirely suspended and the
| entire population rushed to the
wharfs to become the harbinger. The
town had about 10000 inhabitants
at that time, and when the people
were informed that the signal flags
Of the Oregon indicated that Califor-
mia was a sovereign state Of the Uni
ted States of America "a universal
4 n h "a
wharfs, in the streets. upon the hills
| housetops and the world of shipping
in the bay"
| In its early history the city suffer-
ed from several disastrous fires. Be-
tween December, 1S49, and June,
1851, six confiagrations played havoc
with the growing young town. Bet
ter buildings were planned and sew
| eral fire companies were organized
These were steps in the right direc-
| ton. 1t was also discovered that the
| fires were started by criminals who
profted by the confusion.
This fact and the inefficiency and
corruption Of the city government led
a large number Of citizens to organ
| ize the famous vigilance committee
which ruled the place in 1851. Quite
| a number of crooks were lynched by
the committe, others were driven out.
like John Oakhurst, the leading fig
ure in Bret Harte's "Outcast Of Poker
Flat" and the city went through a
publication process that was OF great
benefit to 1t.
The aspect Of San Francisco at this
time was not inspiring to inf1owing
gold seekers. 1t was a struggling
medley Of low, dingy adobes. frail
wooden shanties, born in an afternoon,
with a sprinkling OF more respectable
frame houses and a mass Of canvas
and rubber. habitations. 1t was main
ly a city Of tents, rising to crescent
upon the shores Of the cove. From
clark point 1t skirted the land to Tel
| egraph hill, along the Clay street
slopes. tapering away to the Califor-
MIA street ridge The larger number
| passed to the southwest shores or
the cove. beyond the Market street
ridge, a region sheltered from blus-
tering winds and provided with good
water and named Happy Valley.
Stockton street, stretching from
Sacramento to Green streets, present.
ed the neatest cluster or dwellings,,
and Powell street was the abode OF
churches. for Of the six churches in
existence In the middle of 1850 three
graced its sides and two stood upon
cross streets, within half a block.
Mason street, above 1t, was really the
western limit Of the city, as Green
street was the northern. Beyond
Mason street ran the trail to the
Presidio, past scattered cottages,
cabins and sheds. amid dairies and
gardens with a branch path to the
Marine hospital. on Filbert, and an
other to the North Beach anchorage.
where spectators were planning a
wharf to attract settlements.
After the vigilance committee dis
banded the criminal element became
bolder. and In 1856 the crime and cor
ruption in the city had become intol-
erable to those who wished to live a
decent and orderly life. When Editor
King of the Bulletin, who had de-
nounced the thugs. was murdered by
James P. Casey, a new vigilance or
ganization was created, and In few
days Casey and another murderer
named Cora were executed In front OF
the committees headquarters Many
lawbreakers We're later put to death.
and the regime Of the California bad
man" came to an end.
1t has been asserted that San Fran
cisco Is the most cosmopolitan city In
the world. and by cosmopolitan is
meant a population from all parts
of the world. Not long ago the rec
hot