| Show bolden olden gate city 4 Z S fill 4 orsan Francis cos skyscrapers prepared by Kat national Ional So society cletro washington was b ing t on D C marvica Sar viCa AN F FRANCISCO la Is to have a S SAN new super bridge across its broad bay to be financed by the reconstruction finance corporation for the first time the city will possess posses a highway connection with the rich and populous trans bay country sit san n francisco stands on a peninsula north and east cast of it Is the great harbor to the west the pacific so most travelers reach it by water its voice Is the hoarse blast of ferryboats ferry boats on the bay the alie sound never ceases counting commuters nearly DW people a year pass through the vast ferry building at the foot ot of market street a city within itself the proposed bridge for which has been advanced by the government ern ment will be used by many who now ride ferryboats ferri ferry boats only 83 years ago when gold mad human hordes swept across the prairies to san francisco it was an infant mexican village today it Is 18 a groat great metropolis with inhabitants bartering with alaska japan china the philippines india and australia its vast panoramic embarcadero or water front fairly smells of china tea silks straw mats alaska fish marilla manila hemp coconuts pineapples raw sugar singapore rubber and coffee from latin america clia crude dobe adobe it pueblo where roston boston boats first came to trade arms tools trinkets and calico for the hides and tallow of mexican ranchers has become today our key port on the pacific A great city had to rise here for the same reasons tint that new york grew at the hudsons Hud sons mouth rio nio de janeiro and sydney and hong kong on their great harbors shanghai on the yangtze Yang tze and istanbul by the golden horn florn this vast haven inside the golden gate affords such an ideal site for a busy international city that as one writer says if san francisco did not already exist men would at once start building it not only in its eventful growth but in the story of its very beginnings you yon find san francisco legitimately a child of the sea in early days sea paths were the easiest way to this coast drake near there in 1579 ky by sea sir francis drake came on that pioneer world cruise of 1579 it must have been foggy even then for lie missed the golden gate to land a bit north at what hat Is now drakes bay claiming the country for his queen naming it new albion and celebrating the first christian service in what today Is california drake sailed away nearly two centuries passed still no white man had seen the golden gate inland from it were digger indians living precariously picc on roots rats bugs and snakes often starving in a region now so rich in milk and honey that it exports food to much of the civilized world rut put down in mexico things were happening events event of profound portent to future california and san francisco cortez had seized the realm of montezuma slowly for generations afterwards tho the gold bold hungry spaniards drafted to the northwest some borne by sea many through what Is arizona now and thus up this coast with them came the priests carrying the cross tb the indians often it was a contest to see whether a priest could baptize an indian before tile the indian could slay the priest haltingly they advanced hut stubbornly in time the missions orchards and irrigated farms of the padres were wera scattered along the meandering trall trail from guadalajara up tip to san diego and finally to the golden gate itself along tills this same camino real heal or royal road noad flanked today by golf clubs and hot dog stands ennie anro e don gaspar caspar de portola Port oln governor of raja Call fornin seeking a bay called monterey royal road they called it euphemistically hut but what don gaspar actually followed then was a faint trail fading into hills and brush lost floundering he stumbled upon a magnificent landin eked harbor and lie he named it san frandsen francisco that was october 31 1719 1761 how the city grew As if fore shadowing the liberal spirit of tile the city san sall francisco itself was founded in 1770 1771 the same year that also made july fourth the nations hirth birthday day it was a spanish captain luan juan bautista de anza who laid it out ut and set the pattern for or later sprawling idly by the bay and first farst named buena anzas aczas town site saw things come coma to pass that molded through the years the character of the city the growth ot of the vast haciendas huge herds bullfights bull fights fiestas burning judas in effley church pro professions processions process cess ions lons rodeos and swaggering vaqueros ros in such feats of horseman ship as loping full speed with a tray of filled wine glasses spilling none more afore priests klests and colonists from mexico with new fruits food plants and grains all to multiply eventually into astounding productivity by 1800 russian trappers hunting sea otters in the kelp beds drift down from fltka agents of the tsar build abort a fort at bodega up the coast colonizing there with smooth intrigue to make alta california part of the rus empire shrewd new england traders on three year cruises to canton via california call here to barter their trade goods wrote dana in his two years tears before the mast included is spirits teas coffees sugars spices hardware crockery clothing boots and shoes from lynn calicoes cali coes from lowell cart wheels from england capes shawls jewelry and combs with these they paid for hides tallow and furs california hides early gave new england a monopoly in the boot and shoemaking shoe making trades and the furs taken from here to canton then a world market brought prodigious profits founding many boston fortunes bearded and buck skinned missouri and kentucky men begin trickling in then the hudsons Hud sons day bay company coming to build a fur post here english navy merchant ships and more moves on the check board of destiny with a plan now to make this a british colony with the comes the end of spanish rule A new flag th the mexican francisca waving now over san francisco intrigues increase as years pass disputes arise between foreigners and natives and justice grows blinder but its a long walk to mexico seat of power and one legged santa anna has graver problems nearer home and in texas annexation and gold war with mexico back in washington sits president polk the resolute scott donaphan Donl Dont phan and zachary taylor are in mexico fremont kearny and kit carson in california into the little plaza of san francisco come the united states sailors to run up the american flag california la bi annexed 1848 barely people in the village then a newspaper a school and two ramshackle wooden wharves B but t soon marshall found gold near S ut mill it was the richest strike in history with their jack jackknives knIves men gouged chunks of pure gold from hillside seams seven americans with the help of indians took out pounds of gold in a little more than six weeks two men in seven seen days obtained from a trench a few feet wide the news spread east poll polk commented on the flud find in a message to congress no ko such excitement had ever swept the nation by 1849 the whole world seemed gold mad on every continent men talked ot of california and in everin ever in increasing creasing th thousands on they moved on san francisco in that year american vessels reached california during three weeks in the spring of 49 nearly people crossed tile the missouri river westward bound rough boisterous times steerage tickets via Pan panama arria sold for 1000 thousands went this way another army around the horn others across nicaragua or mexico death took frightful toll especially among those crossl crossing ng the western deserts imagine san francisco then gold crazy off on the treasure hunt months ahead of eastern hordes its homes cows chickens gardens goods in stores all were deserted at ex cite ments height even the sailors quit arriving ships to race tor for the gold fields till a vast ghost fleet of silent vessels lay idle and abandoned in the bay then suddenly the tide turned significantly this period and not the spanish marked the cites real beginning newcomers pouring in now by sea made frantic demands at any price for food clothes and mining outfits in a few weeks population multiplied a hundred times thousands slept in open fields two streams new arrivals on their way to the mines and men hastening back to spend their dust and nuggets nug geta brought the young town amazing wealth |
