"Portsmouth," and the American flag was
raised on the staff in the plaza of 1835, since called Portsmouth
Square. Thus began the era of American occupation. Lieutenant Bartlett
was made alcalde, with large powers, in pursuance of which, on February
27, 1847, he issued a simple order that the town thereafter be known as
San Francisco,--and its history as such began.

The next year gold was discovered. A sleepy, romantic, shiftless but
picturesque community became wide-awake, energetic, and aggressive. San
Francisco leaped into prominence. Every nation on earth sent its most
ambitious and enterprising as well as its most restless and
irresponsible citizens. In the last nine months of 1849, seven hundred
shiploads were landed in a houseless town. They largely left for the
mines, but more remained than could be housed. They lived on and around
hulks run ashore and thousands found shelter in Happy Valley tents. A
population of two thousand at the beginning of the year was twenty
thousand at the end. It was a gold-crazed community. Everything consumed
was imported. Gold dust was the only export.

From 1849 to 1860, gold amounting to over six hundred million dollars
was produced. The maximum--eighty-one millions--was reached in 1852. The
following year showed a decline of fourteen millions, and 1855 saw a
further decline of twelve millions. Alarm was felt. At the same ratio of
decline, in less than four years production would cease. It was plainly
evident, if the state were to exist and grow, that other resources must
be developed.

In the first decade there were periods of great depression. Bank and
commercial failures were very frequent occurrences in 1854. The state
was virtually only six years old--but what wonderful years they had
been! In the splendor of achievement and the glamour of the golden
fleece we lose sight of the fact that the community was so small. In the
whole state there were not more than 350,000 people, of whom a seventh
lived in San Francisco. There were indications that the tide of
immigration had reached its height. In 1854 arrivals had exceeded
departures by twenty-four thousand. In 1855 the excess dropped to six
thousand.

My first view of San Francisco left a vivid impression of a city in
every way different from any I had ever seen. The streets were planked,
the buildings were heterogeneous--some of brick or stone, others
little more than shacks. Portsmouth Square was the general center of
in