San Francisco,
The commercial metropolis of
California.
On June 17, 1776, two friars,
Francisco Palou and Benito
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Cambon, left
Monterey with seven civilians and seventeen dragoons and their families, reaching, June 27, the place where they established the
Spanish mission of
San Francisco, Oct. 8, 1776.
The settlement by
Americans dates from 1836, when
Jacob P. Leese, an American residing in
Los Angeles, obtained from
Governor Chico a grant of land in
Yerba Buena, and built a small frame-house on present south
side of Clay Street, west of
Dupont, celebrating its completion by raising the
American flag, July 4, 1836.
In 1840 there were four
Americans, four Englishmen, and six other Europeans in
Yerba Buena.
In January, 1847, the name was changed to
San Francisco.
The first steamer of the Pacific Mail Company reached
San Francisco Feb. 28, 1849, and the discovery of gold in the same year brought hundreds of steamships and sailing vessels filled with gold-seekers.
The excitement was so great that at one time 400 ships were in the harbor, which had been deserted by their crews.
The usual conditions of a frontier mining town soon developed, and crime became so rampant that a vigilance committee was formed in June, 1851, which hung several murderers and banished many others.
Order was soon restored, but in 1856 another vigilance committee was organized, which did its work thoroughly.
San Francisco contains a larger number of
Chinese than any other American city.
They occupy a quarter of the city which is much visited by tourists.
The Mid-winter Exposition of 1894 brought many thousands of visitors from the
East, and since then
San Francisco has been a favorite place for holding national and international conventions.
In
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August, 1847, the population was 459, and increased to 36,154 in 1852, owing to the discovery of gold.
In 1860 it was 56,802; 1870, 149,473; 1880, 233,959; 1890, 298,997, and in 1900, 342,782.
