CONTENTS. vii
PAOB
ington— California Cold at the War Office— At the Philadelphia Mint — The Newspaper Press npon the Subject — Bibliography — Creeley *s Prophecies — Industrial Stimulation — Overland and Oceanic Routes — Ceneral Effect in the Eastern States and Europe — Interest in Asia, South America* and Australia 110
CHAPTER VIII.
THX VOTAOB BT OCKAK.
1848-1849
Modem Argonauts — ^Padfic Mail Steamship Company — ^Establishment of the Mail Line from New York yia Panami to Oregon — Sailing of the First Steamers — San Francisco Made the Terminus— The Panami Transit — ^The First Rush of Cold-seekers — Disappointments at Pan- ami — Sufferings on the Voyage— Arrivals of Notable Men by the First Steamship 128
CHAPTER IX.
THB JOURNET OVERLAND. 1849.
Organisation of Parties — Brittle Contracts of These Associations — Missis- sippi River Rendezvous — On the Trail— Overland Routine— -Along the Platte— Through the South Pass— Cholera— The Different Routes -Across the Desert — ^Trials of the Pilgrims — Starvation, Disease, and Death — Passage of the Sierra Nevada — Relief Parties from California — Route through Mexico — Estimates of the Numbers of Arrivals — Bewilderment of the Incomers — Regeneration and a Hew life 143
CHAPTER X.
SAN FRANCISCO.
1848-1850.
Site and Surroundings — Rivals — Effect of the Mines — Shipping — Influx of Population — Physical and Commercial Aspects — ^Business Firms — Public and Private Buildings — National Localities — Hotels and Res- ^ taurants — Prices Current — Property Values — Auction Sales — Wharves and Streets — Early Errors — Historic Fires— Engines and Companies — Immigration and Speculation — Politics — ^The Hounds — City Qovemmcnt 164
CHAPTER XL
SOCIETY.
1849-1850.
Ingathering of Nationalities — Peculiarities of Dress and Manners — Phys- ical and Moral Features — Levelling of Rank and Position — In the
