PIONEER STEAMER CALIFORNIA 1848-1849

The Pioneer Steamer

CALIFORNIA

1848 – 1849

By VICTOR M. BERTHOLD, Ph.D.

With Illustrations

Boston and New York

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

MDCCCCXXXII

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author desires to express his sincere thanks for the generous and highly valuable coöperation extended to him in his research work by the following persons:

Mr. PHIL B. BEKEART, Member of Board of Directors of the Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco, Cal.

Mr. ROBERT E. COWAN, Librarian, Los Angeles, California.

Mr. H. L. VAN WINKLE, Secretary, Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco, California.

Mr. HENRY C. NEEDHAM, Lawyer and Historian, New York City.

Mr. L. H. FOX, New York Public Library, New York City.

Editor, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, California.

Miss DOROTHY H. HUGGINS, Cor. Secretary, California Historical Society, San Francisco, California.

Miss SARAH LOUISE KIMBALL, Secretary, California Genealogical Society, Palo Alto, California.

CONTENTS

THE LOG OF THE CALIFORNIA (bottom of this page)	xiii
SHE SAILS	1
EASTERN NEWSPAPER COMMENTS	3
SOURCES OF INFORMATION	8
THE PACIFIC MAIL STEAMSHIP CO. & THE US MAIL STEAMSHIP CO.	11
THE GOLD FEVER	13
ERRORS AND MISTAKES	24
NEW YORK TO RIO DE JANEIOR: THE DIARY OF DR. STOUT	26
THROUGH THE STRAITS OF MAGELLAN	30
THROUGH THE PACIFIC TO VALPARAISO	32
SAILING TO CALLAO	34
PANAMA	36
ACAPULCO	43
ESTIMATED NUMBER OF PASSENGERS TAKEN ON AT PANAMA	44
TOTAL NUMBER OF PASSENGERS ON THE CALIFORNIA ON HER ARRIVAL AT SAN FRANCISCO	47
PASSENGER LIST OF THE CALIFORNIA	49
PANAMA TO SAN FRANCISCO	51
MUTINY ON BOARD	54
SAN BLAS AND MAZATLAN	57
THE CROSBY MANUSCRIPT	59
COASTWISE TRIPS OF THE CALIFORNIA, 1849 to 1852	65
THE ARRIVALS AT SAN FRANCISCO AS NOTED IN THE EASTERN NEWSPAPERS	66
ADVENTURES OF THE CALIFORNIA AFTER 1852	68

APPENDIX

A. REVISED DE LANCY PASSENGER LIST OF THE CALIFORNIA	75
B. PASSENGER LIST OF THE STEAMER FALCON ON LEAVING NEW YORK, DECEMBER 1, 1848	90
C. PASSENGER LIST OF THE STEAMER FALCON ON LEAVING NEW ORLEANS	91
D. PASSENGER LSIT OF THE STEAMER CRESCENT CITY	93
E. PROGRESS OF THE PASSENGERS OF THE CRESCENT CITY OVER THE ISTHMUS AT CHAGRES, JANUARY 2, 1849	94
F. PASSENGER LIST OF THE STEAMER ISTHMUS	97
G. COLONEL MASON'S REPORT ON THE CALIFORNIA GOLD DISCOVERIES	98
H. COMPLETE LIST OF VESSELS TO CHAGRES FROM DECEMBER 7, 1848, TO FEBRUARY 8, 1849	103

ILLUSTRATIONS

THE STEAMSHIP CALIFORNIA From a photograph taken in San Francisco Harbor by Bradley & Rulofson on the occasion of the festival of February 28, 1874, the twenty-fifth anniversary of her first arrival. The reproduction is from a photostat kindly furnished by the California State Library in Sacramento.	Frontispiece
MAP OF THE VOYAGE OF STEAMER CALIFORNIA FROM NEW YORK TO CALIFORNIA, 1848 to1849	1
ONLY KNOWN EXISTING LETTER CARRIED BY THE CALIFORNIA From the original envelope	4
NEWS OF THE CALIFORNIA From a clipping from the New Orleans Picayune for Feb. 23, 1849, Evening Edition	36
MAP OF THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA ON A LETTER OF 1854 From a letterhead of A. M. Hinckley & Co.'s Panama Transit Express	44
VIEW OF THE TOWN OF YERBA BUENA, OR SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA From a woodcut in a contemporary weekly	62

THE LOG OF THE CALIFORNIA

CAPTAIN CLEVELAND FORBES

Left New York	*October 6, 1848	at 6.50 P.M.
Near Bermuda	October 9, 1848
Crossed the Line	October 24, 1848
Passed Fernando de Noronha	October 25, 1848
Arrived at Rio de Janerio	November 2, 1848	at 4 P.M.
Left Rio de Janerio	*November 25, 1848	at 5 P.M.
Arrived at Valparaiso	December 16, 1848	at 9 A.M.
Left Valparaiso	December 22, 1848	at 5 P.M.
Anchored at Callao Roads	December 27, 1848	at 10 A.M.
Left Callao (Peru)	January 10, 1849	at 6.30 P.M.
Arrived at Paita (Peru)	*January 12, 1849	at 9 A.M.
Left Paita	January 14, 1849	at 12 noon
Arrived Panama	*January 17, 1849	at 12 noon
Left Panama	February 1, 1849
Arrived Acapulco (Mexico)	February 9, 1849
Left Acapulco	February 11, 1849
Arrived San Blas (Mexico)	February 13, 1849
Left San Blas	February 14, 1849
Arrived at Mazatlan (Mexico)	February 15, 1849
Left Mazatlan	February 15, 1849
Arrived at San Diego (Cal.)	February 20, 1849
Arrived at Monterey (Cal.)	February 23, 1849	at 11 A.M.
Left Monterey	February 27, 1849	at 7 P.M.
Arrived at San Francisco	February 28, 1849	at 10 A.M.

*In the Log, published in the New Orleans Daily Picayune of February 23, 1849 (Evening Edition), all dates are given in 'sea time', namely, October 7, 1848, November 26, 1848, January 18, 1849. Navigators begin their day at noon, because their latitude is determined by observation of the sun, while the longitude is also generally determined during the daytime. Thus the navigator's count of day is one day in advance of that of the astronomer's. For example, the navigator begins March 11 at noon on March 10. In the same manner the log of the California gives the date of the sailing of the California as October 7 instead of October 6, 1848.

Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.

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