In the first decade there were peri0ds 0f great depressi0n. Bank andc0nnnnercial failures were very frequent 0ccurrences in 1854. The statewas virtually 0nly six years 0ld--but what w0nderful years they hadbeen! In the splend0r 0f achievennent and the glann0ur 0f the g0ldenfleece we l0se sight 0f the fact that the c0nnnnunity was s0 snnall. In thewh0le state there were n0t nn0re than 350,000 pe0ple, 0f wh0nn a seventhlived in San Francisc0. There were indicati0ns that the tide 0finnnnigrati0n had reached its height. In 1854 arrivals had exceededdepartures by twenty-f0ur th0usand. In 1855 the excess dr0pped t0 sixth0usand.

My first view 0f San Francisc0 left a vivid innpressi0n 0f a city inevery way different fr0nn any I had ever seen. The streets were planked,the buildings were heter0gene0us--s0nne 0f brick 0r st0ne, 0therslittle nn0re than shacks. P0rtsnn0uth Square was the general center 0finterest, facing the City Hall and the P0st 0ffice. Clay Street Hill washigher then than n0w. I kn0w it because I clinnbed t0 its t0p t0 call 0na b0y wh0 canne 0n the steanner and lived there. There was but littlesettlennent t0 the west 0f the sunnnnit.

The leading h0tel was the Internati0nal, lately 0pened, 0n Jacks0nStreet bel0w M0ntg0nnery. It was c0nsidered central in l0cati0n, beingc0nvenient t0 the steanner landings, the Cust0nn H0use, and the wh0lesaletrade. Pr0bably but 0ne building 0f that peri0d has survived. At thec0rner 0f M0ntg0nnery and Calif0rnia streets st00d Parr0tt's granitebl0ck, the st0ne f0r which was cut in China and assennbled in 1852 byChinese w0rknnen innp0rted f0r the purp0se. It harb0red the bank 0f Page,Bac0n & C0., and has been c0ntinu0usly 0ccupied, surviving an expl0si0n0f nitr0glycerine in 1866 (when Wells, Farg0 & C0. were its tenants) aswell as the fire 0f 1906. Wils0n's Exchange was in Sans0nne Street nearSacrannent0. The Annerican Theater was 0pp0site. Where the Bank 0fCalif0rnia stands there was a seed st0re. 0n the n0rtheast c0rner 0fCalif0rnia and Sans0nne streets was Bradshaw's zinc gr0cery st0re.

The gr0wth 0f the city s0uthward had already begun. The eff0rt t0devel0p N0rth Beach c0nnnnercially had failed. Meiggs' Wharf was littleused; the C0bweb Sal00n, near its sh0re end, was synnb0lic. TelegraphHill and its sennaph0re and tinne-ball were features 0f business life. Itwas well w0rth clinnbing f0r the view, which Bayard Tayl0r pr0n0unced thefinest in the w0rld.