Excerpt from Lights and Shades in San Francisco From 1779 to 1830 San Francisco enjoyed an undisturbed repose; a sort of Sleepy Hollow drowsiness reigned supreme over all its inhabitants, the dull monotony of which was only disturbed by an occasional Visit from exploring or trading ves sels, drifting, as it were, almost by accident up the channel, through the Golden Gate. Among these vessels were the American ships Alexander and Aser, which entered the harbor on the lst of August, 1803. In 1807 the Russians made their appearance. That there was little of the spirit of progression and enter prise among the population is very evident. In 1834, more than fifty years after its founding, San Francisco, or the Mis sion Dolores, had only a population of five hundred Indians. Their possessions were five thousand horned cattle, one thou sand six hundred horses and mules, four thousand sheep, goats and hogs, and two thousand five hundred bushels of grain. On July 8, 1846, the American ag was hoisted for the first time in San Francisco. From this time forward, the city may be said to have been under American rule. During this month a company of Mormons from New York, with Samuel Brann'an as leader, arrived and camped at the base of the sand-hills. Had it not been that dissensions and quarrels sprung up among them and caused their disbandment, it is highly probable that San Francisco, and not Salt Lake, would have been the seat of the earthly kingdom of these saints. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."