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Images of San Francisco from back in Brewer's day...

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Library of Congress images show S.F. as it was before 1870
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Library-of-Congress-images-show-S-F-as-it-was-6408553.php Library of Congress images show S.F. as it was before 1870 Katie Dowd Updated 4:39 pm, Monday, July 27, 2015 print_article|article-6408553|article-share-redesign|7 comments_jump|article-6408553|article-sh…

"And here let my long letters cease....I trust you have had as much pleasure in reading as I have in writing them."

upanddowncalifornia.wordpress.com
December 13, 1864: Enfield Center, New York
...arriving at Ithaca [this] morning at eight o’clock. I footed it home and arrived at 11 A.M. [today]. All looks familiar—some few changes, but Providence has been kind. We are all together again,...
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After a stormy passage, Brewer's ship arrives in New York.

upanddowncalifornia.wordpress.com
December 10, 1864: New York Harbor
Then the last three days we had heavy gales from the north—very heavy the last day, [today]. The ship rolled terribly—the wheelhouses would go under on both sides. We got up to Sandy Hook after dar...

"Along the coast of Central America the grand volcanic cones rose against the sky..."

upanddowncalifornia.wordpress.com
November 25, 1864: Off the Coast of Guatemala
Along the coast of Central America the grand volcanic cones rose against the sky, some in sharp outline, others with clouds curling over them, but all very grand. [This] morning a fellow passenger ...

"....we passed a steamer of the French blockading fleet off Acapulco..."

upanddowncalifornia.wordpress.com
November 21, 1864: Off the Coast of Mexico
[Today] we passed a steamer of the French blockading fleet off Acapulco, which some thought a pirate of the Rebel persuasion until we were fairly up to her.

"We left fogs behind and entered the sunny climate and balmy air of the Mexican coast."

"We soon settled down to the monotony of ocean life....We were not yet acquainted and did not feel at home."

upanddowncalifornia.wordpress.com
November 16, 1864: Off the California Coast
We soon settled down to the monotony of ocean life. We got acquainted with genial or congenial friends, we gazed off on the ocean, we ate, we read, we smoked, we slept. Occasional glimpses of the r...

"I was up early and off for the steamer..."

upanddowncalifornia.wordpress.com
November 14, 1864: San Francisco
[This] morning, November 14, I was up early and off for the steamer. I bade goodbye to dear Hoffmann. He was out of bed, but could not walk yet. He wept like a child when I left, and I felt like pa...

"I parted with many [warm friends], probably never more to see them in life."

upanddowncalifornia.wordpress.com
November 13, 1864: San Francisco
The [last] two days I was busy enough. I finished packing up and called on friends to bid them goodbye. I [have] made many warm friends in [this] city, and I parted with many, probably never more t...

Back to San Francisco, and light at the end of the deferred-pay tunnel.

upanddowncalifornia.wordpress.com
November 11, 1864: Returning to San Francisco
I slept but very little [last] night. We passed through Dutch Flat, now so familiar to every Californian because of its name in connection with the railroad, and finally reached the railroad soon a...

"We passed by Donner Lake...the scene of the fearful tragedy that overtook the Donner party...a few years ago."

upanddowncalifornia.wordpress.com
November 10, 1864: Over Donner Pass
[Today] I bade goodbye to my friends at Virginia City and got upon the stage at noon for California again. I rode on the box with the driver, so I had a good chance to see the country. We crossed t...

No room on the stagecoach.

upanddowncalifornia.wordpress.com
November 9, 1864: Virginia City
I intended to leave [today], but found the stages filled, so I had to wait over. I took a stroll over the hills a few miles, looking at the rocks and geology of the country.

Election Day in Virginia City.

upanddowncalifornia.wordpress.com
November 8, 1864: Virginia City
[Today] we returned to Virginia City, arriving about noon. It was election day. I had no vote, of course. One should see the elective franchise exercised in such a new place to have a realizing sen...

"This man is getting rich working over tailings..."

upanddowncalifornia.wordpress.com
November 7, 1864: Dayton
[Today] I went home with a Mr. Hill, who lives near Dayton, on the Carson River about ten miles from Virginia City. He works tailings from the mills by the patio process. Many of these tailings are...

"I rode out to see the Steamboat Springs with Professor Silliman and Baron von Richthofen...."

upanddowncalifornia.wordpress.com
November 6, 1864: Steamboat Hot Springs
[Today] I rode out to see the Steamboat Springs with Professor Silliman and Baron von Richthofen. These are very extensive hot springs about ten miles northwest of Virginia City. They lie in a vall...

"I...write...from a new state, emphatically, in every sense of the word."

upanddowncalifornia.wordpress.com
November 4, 1864: Virginia City
I sit down this lovely morning to write a letter from a new state, emphatically, in every sense of the word. I am in a city of twelve thousand to fourteen thousand inhabitants, where four short yea...

"It is a popular idea on this coast that a country utterly barren, uncomfortable, with bad climate, worse water, nothing inviting about it, must of necessity contain the precious metals. "

upanddowncalifornia.wordpress.com
November 3, 1864: Virginia City
I find here various acquaintances and much to see. I had heard of all of this before, time and time again, yet had no just appreciation of it. One can hear of Niagara for many a year, yet really ha...