Captain Clancey's ship, the Shamus O'Flynn, made many trips between Seattle and San Francisco. San Francisco, during show time, was one of the largest cities with which Seattle did business. Its unique history and background is covered in many references.
Among the more intriguing tales of San Francisco (that I would love to see incorporated in someone's story--hint, hint) is the story of Russian commander Nicolai Rezanov who fell in love
with the daughter of the Presidio commadant, Concepcion Arguello, in 1806. He returns to Russia to ask the Czar's permission to become a Catholic so that they might marry. Unfortunately, he dies along the way and Concepcion enters a convent where she waits for forty years until an American tells her the fate of her lover.
On The Web
Check out "From the 1820s to the Gold Rush" for information on early San Francisco.
Timelines of the early years of San Francisco--or "Yerba Buena as it was called until 1847--can be found at the following locations:
You may want to study the slang for the early San Francisco period. If it doesn't add too much color to your face, you may want to add some of it to your story. (Which is my gentle way of warning you that the slang describes some of San Francisco's seamier sides.)
Books
Tales of San Francisco by Samuel Dickson; Stanford University Press; 1957
This book brings together three books originally published in the 1940s:
San Francisco Is Your Home
San Francisco Kaleidoscope
The Streets of San Francisco
The Library Journal said "The charm of Dickson's books lies not so much in their choice of characters to study and incidents to relate (though these are all fascinating enought), but in the affectionate warmth with which the autor writes of his fabled home town and the fact that he has known many of the great and near great of whom he writes, and can contribute new anecdotes and personal observation."
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