Synopses & Reviews
Described as a "forest of masts," San Francisco's Gold Rush waterfront was a floating economy of ships and wharves, where a dazzling array of global goods was traded and transported. Drawing on excavations in buried ships and collapsed buildings from this period, James P. Delgado re-creates San Francisco's unique maritime landscape, shedding new light on the city's remarkable rise from a small village to a boomtown of thousands in the three short years from 1848 to 1851. Gleaning history from artifactsand#151;preserves and liquors in bottles, leather boots and jackets, hulls of ships, even crocks of butter lying alongside discarded gunsand#151;Gold Rush Port paints a fascinating picture of how ships and global connections created the port and the city of San Francisco. Setting the city's history into the wider web of international relationships, Delgado reshapes our understanding of developments in the Pacific that led to a world system of trading.
Review
and#8220;A fantastic tale of maritime history on the Pacific frontier.and#8221;
Review
“Delgados book is both a monumental labor and a tour de force. . . . Highly recommended.” Choice
Review
“Valuable for enticing readers to history.” Intl Journal Of Maritime History
Review
and#8220;An essential reference for anyone interested in the salty side of San Francisco history.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Delgadoand#8217;s book is both a monumental labor and a tour de force. . . . Highly recommended.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Valuable for enticing readers to history.and#8221;
About the Author
James P. Delgado is the President of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology. His previous books include Lost Warships: An Archaeological Tour of War at Sea, Across the Top of the World: The Quest for the Northwest Passage, and the British Museum Encyclopedia of Underwater and Maritime Archaeology.
Table of Contents
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
2. Theoretical Perspective
3. Global Maritime Connections in the Pacific before the Gold Rush
4. Development of the Gold Rush San Francisco Waterfront
5. The Commission Merchants
6. The Archaeology of Gold Rush San Francisco's Waterfront
7. Gold Rush Cargoes: Evidence of the World Maritime System
8. San Francisco and the Nineteenth-Century World Maritime System
Appendix 1: Commission Merchant Business Cards from the Supplemental Daily Alta California, October 4, 1849
Appendix 2: The and#147;Representative Storeshipand#8221; of 1849-1851
Appendix 3: Cargo Stored As Merchandise aboard the General Harrison Storeship
Sources Consulted and Cited
Index