Although
San Francisco Bay is the most important port on the Pacific coast, it remained
unknown until 1769 when it was discovered by a Spanish overland expedition.
Soon, the Spanish began building mission settlements in the area.
San Francisco itself was first
called Yerba Buena and was located several miles north of the Mission Dolores.
In 1835, William Richardson erected the first dwelling in this cove: a
tent. He later built a house and from this small beginning, a tiny
hamlet grew up in Yerba Buena. By 1845, the site boasted a population
of only 200, but big changes were to come.
"In 1846, Captain Montgomery sailed
into San Francisco Bay and took possession of Yerba Buena for the United
States during the war with Mexico."
"The year 1847 found the hamlet
of Yerba Buena expanding into a small seaport town with about 500 inhabitants,
several substantial buildings, the beginnings of short wharves and the
new name of San Francisco. But it took a few more years for the really
major change to come. The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill brought
people streaming to California and, almost overnight changed this tiny
village into a major bustling city." |
