All classes of men were represented. Many of the big
mercantile establishments of the East were sending out their agents.
Independent merchants sought the rewards of speculation. Gamblers also
perceived opportunities for big killings. Professional politicians and
cheap lawyers, largely from the Southern States, unfortunately also saw
their chance to obtain standing in a new community, having lost all
standing in their own. The result of the mixing of these various
chemical elements of society was an extraordinary boiling and bubbling.
When Commander Montgomery hoisted the American flag in 1846, the town of
Yerba Buena, as San Francisco was called, had a population of about two
hundred. Before the discovery of gold it developed under the influence
of American enterprise normally and rationally into a prosperous little
town with two hotels, a few private dwellings, and two wharves in the
process of construction. Merchants had established themselves with
connections in the Eastern States, in Great Britain, and South America.
Just before the discovery of gold the population had increased to eight
hundred and twelve.
The news of the placers practically emptied the town. It would be
curious to know exactly how many human souls and chickens remained after
Brannan's _California Star_ published the authentic news.
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