1-800-1849: A quick history of the state of California

On this week’s episode of 1-800-1800, Mabel goes home…to California. After a brief debate about what sport the Forty-Niners play, the girls discuss the history of California before and after the Gold Rush. Captain Constable and the crew of the *Balclutha* ship circa 1887. Source. David Grann, The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder. Sir Francis Drake’s Landing in California circa 1579. Source. Postcard of Mission Santa Cruz, after 1898. NYPL. Tour the Sophisticated Spanish-Style Homes of 8 Celebrities, Architectural Digest. California as I Saw It: First-Person Narratives of California’s Early Years, 1849 to 1900 Sutter’s Fort, Source. Sailing card for the clipper ship California, circa 1850. Source. Merchant ships in the San Francisco Harbor, circa 1850-51. Source. Fremont Raising the Bear Flag (engraved, c. 1860). Source. Metrics of the flag for the Republic of California. Source. First photo of James K. Polk. Joan Didion, Memoirs & Later Writings. N. Currier, *The Independent Gold Hunter on His Way to California: I neither borrow nor lend,* 1849-1852. Library of Congress. Henry R. Robinson, “Mose, Lize, & Little Mose Going to California,” 1849. Metropolitan Museum. Jessie Benton Frémont, *A Year of American Travel,* 1878. Source. Frémont was the daughter of Thomas Hart Benton (1782-1858), great-granduncle to the painter of the same name. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mandylion.substack.com/subscribe