In the beginning of 1857, San Francisco had a more serious earthquake than any in recent years. At half-past eight on the morning of January 9th, a tremor shook the earth from North to South; the first shocks being light, the quake grew in power until houses were deserted, men, women and children sought refuge in the streets, and horses and cattle broke loose in wild alarm. For perhaps two, or two and a half minutes, the temblor continued and much damage was done.
At Fort Tejon great rents were opened in the earth and then closed again, piling up a heap or dune of finely-powdered stone and dirt. Large trees were uprooted and hurled down the hillsides; and tumbling after them went the cattle. Until the cracked adobes could be repaired, officers and soldiers lived in tents. A so-called tidal wave almost engulfed the Sea Bird, plying between San Pedro and San Francisco, as she was entering the Golden Gate.
Under the splendid seamanship of Captain Salisbury Haley, however, his little ship weathered the wave, and he was able later to report her awful experience to the scientific world.
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Salisbury Haley
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Captains exercised absolute authority at sea and so were dubbed "Master Under God"
by early insurance writs, agreements with ship owners and passengers and the Board of Trade.
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Page: http://www.maritimeheritage.org/haleySalisbury
Date Entered: Between 2002 and 2008
Source: Daily Alta California, Family Papers, Historical Records, Submissions from Researchers
Research and WebDesign: D.B.A. Levy
Contact: D. Blethen Adams Levy
www.MaritimeHeritage.org
Post Office Box 2878
Sausalito, California 94966
U.S.A.
The Maritime Heritage Project is a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity established in 1998.
Contact: D. Blethen Adams Levy
www.MaritimeHeritage.org
Post Office Box 2878
Sausalito, California 94966
U.S.A.
The Maritime Heritage Project is a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity established in 1998.
Copyright © 1998-2010:
D. Blethen Adams Levy/The Maritime Heritage Project.
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