VIPS in the Port of San Francisco
Madam Pfeiffer
Sacramento Daily Union, October 8, 1853MADAM PFEIFFER, THE TRAVELER
This remarkable lady arrived in our city on Monday. It is her intention, we are informed, to make a sojourn of a few days, and then leave for the interior of the State. The following facts relating to her, are copied from the San Francisco Public Ledger:
For twelve years has this persevering lady been traveling visiting alike the frigid countries of the extreme north, where eternal snows abound; the hot burning sands of the desert, or traversing the most luxurious countries in the tropics, under the heat most oppressive. She has already published a full account of her former travels, and contributed many curious and interesting articles to the Museums and Scientific Associations of Austria, her native land. She is now going on three years from her home, on this her last expedition, and has visited many strange lands and people, traveling where no white male adventurer ever dared to penetrate.
Starting down the Mediterranean sea, she has passed through Asia Minor and the Holy Laud; Arabia, Persia, Hindoostan, the Islands of Borneo, Sava, Sumatra, Malacca, and other East Indian countries, as well as some of the Cannibal Islands of the Pacific.
Much valuable information has been gathered in relation to the hitherto unexplored and unknown depths of some of these countries; and many have been the trials and hardships she has undergone; exposed, as the solitary traveler must be, who launches alone and unprotected, upon the wide world. Her sex alone has saved her life at times, when exploring savage countries; and once, whilst examining some of the Cannibal Islands, a barbarous chief communicated to her the pleasing intelligence that she must be prepared to be roasted and eaten. With extraordinary presence of mind, she stepped up to the Savage, and patting him on the shoulder, conveyed to him the fact, that she was not a tender young girl, but an old, tough and distasteful woman; and that he would not have any satisfaction in the dish that she would make. The savage was nonplussed, and instead of sacrificing her, turned about and treated her with the greatest consideration.
At another time, a Negro wantonly attacked the Madam and a companion that was with her, and would probably have massacred both, but for her presence of mind, in retreating, and drawing something from her pocket, and presenting it as though a pistol, which kept the blood-thirsty wretch off until assistance had arrived. This was a very narrow escape, as personal harm was done by the weapon in the hands of the savage.
Alone, unprotected, and on foot, she has climbed the sides of mountains 10,000 feet high; at other times traversing the craters of volcanoes, and then again in the lonely solitude of the desert, or forest, she has been compelled to drag her weary body along for days, with nought to satisfy the cravings of nature. After passing through wild, savage and inhospitable countries, for over two years, she comes among us to commence a tour of the State; after which she will go through Mexico, and after visiting the Atlantic portion of the United States, return to Austria, her native land.
Whilst examining the mineral portions of California, she intends looking at our valleys and products, and then traverse the Indian territory of the State, and probably portions of Oregon and New Mexico.
In personal appearance Madame Pfeiffer is rather short, thin, and spare, with a constitution capable of undergoing great fatigue. The expression of her countenance, in conversation, is mild and pleasant, at the same time the eye evinces a keen sense of observation; a quick ear; her hair is dark, and tinged with the frosts of fifty winters. She is, indeed, a most remarkable traveler.
Blacks in Gold Rush California
(Lamar Series in Western History)
Rudolph M. Lapp
By 1860, twelve years after the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill, more than five thousand American blacks had made the difficult trek to California in search of quick wealth. This study tells their story through primary source materials.
The Making of "Mammy Pleasant"
A Black Entrepreneur in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco
Lynn M. Hudson
United States Jewry, 1776-1985
Vol I - Sephardic Period
Jacob Rader Marcus
Jewish Voices of the California Gold Rush
A Documentary History, 1849-1880
(American Jewish Civilization Series)
Ava F. Kahn
In 1848, news of the California Gold Rush swept the world. Aspiring miners, merchants, and entrepreneurs flooded California looking for gold. The cry of instant wealth was also heard and answered by Jewish communities in Europe and the eastern United States. While all Jewish immigrants arriving in the mid-nineteenth century were looking for religious freedoms and economic stability, there were preexisting Jewish social and religious structures on the East Coast. California's Jewish immigrants become founders of their own social, cultural, and religious institutions.
Italy on the Pacific: San Francisco's Italian Americans
Italian American Studies)
Sebastian Fichera
The Making of the West
A Concise History, Volume I: Peoples and Cultures
Lynn Hunt
A story of interactions — cross-cultural exchanges that span the globe, as well as the ongoing interactions between societies, cultures, governments, economies, religions, and ideas. To highlight these interactions and help grasp the vital connections between political, social, and cultural events, the book presents a comprehensive picture of each historical era within a brief chronological narrative. The book also situates Europe within a global context, facilitating understanding of the events that have shaped our own times.