The author arrived in California in the winter of 1843 and stayed there for forty years. Having read at various times the history of California, and especially that of the City of San Francisco, and knowing the same or portions of the same to be misrepresented, he conceived the idea of giving a true history of the city, as well as he could recollect it. The book, however, can hardly be called a history, but rather a book of reminiscences and incidents of early days.
