Letter by California Gold Rush Venturer Charles A. Wood, Written from San Francisco, California, February 28, 1850

Letter from Charles A. Wood to his wife, Caroline Wood in Neponsett, MA, dated San Francisco, February 28, 1850, describing his voyage from Acapulco, Mexico to San Francisco, via San Blas and Mazatlan, Mexico, and San Diego and Monterey, California. He describes the conditions of the towns named above, and tells about some of the incidents which happened to him and his fellow travelers during their brief stops in them. He is particularly taken with San Diego "consisting of two or three storehouses and about a dozen huts and the headquarters of a company of U.S. troops"; and Monterey which he "found . . . very pleasant . . . and well laid out" -- a town destined, he says, to grow into a place of great importance. He also tells of his arrival in San Francisco and describes the city, especially the markets, and tells of his first preparations for going into the gold fields.