2-888-135 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

San Francisco, from the south-west, 1850. Growth of the town of San Francisco, USA, during the Gold Rush: 'We have taken a room here...for which we pay fifty dollars a month (£10)...There are about 10,000 or 15,000 inhabitants in San Francisco. A great deal of building is going on; the houses are mostly of wood, and tents are to be seen in all directions. Everything in the shape of property is perfectly secure both here and at the mines. There are no outrages heard of. Gold is worth here sixteen dollars an ounce; I believe seventeen dollars and a half can be got for it with you. Wages here are sometimes paid in gold dust, and at the rate of sixteen dollars an ounce. Many are going and returning from the mines: some are fortunate and others are not, according as they hit upon a good or bad spot; but every one can, at least, make an ounce a day'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.