Key People

RICHARD BARNES MASON:

Colonel of 1st Dragoons, became General and fifth military governor of California in 1847-49. Traveled throughout the region and the gold fields and reported to Washington first-hand observations of the social and economic conditions in the state.

WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN:

Lieutenant, accompanied Mason during July 1848 tour of the gold fields and, too, wrote of his observations.  Sept. 1853, became a banker for Lucas, Turner & Co, oversaw construction of a bank known to this day as “Sherman’s Bank.”

ULYSSES S. GRANT:

Lieutenant in U.S. Army, traveled to California with his regiment in 1852, wrote detailed memoirs about his experiences. Attempted, but failed, at a potato-growing business.

SAMUEL CLEMENS:

PROCEED.

Came to California as an unknown, attracted the world’s attention through a story in the San Francisco Call.