California Reading discussion

Good news - the second number chosen in Booktube Spin #3 is #20 - which means I'll be reading the 20th book on my list of 20 California books... The Barbary Coast by Herbert Asbury.

I started reading this today. It starts at the beginning. It says the first home at Yerba Buena (former name for SF) was owned by Captain W.A. Richardson and was made from four redwood posts with a ship's canvas sail put over the top. That was in 1835. He was an American appointed to be harbor master there.

Prior to that the only structures in the SF area were the Presidio, a Mexican military outpost, and Mission San Francisco de Asis, commonly known now as Mission Dolores. Both of them were about 2 +1/2 miles distant from Yerba Buena Cove. They were both constructed in 1776 and are still existent today.

Finally finished reading this book. Wow, what a sad recounting of vice and moral degeneracy in early SF history. Here's my review.