November 2018
Volume 15
Number 9
Please join us on Tuesday, December 4, 2018 at 5:30 p.m. for
Gregory Crouch’s book, The Bonanza King, is the rags-to-riches American frontier tale. Born in 1831, John W. Mackay was a penniless Irish immigrant who came of age in New York City, went to California during the Gold Rush, and mined without much luck for eight years. When he heard of the silver strike on the other side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1859, Mackay abandoned his claim and walked a hundred miles to the Comstock Lode in Nevada. Over the course of the next dozen years, Mackay worked his way up from nothing, thwarting the pernicious “Bank Ring” monopoly to seize control of the most concentrated cache of precious metals ever found on earth, the legendary “Big Bonanza,” a stupendously rich body of gold and silver ore discovered 1,500 feet beneath the streets of Virginia City, the ultimate Old West boomtown. But for the ore to be worth anything it had to be found, claimed, and successfully extracted, each step requiring enormous risk and the creation of an entirely new industry. Crouch tells Mackay’s amazing story — how he extracted the ore from deep underground and used his vast mining fortune to crush the transatlantic telegraph monopoly of the notorious Jay Gould. When Mackay died in 1902, front-page obituaries in Europe and the United States hailed him as one of the most admired Americans of the age. Featuring great period photographs and maps, The Bonanza King is a dazzling tour de force, a riveting history of Virginia City, Nevada, the Comstock Lode, and America itself. [Scribner Book Company.] Books will be available for sale and signing!
Gregory Crouch’s book, The Bonanza King, is the rags-to-riches American frontier tale. Born in 1831, John W. Mackay was a penniless Irish immigrant who came of age in New York City, went to California during the Gold Rush, and mined without much luck for eight years. When he heard of the silver strike on the other side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1859, Mackay abandoned his claim and walked a hundred miles to the Comstock Lode in Nevada. Over the course of the next dozen years, Mackay worked his way up from nothing, thwarting the pernicious “Bank Ring” monopoly to seize control of the most concentrated cache of precious metals ever found on earth, the legendary “Big Bonanza,” a stupendously rich body of gold and silver ore discovered 1,500 feet beneath the streets of Virginia City, the ultimate Old West boomtown. But for the ore to be worth anything it had to be found, claimed, and successfully extracted, each step requiring enormous risk and the creation of an entirely new industry. Crouch tells Mackay’s amazing story — how he extracted the ore from deep underground and used his vast mining fortune to crush the transatlantic telegraph monopoly of the notorious Jay Gould. When Mackay died in 1902, front-page obituaries in Europe and the United States hailed him as one of the most admired Americans of the age. Featuring great period photographs and maps, The Bonanza King is a dazzling tour de force, a riveting history of Virginia City, Nevada, the Comstock Lode, and America itself. [Scribner Book Company.] Books will be available for sale and signing!
Meeting Location: Fior d'Italia
2237 Mason Street, San Francisco (map)
The restaurant provides us with a private room and valet parking. We gather at 5:30 p.m. Dinner seating begins at 6:15 p.m. A three course selection is available for dinner at the cost of $43.00.
R.S.V.P. - Please send checks and dinner reservations by November 30, 2018 to: Judy Van Austen, KOC, 1789 Northwood Court, Oakland, CA 94611. See S. F. Westerners Posse below for full contact information; you can contact Judy by email or phone to reserve a seat.
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Round-up! Donations of books, ephemera and other
Western-themed memorabilia are needed for our
monthly raffle! Your donations will be much appreciated!
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Round-up! Donations of books, ephemera and other
Western-themed memorabilia are needed for our
monthly raffle! Your donations will be much appreciated!
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Western gal Marilyn Monroe imitating a sexy pilgrim for a Thanksgiving photo shoot. (Sexy pilgrim? Now there’s an oxymoron for you!) Happy Turkey Day to you and yours.
San Francisco History Association – Tuesday, November 27 at 7:30 p.m. Alex Lemberg on Stairway Walks in San Francisco. Alex Lemberg and Kevin Cureto traversed from Telegraph Hill to Mount Davidson, Sutro Baths to Hunters Point, on a journey to find every last public staircase in San Francisco. From breathtaking to banal, from easy to exhausting, Alex and Kevin walked up and/or down every single one. Building on top of the works of Adah Bakalinsky and countless other San Francisco explorers, their photographs will take you on a grand tour of the many hills of San Francisco, home to some of the most interesting stories and gorgeous vistas around. Congregation Sherith Israel, Newman Hall, 2266 California Street, San Francisco. General admission: $10.00. SFHA members: Free. www.sanfranciscohistory.org.
Mechanics’ Institute – Wednesday, November 28 at 6:30 p.m. Author Jane Sherron De Hart on Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life. Jane De Hart explores the central experiences that crucially shaped Ginsburg’s passion for justice, her advocacy for gender equality, her meticulous jurisprudence, her desire to make “We the People” more united and our union more perfect. At the heart of her story and abiding beliefs is tikkun olam, the Hebrew injunction to “repair the world,” which has a profound meaning for a woman who grew up during the Holocaust and World War II. Ginsburg’s pioneering life and legal career will leave a profound mark on American jurisprudence, on American society, on our American character and spirit, and will reverberate deep into the twenty-first century and beyond. Jane Sherron De Hart is professor emerita of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. 57 Post Street, San Francisco. General admission: $15.00. MI members: Free. Reservations required. www.milibrary.org.
The California Historical Society – Tuesday, November 13 at 6:00 p.m. Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the San Francisco State Strike. A discussion will be initiated by leaders and participants of the 1968 San Francisco State University strike, including an artist who graduated from San Francisco State in Raza Studies and now teaches at State. U.C. Berkeley Professor Waldo E. Martin will moderate the discussion, which will touch on what sparked the strike, how it happened, and the impact it had and continues to have on San Francisco, California, and the country at large. 678 Mission Street, San Francisco. General admission: $5.00. CHS members: Free, plus one guest per membership.
Sheriff:
Tom McLaughlin
McLaughlinThomas@msn.com
Sheriff:
Tom McLaughlin
McLaughlinThomas@msn.com
Trail Boss:
Ask how you can assist us here
Trail Boss:
Ask how you can assist us here
Registrar of Marks & Brands:
We also need help here
Registrar of Marks & Brands:
We also need help here
Keeper of the Chips:
Judy Van Austen, (510) 339-1298
vanausten@att.com
Keeper of the Chips:
Judy Van Austen, (510) 339-1298
vanausten@att.com
International Rep.:
Gerhard Brostrom, (510) 524-5984
brost@earthlink.net
International Rep.:
Gerhard Brostrom, (510) 524-5984
brost@earthlink.net
Marshal:
Bob Lawhon, (415) 519-3972
westernerssf@gmail.com
Marshal:
Bob Lawhon, (415) 519-3972
westernerssf@gmail.com
Inkslinger:
Kathryn Ayres, (415) 583-9916
piscopunch@hotmail.com
Inkslinger:
Kathryn Ayres, (415) 583-9916
piscopunch@hotmail.com
Inkslingers Emeritus:
Tom McLaughlin; Richard F. Olson; Mary Lou Lyon, HM
Inkslingers Emeritus:
Tom McLaughlin; Richard F. Olson; Mary Lou Lyon, HM
In order for you and your friends and organizations to continue to receive this publication, send us both your email and snail mail address.
Email: westernerssf@gmail.com
In order for you and your friends and organizations to continue to receive this publication,
send us both your email and snail mail address.
Email: westernerssf@gmail.com
Please note: There is no meeting in November. Our December 4th meeting is the final meeting of the year. Happy Holidays!
Upcoming Meetings in 2019:
January 22: Bev Scott – Tracing and Writing about your Family Lineage
February 26: Taryn Edwards – Andrew Smith Hallidie, Father of San Francisco’s Cable Cars
March 26: To be announced
April 22: Monika Trobits – Bay Area Coffee, A Stimulating History