HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 447 



The following official despatch of General Persifor 

 F. Smith, contains an opinion of the position of San 

 Francisco totally different from that of the numerous 

 California tourists. It is a valuable opinion, never- 

 theless, and led to the selection of the town of Bcnicia, 

 on the Straits of Karquinez, as a military and naval 

 station. •■ 



Headquarters Third Division, 

 San Francisco, April 5, 1849. 



General : — Since my last communication no troops 

 have arrived to change the strength of the force here ; 

 but the steam transport Edith arrived on the 21st of 

 March, and reports that the transports Iowa and 

 Massachusetts, the former having General Riley with 

 a part of the 2d infantry, and the latter having the 

 command of artillery for Oregon on board, left Val- 

 paraiso about the 8th of February. The former is 

 expected here every day, and the Edith is held in 

 readiness to convey the troops south to the position 

 they are to occupy. 



There will be great difficulty in establishing and 

 maintaining a post at the mouth of the Gila, 

 until more knowledge is acquired of the naviga- 

 tion of the head of the gulf of California and the 

 lower part of the Colorado. Transportation by land 

 from San Diego is impossible for large quantities 

 of stores. 



In the gulf, the winds blow in the winter almost 

 invariably from the northward ; and in the summer, 

 when they come occasionally from southward, it 

 is in violent gales, with severe squalls and thun- 

 der, rendering it very dangerous to be in the 

 gulf then. In other words, it is always difficult to 



