SOCI£TY. 403 



^Yith the utmost generosity aud liberality ; no white mau was 

 turned away because of inabiUty to pay for food or lodging. 

 The first gold diggings were discovered about twenty-five 

 miles eastward from the fort, which became the chief tradincc 

 point between San Francisco and the mines. The adventurers 

 ascended the Sacramento River to the mouth of the Ameri- 

 can, where they landed, and their goods were taken by ox- 

 wagons to the fort, two miles distant, where they prepared 

 themselves for the land journey. Before the first year of 

 gold mining had come to an end, it was evident there must be 

 a town on the bank of the Sacramento at the mouth of the 

 American, so the present town site was laid off in October, 

 1848, and the New Year's day following the building of the 

 first house (of logs), near the Sacramento River, was com- 

 menced. On the 8th January the lots were sold by auction, 

 and were described as lying in the towm of " Sacramento." 

 The ford and its vicinity continued to be the chief place of 

 business until April, '49, when the bank of the Sacramento 

 was found to be much more convenient for purposes of busi- 

 ness, and the merchants and traders moved. The town very 

 soon became the most important centre of trade and popula- 

 tion in the state, next to San Francisco, and it has continued 

 to hold the same relative position, growing with the growth 

 of the state, notwithstanding many severe disasters to which 

 it has been exposed. In 1851 there was a serious riot about 

 land-titles; on the 3d of Xovember, 1852, the greater part 

 of the tow'n, including six hundred houses, was destroyed by 

 fire, with a pecuniary loss estimated at the time at $5,000,000 ; 

 and the city was flooded in January, 1850, in March, 1852, in 

 January, 1853, and in December, 1861, and in January and 

 February, 1862. In 1853 the business part of the town was 

 raised about five feet, the streets being filled in with gravel to 

 that depth, and a levee or embankment was built round the 

 city, extending about a mile along the bank of the Sacramento 

 and three or four miles alonf^ the bank of the American. The 

 flood of 1861 an I '62 proved extremely disastrous. It filled 



