of California had been printed at Monterey by the American alcalde, Walter Colton, a former editor of the Philadelphia North American. On taking over the alcalde's office from his retreating predecessor, Colton had discovered an old press and some Spanish type. By using cigarette paper, the sheets of which were a little larger than ordinary foolscap, he was able to bring out the Californian within a few weeks after the raising of the American flag.[1] The paper was printed in both English and Spanish and, as the Spanish font contained no "W," that letter in the English section of the paper was represented by two "Vs."
The following spring the Californian moved to San Francisco, and a year later both the California Star and the Californian were obliged to suspend publication because all the employees, including the printer's devil, had hurriedly quit when they heard of the discovery of gold. The whole country, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, responded to one cry—gold![2]
In the strange and feverish times that followed, the name of James King of William stands out. Between 1849 and 1856 a thousand murders had been committed in San Francisco, but only one legal execution had taken place. The government was admittedly rotten, business was uncertain and failures common; corruption, gambling and crime were so rampant that the better class of citizens absolutely despaired.
James King of William—the very name he adopted showed him to be a man of strong opinions—was a native of Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, a,nd had worked in the banking house of Corcoran and Riggs at Washington. Before the knowledge of the discovery
