WEBVTT - All the Times San Francisco Burned Down During the Gold Rush 0:00:02.240 --> 0:00:06.559 Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:07.520 with iHeartRadio. 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:18.000 George Dornan, a forty nine er who'd traveled to California 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:20.800 from New York during the Gold Rush, once recalled of 0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:24.440 San Francisco quote the glimmer of lights as they shone 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:26.560 through the many tents of which the city was then 0:00:26.640 --> 0:00:30.920 largely made up. That's right, tents. At this time in 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:35.040 San Francisco's history, most of its structures were flimsy, made 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:39.040 up of materials like canvas and oil, cloth or wood. 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:42.360 Most structures were heated and lit by wood stoves and 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:45.520 oil burning lamps, and people made makeshift chimneys or flues 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:49.839 for ventilation. Imagine it as a frontier outpost. There was 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:54.920 hardly anything. A few boarding houses, mercantile houses, saloons. There 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:58.680 was no sanitation infrastructure. There were few city services, and 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:02.520 that included a lack of police and fire departments. Between 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:06.440 eighteen forty nine and eighteen fifty one, peak years of 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:10.880 the gold Rush, San Francisco was almost entirely destroyed by 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:16.120 fire seven times. And there was something about these fires, 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:19.960 at least the majority of them, that seemed well, somehow 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:24.240 not accidental. Some were suspicious because they seemed to start 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:28.040 at odd times, or when someone's temper was flaring, or 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:31.559 they seemed to break out when what locals reported as 0:01:31.840 --> 0:01:36.160 odd people were hanging around. Seven's a lot of fires, 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:39.319 and we'll talk about some additional smaller blazes too, So 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:43.560 let's get started. Welcome to Criminalia. I'm Maria from Marcy. 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:48.000 And I'm Holly Frye. In the city's earliest days, the 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:51.480 days before the gold Rush, San Francisco was known as 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:55.560 Yerba Buena. It was officially renamed as San Francisco on 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:59.680 January thirtieth, eighteen forty seven, and Yerba Buena was a 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:03.000 small village that was formed on June twenty fifth, eighteen 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:07.280 thirty five, when its first resident, a man named William Richardson, 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:09.919 pitched a lean to made out of a ship's sail 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:13.440 on a sandy rise near what's now Grand in Clay Streets. 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:17.280 It was tiny, but that would change with the influx 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:21.799 of fortune seekers. Its population of roughly two hundred residents 0:02:21.880 --> 0:02:25.799 grew to an estimated one thousand by early eighteen forty eight. 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:30.640 According to doctor Malcolm Roorbo, professor emeritus at the University 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:33.920 of Iowa and an authority on the American West. The 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:36.760 gold rush is what put San Francisco on the map. 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:41.119 When James Marshall, a prospector who had traveled to California 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:45.520 from New Jersey, discovered goldflex at Sutter's Mill in January 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:49.320 of eighteen forty eight, made his heart thump. 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:53.079 It also sparked a rush of people to the state. 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:57.240 Thousands of prospective gold miners traveled by land or sea, 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:01.000 and they all flewed into town, and the place overflowed 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:05.079 nearly overnight. It was attractive to a certain type of person, 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:08.120 not only because of its location, I mean it was 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:12.280 where the gold was, but because, according to historians, it 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:15.640 was a place with no rules, or at least no 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:20.080 one to enforce rules. San Francisco's population in eighteen forty 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:23.119 nine had grown to about five thousand residents, but we've 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:26.680 also seen estimates as high as twenty five thousand. By 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:29.000 the end of the decade, that tiny village had swelled 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:32.600 to fifty thousand people, and by eighteen fifty seven, roughly 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:36.720 one hundred and fifty thousand people lived there. San Francisco 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:41.120 had rapidly transformed from what was basically an encampment into 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:44.400 a city in roughly a decade, and with that great 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:47.440 change came great destruction. During the early years of the 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:50.680 Gold Rush, a series of several fires, some small and 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:54.440 some really big, hit the city about the same time 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:55.880 as the forty nine ers. 0:03:56.880 --> 0:04:00.320 It was on December twenty fourth, eighteen forty nine, when 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:04.440 the first great Fire of San Francisco happened, and historical 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:09.560 accounts have all agreed in describing the night in one word, bedlam. 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:14.880 Just before six am, fire ignited in Denison's Exchange that 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:18.240 was one of the city's most prosperous gambling houses, located 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:22.080 on Kearney Street, opposite Portsmouth Square, which back in the 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:26.120 day was known as Portsmouth Plaza. Today this is part 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:30.280 of San Francisco's Chinatown neighborhood, but in eighteen forty nine 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:33.600 it was mostly overtaken by twenty four hour saloons and 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:35.159 gambling dens. 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:39.880 Roger Lochkin, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:44.000 North Carolina Chapel Hill, described in his book San Francisco 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:47.760 eighteen forty six to eighteen fifty six from Hamlet to 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:53.400 City that quote, widespread carelessness and maliciousness were responsible for 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:57.640 many blazes across the city. He continues, quote time and again, 0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:02.599 bursting pamphine lamps, falling against curtains or fabric walls, or 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:07.560 discarded cigars started fires time and again, though there were 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:11.760 also blazes like Denizens, which, according to local reports, likely 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:14.360 went up in flames because of an angry bar patron. 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:20.440 Teafield de Rute, a Swiss merchant on holiday, wrote of 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:23.560 his time in America in his book The Adventures of 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:26.960 a Young Swiss in California The Gold Rush account of 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:31.520 Teafield de Route and It included this vivid description of 0:05:31.560 --> 0:05:34.640 the fiery night as he saw it. Quote, the cry 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:37.919 of fire so terrifying for the city of San Francisco, 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:41.200 built of wood and canvas, echoed in the air and 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:44.720 spread rapidly from person to person and street to street. 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:48.680 This was the district of wine and vegetable stalls, and 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:53.560 also of lumber merchants, alcohol and wood. The most voracious 0:05:53.600 --> 0:05:57.799 fire could not have sought a more potent combination. Fed 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:01.279 by a strong north wind, the flames took giant strides. 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:05.400 It was a horrible and yet spectacular sight. With each 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:09.200 new rum, brandy or grog shop it devoured, the fire 0:06:09.320 --> 0:06:12.800 doubled in intensity and at the same time changed color. 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:17.760 It resembled a superb display of Bengal lights with reds, yellows, 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:21.360 and blues, or else a giant punch bowl ignited by 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:24.839 Satan and continuously stirred by the demons of Hell. 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:28.680 The fire destroyed the block and then spread down the 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:32.279 south side of Washington Street between Kearney and Montgomery, all 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:34.720 the way to the edge of the bay. Only two 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:38.240 fire engines were available. That's because there were only two 0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:41.279 fire engines in the city, and they were, according to 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:44.279 reports from the time, manned by greenhorns, which was not 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:48.640 their fault, though there was no training available, and according 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:51.599 to author Pauline Jacobson in her book The City of 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:54.520 the Golden Fifties, one of the two trucks was worn 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:58.440 out and the other was, to share her perfect description, 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:04.600 almost a toy machine designed to water lawns. In addition 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:07.239 to a lack of an organized fire department at the time, 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:10.640 the city had few cisterns, and at low tide the 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:13.960 ones they did have were empty. Between the lack of 0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:16.560 water plus poor equipment, and the lack of training for 0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:20.840 those expected to use that equipment, fledgling volunteer firefighters were 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:23.240 not much help extinguishing the flames. 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:28.080 Most of the city's population at this time was transient. 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:31.480 Most of them were gold seekers, and they didn't really 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:35.120 care much about saving or rebuilding the city. They were 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:38.640 there for gold, They were not there for San Francisco. 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:41.640 In his book El Dorado, or Adventures in the Path 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:46.520 of Empire, New York Tribune correspondent Bayard Taylor observed first 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:49.280 hand during the fire quote at the time of the 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:53.600 most extreme danger, hundreds of idle spectators refused to lend 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:57.880 a hand unless they were paid enormous wages. One of 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:00.840 the principal merchants offered a dollar or a bucket for 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:04.360 water and made use of several thousand buckets and saving 0:08:04.400 --> 0:08:08.800 his property. All the owners of property worked incessantly and 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:12.160 were aided by their friends, but at least five thousand 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:16.840 spectators stood idle in the plaza, and in the end, 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:20.120 to defend the city, it came down to blowing it up. 0:08:20.640 --> 0:08:24.520 Authorities used black powder explosive to create fire breaks to 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:28.400 stop the blazer's spread. In the end, the fire burned 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:31.760 a total of two hundred and ninety structures and caused 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:35.559 one point five million dollars in damage. 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:38.160 We are going to take a break forward from our sponsor, 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:41.240 and when we return we will talk about the formation 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:45.440 of the city's first volunteer fire company, and of course 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:56.920 more fires. 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:05.080 Welcome back to crimin Ilia. Before we get into the 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:08.480 second great fire, let's talk about the changes that were 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:12.640 put in place in the aftermath of the first one. 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:15.760 There was an emergency meeting held the day after the 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:18.840 Great Fire, called by the town Council. Along with those 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:22.040 considered the city fathers, and that's a list that includes 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:24.880 names you may recognize on modern day street signs around 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:29.360 San Francisco. We've got Samuel Brannan, William Davis, Alfred Ellis 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:34.000 Talbot Green, Edward Harrison, William Stewart, and Frank Turk. The 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:37.400 following resolutions were adopted, and we quote from their meeting. 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:41.959 The town is severely suffering this morning from the want 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:45.880 of necessary organization and means to meet the devastating element 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:51.480 of fire. Therefore resolved that the citizens be requested to 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:54.800 meet in Portsmouth Square on Wednesday next at twelve o'clock 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:57.760 to take such measures as may be deemed advisable to 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:01.800 protect the town against another calamity by organizing fire companies, 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:07.440 and that the town Council will supply the hook's ladders, axes, ropes, 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:11.920 et cetera to be kept by said companies. More precautions 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:15.960 were advised concerning the use of fire streets would be widened. 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:19.400 They also authorized the Chief of Police to employ a 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:23.079 sufficient number of people to guard burned neighborhoods and protect 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:25.360 the property of those impacted by the destruction. 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:30.640 The town council didn't just say they'd organized fire companies. 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:35.439 They followed through. On January thirteenth, eighteen fifty fifty two 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:40.400 men enrolled in the volunteer San Francisco Fire Company. Frederick 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:43.240 Koehler was elected by the town Council as the first 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:47.120 chief engineer, and there it was the first volunteer fire 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:50.720 department was formed, and it was instructed to quote direct 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:55.439 operations at fires and conflagrations, and with permission from the mayor, 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:59.920 to blow up buildings with explosives as necessary. Less than 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:03.600 a month later, on February fifth, Protection Engine Company Number 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:08.480 two was organized. It wasn't until December of eighteen sixty 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:12.360 six that the council established the San Francisco Fire Department, 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:17.520 its first professional fire department, ending its sole dependence on 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:22.360 volunteer firefighters. Later two the council had cisterns built at 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:24.200 strategic points around the city. 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:29.960 In less than a month, property owners had amazingly rebuilt 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:33.760 most of their city. According to an historical account published 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:36.040 in the Annals of San Francisco, which is one of 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:39.680 the most important primary sources of information about the formation 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:44.160 of the city, so we quote scarcely where the ashes cold, 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:47.240 when preparations were made to erect new buildings on the 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:49.679 old sites, and within a few weeks the place was 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:53.240 covered as before with houses of every kind. It was 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:57.360 the San Franciscans who rebuilt their city for themselves. There 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:01.040 was no sauntering, no idleness, no dreaming. All was practical 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:04.160 and real, all energy, perseverance and success. 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:09.000 But just a few months later, at about four am 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:13.400 on May fourth, eighteen fifty, a second great fire broke 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:16.680 out in the city. This time the fire started in 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:20.440 the United States Exchange that was also a saloon and 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:23.000 gambling house, and it happened to be built on the 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:26.120 same site as the former Dennison's Exchange where the first 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:30.480 fire started. The flames proved difficult to extinguish, in part 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:34.040 because it was always pretty windy, but also because parts 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:38.280 of the city had elevated wooden sidewalks, perfect fuel for 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:42.800 spreading fire. Before the Second Great Fire was extinguished, it 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:47.439 had engulfed the entire block bounded by Kearney, Clay, Montgomery, 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:51.320 and Washington Streets, and had jumped Washington Street across from 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:56.920 Portsmouth Square. Three quarters of the city was destroyed. Town 0:12:56.960 --> 0:13:00.920 officials suspected arson, and a five thousand dollar reward was 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:05.280 posted for information leading to an arrest, but no one 0:13:05.360 --> 0:13:10.600 was ever found responsible. Once again, though residents rebuilt quickly. 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:14.480 In fact, construction started even faster than after the First 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:18.320 Great Fire. The Annals of San Francisco reported that quote 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:21.640 in a wonderfully short time, the whole burned space was 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:24.720 covered with new buildings and looked as if no fire 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:28.400 had ever been there. It was generally remarked that these 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:32.320 were even more unsubstantial and inflammable than those which had 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:33.320 just been destroyed. 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:41.240 People were trying to improve building methods and materials after 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:45.280 the fire of eighteen forty nine, and to prevent future fire. 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:49.560 A few more volunteer fire houses had been established. On 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:53.760 June fourth, eighteen fifty, Empire Engine Company Number one was organized, 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:57.600 which was Great because just six weeks after the Second 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:03.000 Great Fire, the Third Grade Fire occurred on June fourteenth, 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:05.440 eighteen fifty. Fire broke out in the bakery in the 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:08.400 Merchant's Hotel at Clay and Kearney Streets. Of all the 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:13.040 fires discussed in this episode, this one was unlike the others, 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:16.480 assumed not to be arson and may have been caused 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:20.160 by a faulty chimney, but we don't know. We do know. 0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:24.000 It blazed for three days and destroyed three hundred buildings. 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:28.280 San Francisco in eighteen fifty had only a fledgling police force, 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:31.960 but it was big enough to control or to mostly 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:36.280 control looting. The volunteer fire department, on the other hand, 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:38.640 was growing, but was in no way up to the 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:42.720 challenge yet. After the destruction multiple large fires had on 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:45.600 the city, more fire units were established, and after this 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:49.600 Third Great Fire, the city began placing experienced firefighters who 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:52.600 had come to California from back East, where they'd had 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.840 training into these new and untrained fire companies. 0:14:57.640 --> 0:15:00.600 Three months later, another fire broke out out in the 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:05.720 early morning hours of September seventeenth, eighteen fifty, known as 0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:09.680 the Fourth Great Fire. The reportedly suspicious fire broke out 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:13.440 on the north side of Jackson between Graham and Kearney Streets, 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:16.800 and it destroyed one hundred fifty buildings in the area 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:22.320 bounded by DuPont, Montgomery, Washington, and Pacific Streets. The newly 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:26.160 organized fire departments that was the San Francisco Empire and 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:30.280 protection companies tried to fight the blaze, but had no 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:32.440 available water with which to do so. 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:37.280 Five weeks later, in October, the city hospital, owned by 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:41.520 a doctor, Peter Smith, was destroyed by fire. All one 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:44.120 hundred and fifty patients were rescued, but the loss was 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:49.000 estimated at roughly forty thousand dollars. Smith filed claims against 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:52.640 the city. He sued, and it took years to settle. 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:56.240 Arson or accidental, we don't know, but it left an 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:59.760 additional charred mark on the already charred city and in 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:03.000 mis In December, to wrap up a fiery year, another 0:16:03.080 --> 0:16:06.600 blaze suspiciously broke out in the Cook Brothers and Company building, 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:10.440 resulting in an estimated one hundred thousand dollars in damages. 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:14.400 We're going to take a break and hear from our sponsors, 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:17.760 and when we're back, we will be you guessed it 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:21.720 talking about fires. Get ready to move into the fires 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:36.720 of eighteen fifty one. 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:41.480 Welcome back to Criminalia. Want more fires, We've got some. 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:45.760 We're now ready to get into the fires of eighteen 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:49.600 fifty one. What's known as the San Francisco Fire of 0:16:49.640 --> 0:16:53.200 eighteen fifty one broke out overnight on May third, the 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:58.040 anniversary of the Second Great Fire. Flames engulfed a paint 0:16:58.080 --> 0:17:01.200 and upholstery store on the south side of Portsmouth Square. 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:05.360 English author Frank Marriott wrote of this scene, quote, At 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:08.879 one time the burning district was covered by one vast 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:12.200 sheet of flame that extended half a mile in length. 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:17.080 It burned the city's entire business district, jumping street to street. 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:20.359 He described this destruction at length, and will quote just 0:17:20.440 --> 0:17:22.960 part of it. But when the excitement of such a 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:26.439 night as this has passed by, one can scarcely recall 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:30.200 the scene. The memory is confused in the recollection of 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:33.679 the shouts and of the excited populace, the crash of 0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:37.320 falling timbers, the yells of the burned and injured, the 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:41.040 clank of the fire breaks, the horse orders delivered through 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:46.400 speaking trumpets, Maddened horses released from burning livery stables, plunging 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:50.840 through the streets, helpless patience being carried from some hospital 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:54.600 as the swaying crowd forced back by the flames, tramples 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:59.040 all before it, explosions of houses blown up by gunpowder, 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:01.840 the thunder of brick buildings as they fall in the 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:05.679 heap of ruin, and the blinding glare of ignited spirits. 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:10.920 In fewer than ten hours, two thousand buildings across eighteen 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:14.959 blocks were destroyed. The fire was so intense that the 0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:18.919 California Engine Company Number four, which had organized only just 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:22.280 in October of eighteen fifty, saw their first and only 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:23.840 fire engine destroyed. 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:28.320 As authorities had done in the First Great Fire, black 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:31.480 powder was used as an explosive to create fire breaks 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:33.879 in an effort to save the city. It's reported the 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:36.720 flames were so bright they were seen in Monterey, about 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:41.280 one hundred miles away. The Daily Alta, California published quote, 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:44.119 it was as if the god of destruction had seated 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:47.080 himself in our midst and was gorging himself and all 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:50.080 his ministers of devastation upon the ruin of our doomed 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:51.240 city and its people. 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:55.920 Some residents suspected that the fire was set by the Hounds, 0:18:56.280 --> 0:18:59.840 a nativist gang in the city. Others suspected it was 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:03.439 by the Sydney Ducks, a criminal gang of immigrants from 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:06.560 Australia who lived on the waterfront in the area known 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:10.320 as Sydney Town. It was after this fire that city 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:13.520 business and property owners took matters into their own hands 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:16.760 and formed a vigilante group known as the First Committee 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:21.520 of Vigilance. The Sydney Ducks were known for intentionally setting fires. 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:24.359 They found that it was a good distraction while they 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:27.600 looted homes and businesses as people tended to the flames. 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:32.040 Four members of the Sydney Ducks were hanged by the Committee. 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:36.320 And then came the final major fire we'll talk about today. 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:39.920 On June twenty second, eighteen fifty one, fire broke out 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:42.399 in a wood framed home on the north side of 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:47.040 Pacific Street. It destroyed residences from Powell to Sansomi and 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:52.440 from Clay to Broadway, and in total about sixteen city blocks. 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:56.000 Among the ruins were many of the old landmarks of 0:19:56.040 --> 0:20:00.359 the original year Burguena. The newly constructed reservoirs were nearly 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:03.480 empty at the time and without proper ways to fight 0:20:03.520 --> 0:20:06.520 the flames. This fire destroyed city Hall at Kearney and 0:20:06.560 --> 0:20:10.240 Pacific and the Jenny Lynn Theater. The theater had actually 0:20:10.440 --> 0:20:14.040 been destroyed in two different fires that year and rebuilt 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:18.240 each time. In total, the fire caused upwards of three 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:21.840 million dollars in damages. Local police arrested a man named 0:20:21.840 --> 0:20:25.960 Benjamin Lewis for arson charges. He got off. In fact, 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:28.920 you may have noticed, even if a fire was suspicious, 0:20:28.960 --> 0:20:32.080 and there may be was a suspect, no one was 0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:35.440 held responsible for any of these blazes and their destruction. 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:39.199 During the fire spree in the city. Estimates of the 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:42.160 combined death toll from the fires depend where you look. 0:20:42.720 --> 0:20:45.520 They range from three hundred to more than one thousand, 0:20:45.960 --> 0:20:48.720 with most deaths occurring during the fire of May fourth, 0:20:48.800 --> 0:20:53.200 eighteen fifty one. According to the San Francisco Chronicles, some 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:56.920 residents who had tried to improve their safety situation after 0:20:57.000 --> 0:21:01.160 living through multiple fires had constructed a life edged fireproof 0:21:01.320 --> 0:21:06.560 corrugated iron houses, but unfortunately, many people were killed inside 0:21:06.600 --> 0:21:09.879 their homes because the intense heat caused the metal to 0:21:09.960 --> 0:21:13.880 swell and made it impossible to open the door. There 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:17.280 were additional reports of people injured or killed from weapons 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:19.840 and ammunition that discharged in the heat. 0:21:21.400 --> 0:21:24.720 The final fire, the one on June twenty second, is 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:28.240 considered the last of the Great Gold Rush era fires. 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:34.280 In general, improved building materials, full cisterns, and firefighting training 0:21:34.400 --> 0:21:38.199 helped prevent future disasters. There would, though continue to be 0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:41.240 arson in the city. For instance, the nineteen oh six 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:45.000 earthquake got the nickname the nineteen oh six Earthquake arsen 0:21:45.040 --> 0:21:48.840 Fires for a reason. Many fires that broke out immediately 0:21:48.880 --> 0:21:52.159 following the earthquake were ultimately found to be arson fraud. 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:56.320 Most fire insurance policies of the time had what was 0:21:56.400 --> 0:21:59.879 called a falling building clause, which meant they didn't have 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:01.840 to pay out if a house fell down because of 0:22:01.880 --> 0:22:06.119 an earthquake. So to collect insurance on their losses, property 0:22:06.160 --> 0:22:09.560 owners pretended their buildings did not fall down in the quake, 0:22:09.720 --> 0:22:13.919 but had rather instead burned down. The full extent of 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:17.280 arsen fraud is unknown, but experts suggest it may have 0:22:17.359 --> 0:22:19.800 reached as high as thirty million dollars, and that's not 0:22:19.840 --> 0:22:21.560 adjusted for today's equivalent. 0:22:22.600 --> 0:22:25.159 And we can't really close out without talking about the 0:22:25.200 --> 0:22:29.840 San Francisco Phoenix. It can't be coincidence that the Gold 0:22:29.880 --> 0:22:33.919 Rush fires and the city survival inspired San Francisco to 0:22:34.040 --> 0:22:37.840 adopt the phoenix, a mythological bird that arises reborn from 0:22:37.880 --> 0:22:41.080 its ashes, as the symbol of the city. It was 0:22:41.119 --> 0:22:44.200 first used in an official capacity in the city seal 0:22:44.280 --> 0:22:47.920 in eighteen fifty two as the city was being reborn. 0:22:54.000 --> 0:22:57.520 Are you ready for a little lighter fluid man? 0:22:57.800 --> 0:22:58.040 Yes? 0:22:59.359 --> 0:23:01.960 Okay, where's the thing that kept jumping out at me 0:23:02.040 --> 0:23:06.520 as we were looking at this, Even after they had 0:23:06.560 --> 0:23:12.119 put hopeful protections in place, built better things, made fire 0:23:12.440 --> 0:23:16.919 departments volunteer, otherwise, they really could not sort out the 0:23:16.960 --> 0:23:20.760 water situation. Yes, and so I wanted to make a 0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:25.480 drink that addressed that. And it's called the Dowser. 0:23:26.200 --> 0:23:28.560 That is an excellent name for a drink that's based 0:23:28.600 --> 0:23:28.840 on that. 0:23:29.600 --> 0:23:33.240 A dowser or a dowsing wand is one that allegedly 0:23:33.960 --> 0:23:38.760 finds water. There's some mystical attachment to this idea that 0:23:39.040 --> 0:23:41.760 someone has a natural knack for finding water with a 0:23:41.800 --> 0:23:44.280 dowsing wand. But I wanted to just make something super 0:23:44.280 --> 0:23:47.879 delicious that was very light and airy and easy to drink. 0:23:48.520 --> 0:23:51.359 And I also wanted to do something that we haven't 0:23:51.400 --> 0:23:55.000 done before, but also wanted to reference the fact that 0:23:55.080 --> 0:23:59.040 this was all kind of gold rushing originated, right, So 0:23:59.119 --> 0:24:01.320 I wanted to do something golden. But we've done all 0:24:01.320 --> 0:24:05.120 the gold things except for saffron. 0:24:05.560 --> 0:24:07.560 Oh, oh interesting, So. 0:24:07.560 --> 0:24:11.280 For this one, which I love. I have a rabid 0:24:11.359 --> 0:24:14.399 love of saffron. I love it in everything. Put it 0:24:14.440 --> 0:24:17.399 in rice, put it in ice cream, put it in bread, 0:24:17.560 --> 0:24:20.160 put it in drinks. So we're putting it in drinks today. 0:24:20.760 --> 0:24:23.320 You just need a little pinch of saffron. I know 0:24:23.359 --> 0:24:25.719 it's pricey, but if you're like me, you'll be an 0:24:25.720 --> 0:24:28.680 addict and you'll get through it pretty quickly. You're gonna 0:24:28.680 --> 0:24:32.640 put a pinch in like a mixing glass with two 0:24:32.760 --> 0:24:36.080 ounces of gin. Let that sit for a little bit. 0:24:36.720 --> 0:24:39.160 You could stir it periodically. I would say, like ten 0:24:39.240 --> 0:24:41.280 or fifteen minutes. It's not a long thing, but it 0:24:41.320 --> 0:24:44.600 will break down and it'll turn the liquid very golden 0:24:44.640 --> 0:24:48.960 and it's very pretty. And then in a tin, a 0:24:49.000 --> 0:24:52.080 shaking tin. While you're letting that sit. After a while, 0:24:52.080 --> 0:24:55.679 you're gonna add an ounce of lemon juice, an ounce 0:24:55.720 --> 0:24:59.120 of simple syrup. And one of my favorite things. 0:24:59.640 --> 0:25:03.280 One a I've come around. I have come around. 0:25:04.160 --> 0:25:07.359 Oh, this one's really good because something magical happens and 0:25:07.400 --> 0:25:12.640 it gets really fluffy. So once you have these things 0:25:12.640 --> 0:25:15.960 in place, pour your gin with the saffron pieces still 0:25:15.960 --> 0:25:19.880 in it. Right in there. I used my little frothy 0:25:19.920 --> 0:25:23.479 magic hand mixer and it became giant. 0:25:24.960 --> 0:25:25.840 Oh, there's egg wets. 0:25:26.280 --> 0:25:28.480 Or you can do a dry shake, meaning you don't 0:25:28.480 --> 0:25:30.240 put ice in your tin and you shake it really 0:25:30.240 --> 0:25:32.280 hard till it gets quite frothy, and then you add 0:25:32.320 --> 0:25:34.359