Looking back: An 1868 letter that ran in the Daily Alta newspaper
KATHY BAZZOLI
The following is a transcript of a letter that ran on May 11, 1868, in the Daily Alta, a San Francisco newspaper that published from 1849 to 1891. The Daily Alta was a descendant paper of Sam Brannan’s California Star, which was published from 1847-1848, shutting down when its staff left for the gold rush. The article is provided by Kathy Bazzoli, a board member of the Sharpsteen Museum.
Our little community was startled out of its priority night before last about half-past eleven by an unmistakable earthquake, jarring the houses and shaking up the economy of life in the upper part of the Napa Valley beyond anything ever before known here. The shocks, which appeared to come from the northward, were accompanied by subterranean rumblings peculiarly ominous at the dead of night. . .
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