WESTERN VIEWS
California is known for some pretty odd characters. It started in the early days: The crazy time of the ’49ers brought out some outrageous personalities.
One of the biggest was Joshua Abraham Norton — the Emperor of the United States.
Norton was an Englishman who grew up in South Africa. He was a successful businessman who sailed to San Francisco in 1849. He flourished in the early days of the gold rush but lost it all when he bought a shipload of Peruvian rice at 12 and a half cents a pound. Suddenly other shipments arrived and the price dropped to three cents a pound, and Norton was bankrupt.
After that disaster, he lived quietly till 1859. That was when he began telling people that, due to the sad state of American politics and all the war talk back East, he was taking over and making himself Emperor of the United States.
Aside from working on world peace, he also paid attention to local civic matters. He issued a decree to build a bridge from San Francisco to Oakland; to this day, a contingent of Bay Area residents want to name the Bay Bridge after him.
Over the years, he became loved and revered by the citizens of San Francisco. He spent his days inspecting San Francisco’s streets in an elaborate blue uniform given to him by officers of the Presidio. He regularly ate for free at the finest restaurants and had reserved seats at plays and musicals.
Emperor Norton was sensitive how the name of his adopted city was shortened, and tried to end the noxious habit. He declared the word “Frisco” an abomination and anyone saying it would be fined $25.
The Emperor died in 1880, and the city mourned their loss. It was a royal funeral, financed by local businessmen, and 30,000 people lined the streets to honor the cortege.
Emperor Norton lives on in San Francisco. He’s a friend of mine who shall remain anonymous, but you can see him here: http://www.emperornortontour.com/index.html. He’s a wealth of knowledge about the city.
Cool! Thanks, Adrienne. I wish he had been there when I went to San Francisco in 1964! —Diane at RVtravel.com
Well, if you make it back to San Francisco, he does several tours every weekend. We can go together!
Sounds like fun! Thanks, Adrienne. Back in 1964 it was a graduation gift to me from my great-great-aunt, so I’m not sure if/when I’ll be back there. But I’ll let you know if I can get there. Have a good night! 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com