Graveyard Harbor: Treasure, Murder, and Vigilantes in the Gold Rush's Fantastic Floating City of One Thousand Abandoned Ships
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SO CLOSE TO SHORE,
SO FAR FROM FORTUNE.
WITH THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD, THEY CAME. San Francisco, 1849. Some arrived by land, but most came by sea. From packet to clipper, the first steamers, and even a stolen paddlewheeler, ships of every kind poured in through the Golden Gate. Packed to the gills with passengers and bursting to the brim with valuable cargo, they crowded Yerba Buena Cove. The perfect harbor in every way except one fatal flaw—its shallow waters offered no passage to shore. Fever overtook even the heartiest of men. Passengers and crew alike jumped ship and swam ashore. Within sight of their prize destination, a thousand majestic vessels were left adrift. Each incapacitated vessel’s fate locked in by the next.
Some dedicated captains remained aboard these derelict hulks, in a short time forming a fantastic floating city, Graveyard Harbor. Families, commerce, intrigue, and crime all thrived and died within its skeletal framework. Among them were captains held hostage by their own cargo, families that could not afford nor find housing on land, criminals hiding out from the law, and their pursuers hot on their heels.
A LANDLOCKED CAPTAIN.
A KILLER WHO LOOKED LIKE CHRIST.
HIS UNFORTUNATE DOPPELGÄNGER.
THE BLOODTHIRST OF SAN FRANCISCO’S FIRST VIGILANTE SOCIETY.
AND THE TEXAS RANGER TURNED SAN FRANCISCO SHERIFF.
WOULD CRIME, JUSTICE OR VIGILANTISM PREVAIL?
Illustrations by the author.
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ROBERT GRAYSMITH is an author and illustrator. He was the political cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle when the letters and cryptograms from the infamous Zodiac killer began arriving to the paper. He was present when they were opened in the morning editorial meetings, and has been investigating & writing ever since. He lives in San Francisco where he continues to write and illustrate.
His other books include: Zodiac, The Sleeping Lady, Auto Focus, Unabomber, The Bell Tower, Zodiac Unmasked, Amerithrax, The Laughing Gorilla, The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock’s Shower, Black Fire, Shooting Zodiac.
www.robertgraysmith.com
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