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CA - San Francisco,June 2 1870 - Pacific Mail Steamship Company Letter

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Western Americana Start Price:150.00 USD Estimated At:300.00 - 500.00 USD
CA - San Francisco,June 2 1870 - Pacific Mail Steamship Company Letter
Session D is a Mail-Bid Only Auction. Absentee bids will be accepted only. No live bidding will be allowed. All winners will be contacted after the auction. BIDDING ENDS MONDAY JUNE 27 AT 5PM PACIFIC TIME!!!
Measues 7 1/2" x 9 1/2". A two page hand written letter discussing a license in Federal subsidy to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company to reclaim trade from Boston to California. Brown ink on lined tan paper. To "W. Kingsley Esq Cosmopolitan Hotel" from Oliver Eldridge. According to Steve Potash at Potash Company, Pacific Mail had a contract with the government to carry mail across the seas. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was established in 1848, with the first steamship sailing into San Francisco Bay on February 28, 1849. For the nineteenth century, Pacific Mail was the main source of transportation for Japanese and Chinese who built the trans-continental railroad that so enriched California's culture and economy. Not only did this company shape San Francisco but also the Pacific Coast. This letter appears to have been previously glued down elsewhere, as moisture marks and strips of brown paper are still attached to the reverse. Page two has been cropped about two inches from the bottom. Slight staining but overall condition is good.