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San Francisco,CA - February 28th, 1850 - Pacific Mail Steamship Company Bill of Lading :

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Documents Start Price:750.00 USD Estimated At:1,500.00 - 2,000.00 USD
San Francisco,CA - February 28th, 1850 - Pacific Mail Steamship Company Bill of Lading :
Bill of Lading for Macondray & Co. Shipment of gold dust valued at $10,000 on the steamer Oregon, commanded by Patterson going from San Francisco to Panama. SS Oregon (1848–1861) was built for the Pacific Mail Company and launched on August 5, 1848, sailing from New York for San Francisco on December 8, 1848, calling at Panama City and arriving at San Francisco on April 1, 1849. The steamer sailed regularly on the San Francisco to Panama City route until 1855 and made one further voyage in 1856. This bill of lading is for 52 lb package containing 625 troy oz of gold dust. Once at Panama, scheduled to transfer by mule over to the Atlantic side where it was picked up by a steamer owned by Howland & Aspinwall bound for New York, February 28, 1850. Exceptionally early piece. The package was insured by three different insurance companies, equally divided, according to a handwritten note on the back of the document. Macondray & Co. was one of the businesses described by Bancroft in his detailed canvas of San Francisco businesses in 1850. Stains at center and left corner, chip at top. This wonderful receipt is a rare circumstance of one of the very large, private gold dust shipments from California to New York. While receipts of significantly lesser amount survived, few survived in the $10,000 value range because they were generally secret, and often traveled east under the direct care of an agent. Pacific Mail Steamship company was founded in 1848 by several New York merchants who contracted with the U.S. Government to carry mail, but shortly after business began gold was discovered in California and the company became a key transporter good and people to and from the business center of the California Gold Rush, San Francisco.