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The expousal, examination through experience, and renunciation of communism by Emma Goldman, Benjamin Gitlow, Max Eastman and Louis Budenz
Clarence A. Bitts
The objective of this thesis is to present a study of the political impact of Communism on four individuals who at one stage in their lives thought that Communism was the best political system on earth, and who subsequently became disillusioned ot the point where they considered Communism the worst political system on earth. This thesis tries to answer some of the questions arising from such a study. How did these four people become so enamoured of Communism and later so thoroughly disillusioned with it? What is there about Communism which could so strongly attract and later so thoroughly repel intelligent people? Was disaffection due to the weakness of the people involved, or was it due to weaknesses in the Communist system? Where is the truth to be found regarding the essential nature of Communism: in the official reports and propaganda of the Russian government, or in the opinions of the Communist Party members, or in the writings of those who have been in close contact with the system? The problem is to determine the nature of the attraction of Communism and the nature of its repellent aspects as seen by four of those who have strongly felt, in turn, that attraction and that repulsion.
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A reinterpretation of the Yalta Conference with particular emphasis on the role of Franklin D. Roosevelt
M. Dudley Igo
We know that World War II did not bring the lasting peace everyone hoped and assumed it would bring. The United States, along with other Western powers, now finds itself in a seeming life and death struggle with the Soviet Union and its satellites, with both sides arming for another possible global war. Everyday brings new and deeper problems for the United States and the West in both Asia and Europe. The Yalta Conference was the culminating and most far-reaching of all the conferences of Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. At Yalta the basic decisions were made regarding what these leaders intended to do with the world that would be in their hands as a result of their nations’ defeat of Germany and Japan. Thus, what was decided at Yalta is greatly connected with the state of the world today.
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The American punitive expedition into Mexico, 1916-1917
Frank William Shadley
Actually the Punitive Expedition did not make much of a change in the relations between
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Campaign songs as a factor in American politics
A. Eugene Anthony
In the days when the United States of America was struggling to establish itself as a nation, the prevailing type of popular song was naturally patriotic. Walt Whitman in his article “Slang in America” observes that folk songs, like language, are not an abstract construction of the learned, bu something arising out of the work, needs, ties, joys, affections, tastes, of long generations of humanity, and has their bases broad and low, close to the ground; because the final decisions of folk songs, like those of language, are made by the masses, people nearest the concrete, having most to do with actual land and sea.
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The presidential campaign of 1948
Edward John Hallauer
In the sprint of 1948, President Harry S. Truman's chances of being re-elected to the presidency of the United States seemed very dubious. It was uncertain that he would even secure the Democratic nomination for that office.
Truman's pre-convention Western trip. In the early summer of 1948 President Truman left the Capitol on a supposedly non-political Western trip. Although his aids insisted the journey was to be non-political, the fiction deceived no one. However, it enabled the President to charge off the cost of the excursion to his $30,000 a year travel allowance instead of sending the bill to a poverty-stricken Democratic National Committee.
But it was not to hear non-political speeches that forty-two newspaper and magazine writers, five radio correspondents, four newsreel men, four still photographers, and a bevy of Western Union telegraphers, for whom an entire car had been turned into a press room, were aboard.
The itinerary covered more than 8,500 miles from the Capital to Seattle, to Los Angeles, and back to Washington, D. C. He was to make five major speeches and nearly fifty back platform appearances. His objective was to put his program and his personality before the voters, and his plans before the politicians. So clear was Truman's purpose that he quickly found himself unable to maintain his non-political pose. He made only one feeble attempt when his train stopped in Crestline, Ohio, but a sturdy housewife in the crowd, which had gathered to see him, interrupted, "Aw, we don't want to hear that, we're all Democrats here."1 Laughing at himself, the President declared, "On this non-partisan, bipartisan trip we are making here, I understand there are a lot of Democrats too."2 After that Truman made little effort to hide the political nature of his trip.
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The history of the expropriation of the American oil companies in Mexico
Marie F. Stebbins
The Six Year Plan under President Cardenas had a positive structure built on the agrarian movement, the cooperative movement and the educational movement. In order to give the Mexicans an increasing share of the country's wealth, President Cardenas believed that the "process of building cooperatives was to shift the balance of economic power gradually from the capitalist class to the workers". He also believed that "Mexico never would become prosperous by serving as a siren for foreign capital because capitalism fattens on low wages." Then, too, "the workers would only prosper when industry was controlled by the governement and the people."53
It was, therefore, a foregone conclusion that President Cardonas would attempt to regain these rich oil reserve for the Mexicans. He did not plan to issure any new laws regulating Article 27, but rather, to follow the legal status already existing.55 His first move was to cancel all foreign leases held on defective titles. This was actually begun early in 1934 before Cardenas took office
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The history of Tuolumne County during the gold rush
Harry C. Tremain
Back in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, in the heart of the Mother Lode, lies Tuolumne County, whose history is rich with memories of the days of forty-nine. It was in this country of yesterdays, during those frenzied days of gold, that men fought and toiled and died for that precious metal. Miners in search of this precious substance penetrated into its forests, prospected up and down its canyons, and climbed its steep and rugged mountains. Towns sprang up overnight and disappeared almost as quickly. The miners were forever moving on to richer diggings in search of the “El Dorado.”
The gold rush days found Tuolumne a wild and rough country, with the most varied population of any country in the whole region. Yankees, Mexicans, Englishmen, “Sidney Ducks”, Frenchmen, Germans, Spaniards, Chinese, Negroes, Irishmen, and Chileans rubbed elbows and occasionally fists with each other. The region was full of gamblers, drunkards, fast women and lumps of gold.
Before the great rush for gold, California was a quiet, peaceful, sparsely settled land. In 1842, the population was about 5,000, not including the Indians. There were about 4,000 native Californians, 90 Mexicans, 80 Spaniards, 80 Frenchmen, 360 Scotchment, Irishmen and Englishmen, 90 Germans, Italians, and Portuguese. There was little immigration, and by 1847 the population had increased to only 7,000 or 8,000. The pueblos of Monterey, San Jose and Yorba Buena were the principal centers of trade. San Diego, Los Angeles, Sonoma and New Helvetia (now Sacramento) also contained a small population. Then came the discovery of gold. It took a little while for the news to travel, and at first people thought the reports were exaggerated, but as more and more reports were carried back to the pueblos, the excitement increased. On the first of April, 1848, the California Star printed “We are happy to be able to say that California continues to be perfectly quiet…. For more than a year no disorders have occurred, -the native Californians are beginning to mingle with our people, and are gradually turning their attention to agriculture. No further difficulties are apprehended.” Little did the writer of this article dream what was to take place before very long.
BY the end of May only about 300 men were in the gold fields. So rapidly did the gold-fever take hold, however, that by the tenth of June, the same newspaper was fearing that every town would be depopulated. It reported that “every seaport south to San Diego and every interior town is drained of human beings.” As yet, of course, the news had not had time to reach the Atlantic states, so the gold rush was purely local, and there were relatively few digging for gold. The Star estimated that there were “1,000 souls washing gold”, and that about $100,000 had been taken from the mines since the first of May from an area about 100 miles in length and 200 miles wide.
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Special phases of the early history of Calaveras County, California
Ethelyn E. Wood
A person living in Calaveras County is constantly reminded of the glorious past when the mines and camps were in full swing. The old buildings with their iron shutters, the great piles of worked-over gravel, and the stories of the old-timers all stimulate a person's curiosity about the romantic past. Therefore, it has been my ambition since first coming into the county to make a serious study of the early days and put down my findings in an organized paper. There are no printed works at all complete on the county as a whole. Mason's History of Amador County and Buckbee's Pioneer Days of Angels Camp have been helpful. Mason, however, deals with Calaveras County only before 1854, when Amador became a separate county, and his interest was with that area that later became Amador. Mrs. Buckbee deals only with Angel's Camp. Therefore, I believe that I have brought together in this paper the most complete history of the county up to 1866 that has ever been written.
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THE FIRST HALF-CENTURY OF THE COLLEGE OF THE PACIFIC
Robert Burns
It is significant that the history of California’s oldest incorporated college has never been written in detail. A pamphlet and several lengthy newspaper and magazine articles have, to this time, sufficed. It therefore became my duty in writing this thesis to amass a quantity of material from the original sources.
The thesis represents the first half of a piece of work which ultimately, it is hoped, will portray a century of development by the College. It is expected that the complete work will be released shortly before the Centennial Celebration.
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An epic of water and power : a history of the Modesto Irrigation District
Robert Malcomb Graham
The Modesto Irrigation District is located on the eastern side of the Great Valley about half way from North to South. The Great Valley is really two distinct river valleys further divided by lesser stream valleys. The Sacramento River Valley is about 500 miles long and forms the northern half; and the San Joaquin Valley is about 350 miles long and forms the southern half. For many practical purposes local residents of this great Valley call it the Sac-Joaquin Valley. There are no hills or mountains to separate these valleys so we may consider them as one.
The Sac-Joaquin Valley is almost ideal as far as irrigation is concerned. It is almost as flat as a table, dropping about 2-3 feet per mile toward the middle of the valley from the beginning of the valley proper westward to the Sacramento or San Joaquin River. The summers are long, hot, and cloudless; ideally suited to the ripening of tropic fruits.4 All the valley lacked was sufficient water. And the mountains now furnish that.
We shall consider the Modesto area as being the area north of the Tuolumne River to the Stanislaus River and from the San Joaquin River on the west to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. By the early settlers this area was called Paradise Valley.2 A town of Paradise existed for a few years, having been laid out by a Mr. Jon Mitchell about 1867-683 It gave up and moved a few miles east into the new town of Modesto soon after the latter was started in 1870.4<68/sup>
The Modesto Irrigation District now inclueds about 81,000 acres in the weatern part of this Paradise Valley.2 The land is almost flat, consisting of soils that are, as a whole, "light, the largest part of the area consisting of sandy loams and sands".3 The soil ideal for diversified agriculture, and it has now been proven that the soil types of Modesto District are best adapted to the applicaton of irrigation.4
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From whaling days to cannery row : a survey of some aspects of the fishing industry at Monterey and vicinity from 1854 to 1920
John Markley Dennis
In the days before there was a Monterey, there were whales in Monterey Bay. We know this because Vizcaino, who dropped anchor in the bay in 1602, kept a diary. And from this diary, Vizcaino's historian, one Venegas who wrote: A History of California in 1758, makes the statement that whales and sea lions swam about in the bay.1
Apparently, the whales kept on swimming in Monterey Bay for about one hundred and fifty years without being molested. Shortly after that, the whales and Monterey fishermen engaged in a long struggle which took place, with periodic cessation, over a span of, roughly, seventy-five years.
It is believed that a logical point of termination in this survey has been reached because a certain unity has been attained.
It must now be clear that the rise and decline in a certain type of fishing effort has a positive correlation with the rise and decline of certain national groups.
The Portuguese were prominent as whalers; the temporary cessation of whaling about 1900 destroyed their dominance at Monterey; there are reports in 1899 and 1901 of Japanese whalers as well as Portuguese. The revival of whaling in 1918 wa not responsible for a Portuguese renaissance because it was not longer an art, but wholesale slaughter by the most destructive weapons.
The Chinese lost their prominence in squid and abalone fishing through prohibitory legislation and a fire, which dispersed the Chinese as a fishing colony.
The Chinese loss was the Japanese gain, for abalone diving became, after 1900, one of their most effective pursuits. Salmon trolling was another fishing field in which the Japanese proved their worth; after 1916, however, salmon began a slow but steady decline. Consequently, the Japanese turned to albacore trolling in Southern California waters.1
The introduction of the lampara net in 1905 and the phenomenal growth in sardine fishing and canning brought the Italian, or Sicilians, to the fore in this type of fishing effect. Many Orientals found work in the canneries as cutters and packers as did many Occidentals. But the crews and captains of the lampara launches were, by and large, of Italian extraction.
Legislation and technical improvements have aided and restricted certain types of fishing. Legislative control during the war was in large part responsible for creating dissatisfaction among fishermen and giving them pretext for strikes.
The reasons for the rise and/or decline of a certain type of fishing effort should be clearly understood.
Whaling ceased about 100 because of a shortage of whales and inefficient means of securing those whales which remain.
Salmon trolling declined in spite of legislation of a restrictive nature, because that legislation was eminently defective.
After the legislation of commercial squid fishing in 1913 that fishery has steadily risen to a place of considerable importance. Since 1916, 97% of the California total squid poundage has been loaded at Monterey;3 the lampara note was a decisive factor in this remarkable tally, as it was particularly suited to this small form of marine life.
As for sardines, their remarkable rise from bait fish to case goods and meal and oil reduced other types of fishing to a place of secondary importance. In tonnage and in profits, in construction and employment, the sardine fishing by 1920, was supreme in Monterey's fishing industry.
There is a logical break in continuity after the year 1919; subsequent years brought a slump in the entire fishing industry and also a diversification in sardine fishing: i.e., reduction of edible fish into meal and oil. As this next period represents an entity in itself due to its technical and legal aspects, this survey is terminated with the year 1919.
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The negro in California before 1890
A. Odell Thurman
Because so little has been written concerning the Negro in California and because the dynamic and romantic sequences in the development of this country have always interested me, I have become interested in knowing what part the Negro, free and slave, played in this panorama of events. Were there Negroes with early expeditions? To what extent did they migrate to the West when "gold fever" had become a nation-wide epidemic? Did they find gold? Where did they settle? What did they do? What difficulty did they encounter politically, socially, and economically? These are questions that have filled my mind, and to which I shall endeavor to find the answers.
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The history of the seat of government of California
Janet Elliott
The position of California in the years 1846-1850 was different from that of any other portion of the country; she did not become a state until 1850, and she as not even a territory. Though she was in the military possession of the United States, the ownership was not legal until the Treaty of Guadealoupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848. The military governors in California could do little without specific orders from Washington, but it was obvious that the confusion caused by the gold rush was hastening the end ot the inefficient mexican laws. By 1849, daily increasing crowds of foreigners, in the mines and in San Francisco, necessitated some sort of civil government. The military governors waited for directions from Washington with growing anxiety, while the miners developed their own government, usually the lynch law. Meanwhile, in Congress, the admission of California into the Union had become entangled with the slavery issue; the north and south had an equal number of states represented in Congress, and the southern men feared California would never be a slave state.
Since the complete of the construction of the state capitol in Sacramento is a long and tedious one, this chapter will give only a survey of events up to its final completion. On February 27, 1863, the Senate, after much harangue, passed a vote of 22 to 9 a bill to provide a special fund, by taxation, to complete work on the capitol. The bill passed the Assembly on March 17, and on April 9, the Assembly passed another Senate appropriation bill.29 In December of the same year, Governor Leland Stanford, in his message, emphasized the necessity for finishing the building as soon as possible, which could not be done in a pay-as-you go method heretofore employed.30 Work has been resumed on the building in June, 1863, and by the beginning of 1866, the interior work was being done. On January 1, 1866, Reuben Clark was judged insane and sent to the state asylum in Stockton, and was succeeded by Gordon P. Cummings. At last, in 1869, the building was ready.
To study the history of the seat of government of this state is to become familiar with the bickerings, delays, corruption, pettiness, greed, and frailties of republicanism at work. Yet the history of the government of California is at the same time a marvelous example of the opportunities, ideals, and accomplishments of democracy in action, building a mighty state. Those who read in this history inefficiency, confusion, blunders, and waster should not overlook that the cornerstone of the structure is belief that each individual has the right to his share in the development of his institutions. Such has always been the characteristic of california--and such the characteristic of the nation she helped to build
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Theodore Roosevelt - Preacher Militant His Political Philosophy as Proclaimed in his Speeches
Evelyn Hanshaw
The age of chivalry with its color and romance is remembered usually as a story-book existence which is pleasant and exciting to read about. Forgotten too often are the ideals and the splendid code of conduct which actuated the heroic deeds. It cannot be said that all knights wore admirable and incorruptible, but out of their period, embodied in its literature, has come to us a way of life. Sir Galahad, St. George, Arthur--whichever one is called to mind-- each want through life fighting relentlessly, sometimes foolishly, but always gloriously against impossible odds as he pursued his ideal. Courageous and honest, he fought for his God, for his King, and for his lady love. Those three symbolized for him greater things--when he fought for his God he was fighting the Christian battle for the weak and oppressed; when he fought for his King he was fighting the loyal battle for the authority which offered him protection; when he fought for his lady it was to protect all woman- kind and the children they bore.280
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A history of the third term tradition, 1789-1928
Elmer Ellsworth Stevens
In discussing the Third Term Tradition, I have tried to compile a. history of the precedent rather than an argument for or against it. From Washington to Franklin Roosevelt many different viewoints and arguments have been advanced. Out of the wealth of material which is available I have attempted so far as possible to select impartially representative utterances on both sides of the question.
In our national history there have been several presidential elections in which the third term question was a major issue. That is especially true of the campaign (1940) which is now being fought. However, this paper in no way touches on the present situation, but is a historical treatment of the precedent itself up to and including Calvin Coolidge.
The work abounds in quotations because the subject is not treated in a controversial manner, but rather strives to establish the historical background of the third term precedent from a variety of sources, including as many of the original sources as possible.
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The presidential campaign of 1936
Mason A. Johnston
However, for the purpose of this thesis the presidential campaign of 1936 began with the June nominating conventions. At those times the candidates were selected. (Although there was never any doubt as to whom the Democrats would choose.) After the conventions the public had its first opportunity to weigh one nominee against the other. The conventions were the first big political shows. They also offered the country the official platforms upon the principles of which the candidates were supposed to stand. In short, with the conventions the big fight was on.
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The Third International
Helen Gertrude Sayles
Since the World War, the Russian experiment has formed the basis for more comment than any other movement. Of particular interest to the people of the United States has been the Third International, or Comintern, having as its aim World Revolution. Although communism has not had a great deal of influence in the United States as yet, propaganda is being spread to such a great extent that expectations for the future seem significant.
The Third International which was based upon the principles laid down by Karl Marx and Engels in the Communist Manifesto in 1848, differed from the First and Second International in that its main policy was, and is, active revolution. Although the Third International was really started in Zimmerwald and Kienthal it did not receive real authority until Germany cooperated in carrying out the idea of revolution and in sending over Lenin and Trotsky, who were ardent supporters of the communist idea. The basic principles of the Third International, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, are to "quicken steps toward world revolution," by creating revolutionary proletariat parties which shall be the advance guard of the revolution, to bind the organization together by a common programme and principles and to receive its orders from a. central organization, the bureau of the Third International, to allow individual communist parties in different countries, the real aim is always world revolution and that this should be actively supported in all cases.
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The Christian thought of Doctor Toyohiko Kagawa and his social works and movements
Eiichi Iimura
The world recognizes Toyohiko Kagawa as the St. Francis of Japan. His heart is one of pure love like that of St. Francis, but his battle has not been carried on by means of the sermon in a religious denomination. With a heart of love Kagawa has stood in the streets and would save the lives of the people. This is because he was born in 20th century Japan and not in Italy of the Middle Ages.
Fifteen hundred years after the fall of ancient Rome the world once more is about to undergo a mighty change. At this time when a great tide, as it were, is surging up from the broad Pacific a lone Japanese, blessed with keen intuition and deep affection, has come into the world, and is walking in the midst of Japanese society with giant strides. He is a young man, not yet fifty years of age. He has still many years of life on earth. When his saintly journey from village to country, from country to the world, comes to an end, what kind of conditions will he leave behind?
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William Taylor : Organizer and Statesman
Thomas Mee
To the average layman of the present day, as well as the majority of the new generation of ministers, the name of William Taylor rarely carries the deep impression that his labors justify. From the standpoint of the American Continents, this observation may have more in fact than in other parts of the world where his labors were more abundant in term of years devoted to the building of a more worthy civilization.
With a view to making more accessible the thrilling account of this truly noble Christian Statesman, much research has been made. In doing so, it is hoped that students of social, moral, religious and historical movements may be led to include this notable leader on many continents, in their findings.
It is not alone in the assembling of statistical data and standards of comparison with other great leaders that the reader's attention may be directed, but also to lend inspiration to youth and to militant crusaders of this and future generations, this thesis is offered.
Not the least of our aims, is to aid in the interpretation of our present and future missionary endeavors for our day, as he did for the fascinating day in which he lived and laid broad and deep foundations upon which he built so successfully.
The wealth of material found in the prolific writings of William Taylor has been augmented by the liberal offerings of the California State Library, The University of California, The College of the Pacific, The William Taylor Memorial Library, The Library of the Board of Foreign Missions, besides volumes from friends, and Church Papers.
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A History of the United States Air Mail Service
Floyd M. Lawson
When man first learned to write, his primary objective was to have his message delivered as quickly as possible. Consequently, in ancient civilizations runners transported clay tablets from city to city, and ships sailed the known seas and rivers carrying in their holds precious cargoes of the written word. As methods of transportation were improved, the speed and safety by which communication could be relayed was likewise advanced. In fact, within the evolution of transportation progress it is possible to trace the importance and the influence of the mails. Runners were succeeded by horsemen or coaches, primitive board by modern steamers, horses and coach by locomotives, and now comes the airplane.
...
The story of the Air Mail Service is the story of the conquest of a new frontier, a frontier which, like all its predecessors, has yielded grudgingly but surely to Man's indomitable courage and resourceful intelligence. The story is filled with visionary dreams, bitter disappointments, and encouraging realizations. It contains elements of romance, heroism, and intrigue, and throughout its course runs the thread of Man's unquenchable desire to overcome those physical barriers which have so long restricted him to mere surface travel upon the earth. To the casual observer this particular phase of mail transportation is comparatively new, but viewed from the perspective of history it is merely the modern link in the long chain of mail communication devices. Thus, the story is not ended, but is in a constant state of expansion, and the present phase of it would seem to indicate that the future will produce a chapter more startling than any that has yet been revealed.
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The public life and achievements of James Duval Phelan
Jean Tully
As a figure in the American period of California history, Mr. James D. Phelan's achievements were an outstanding example of what an honest man can do in politics. First of all, I have endeavored to show his contributions to the city of San Francisco. There is hardly any field of San Francisco life in which James D. Phelan did not leave a tremendous influence. The politics of his term as mayor were a shining model of clean and progressive measures.
As senator he kept the interest of California at heart. Through his work at the World's Columbian Exposition, he made known to the world the progress and culture of California, then almost unknown.
Besides being a man of great accomplishments in the government, he had a vastly interesting personality, while a quiet, reserved man, he on the other hand never backed down if he felt the issue was right, His keen witticisms always followed a merry twinkle of his eyes, within his family he was found to be very strict and demanding; more so than with his business associates, he had great affection for his sister, Mary Louise. His individuality perhaps attracted my attention in the first place by being one that could be described as "the perfect gentleman of the old school" that is rarely found in politics. The fact that he was a poet also does not suit a political career, his character was an odd one, combining many characteristics which are not often found together.
He was the first modem dictator in San Francisco. Control of the city government was practically all in his hands; showing a good example of what can be done by this method with the proper type of man. Also, as his will showed, he was a rood capitalist who subscribed to the theory of "division of property." His enormous estate was divided so as to do the most good possible in the city of San Francisco in the hope that by its enrichment he might aid in turn California—a true pioneer of California was he!
Thus, I have endeavored to portray the character of a man whom I felt was an outstanding Califoranian, a personality different and rare, but worthy of imitation.
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Captain Charles Maria Weber, pioneer
J. T. Aungst
I have chosen to portray the life of a man about whom no book has been written. His very name is known to few outside of San Joaquin County, yet his part in laying the foundation for an American California, and developing a goodly portion of it, was considerable.
NOTE: The copy of this thesis was poor and difficult to scan. We apologize for the quality of the text.
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A history of Elko, Nevada : a frontier town, 1868-1890
Lester W. Mills
The purpose of this paper is to present in brief form, far too brief for the wealth of material available, an account of the history of the town of Elko, Nevada. There has been no attempt to include in these pages all the interesting events which are traditional in the gossip of the town. Every effort has been made to include only such material as can be readily verified either by the memories of those still living who remember the events or, in cases where this has bailed or there has been an evident conflict of stories, by resort to the written records. It is fortunate, indeed, that there are so many still living who were present in the early days, especially since the written records are not so complete as might be desired.
Because of the limitations of space, the history has been limited to the years 1868-1890.
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