Episodes
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Have you ever felt like some stories should feel more connected than they do in your brain but instead they feel like untethered facts that are somehow connected? This episode is about just that.
I want to understand how my past few episodes fit together, since they feel stand alone. I revisit some of my recently covered sources which might point me in the right direction.
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By January 30, 1847, the Pueblo de Yerba Buena was officially renamed the Town of San Francisco.
Mexican laws weren't very well written, if written at all, which left the US military in charge of creating order in a land (Alta California), that wasn't used to having rules.
This episode is a discussion between Girlina and architectural historian, Jonathon Lammers, regarding the Laws of the Town of San Francisco 1847, as captured in what is believed to be California's first pamphlet written entirely in English.
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Missing episodes?
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In the last episode I discussed the lead up to the Battle of Santa Clara. I chased this rabbit hole of a topic to figure out why Washington Allon Bartlett, Yerba Buena's first American alcalde, was missing for a period of time during his very short term in office.
How are these two items connected? Listen and find out.
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Today’s episode is about the changing landscape of Yerba Buena from July 1846 - 1847, just after the US takeover and the early broken promises to Californios.
In the middle of all the changes, Yerba Buena's first American appointed Alcalde, Washington Allon Bartlett, goes missing, and it has everything to do with ... cows.
Were the Spaniards really hiding in the brush? Listen and find out.
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Listen to me fan girl Richard Miller, the host of Sparkletack. The original podcast on San Francisco history, 2006 - 2009.
I modeled my podcast after Sparkletack so getting to interview him was a huge honor.
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Today, we do not cover Edwin Bryant's best 1848-selling book but I do have a friendly conversation, with Mr. Bryant. Please sit back and enjoy the rest of my talk with Edwin Bryant.
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Today, I virtually interview Edwin Bryant, the author of the 1848 best seller, “What I Saw in California, Journal of a Tour, 1846- 1847”. Through the magic of AI generated voices, I simulate a virtual conversation with Edwin Bryant; a journalist, turned overland traveler, turned the second American Alcalde of Yerba Buena, and then finally, a bestselling author.
About 95% of the words our guest speaks, are taken directly from his book. I only made minimal changes to past tense descriptions and similar small changes.
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Today’s episode is an interview with a new listener and accidental friend of Monkey Block’s Facebook Page that led to IMs on Facebook, a rabbit hole on Juana Briones, and then to an online interview.
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The story of the Hudson Bay Company, in Yerba Buena, has been reduced to a few sentences that are very Hudson Bay Company-centric. “That place was miserable, and we didn’t make any money, so we left.” It always felt like the guy who says, “Yeah, well, I didn’t want that job, anyway.”Today’s episode is peripherally about the English Hudson Bay Company’s short-lived post in Yerba Buena. But, it’s mostly about the people involved at the store, whose credit to that history has been lost over the last two centuries. And, they deserve to have their story retold to a current audience. Maybe, retelling this story today, it can become a part of early San Francisco's history, again. Once you hear the story, you’ll know what I mean.
I will respectfully tell this story, and, need to provide advisement to my listeners that this episode contains a delicate topic that can be challenging for some people. We discuss self-harm and I’ll dance lightly around any details.
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I have found myself drawn to a specific piece of land that figuratively and literally became central to the Pueblo de Yerba Buena. Why was it left empty? And, considering it shows up on every Yerba Buena and early San Francisco map, why is it hard to find early information on it?
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If the Battle of Yerba Buena doesn’t sound familiar, there’s a good reason for that. The events, just before and after ‘The Battle of Yerba Buena’, tell the story. There are two events, in my opinion, that make up the ‘Battle of Yerba Buena’.
If you enjoyed this episode, and my original research, you can make a one-time donation at www.buymeacoffee.com/monkeyblocksf.
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Today we are celebrating our second year in review. If you’ve been on this journey with me the two years, thank you for making it to this milestone. And, a journey is exactly what this has been.
Last year, we traveled from 1837, and we got stuck in 1846.
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Letters from California
Three letters, were anonymously mailed from the Pueblo de Yerba Buena, dated between June 10th and June 29th 1846. The letters were, and probably still are, quite the mystery, not only because no one definitively knows who wrote them, but for the depth of military knowledge the writer had about the happenings in Alta California.
Another point of personal interest, the letters were written from our own backyard, Yerba Buena.
Hubert Howe Bancroft considers these mystery letters to be the best ‘in the moment’ account of the Bear Flag Revolt, and they are the earliest known publication regarding the Bear Flag Revolt just before and just after the Revolt.
If you enjoyed this episode, and my original research, you can make a one-time donation at www.buymeacoffee.com/monkeyblocksf.
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In this episode, we continue with the Bear Flag Revolt, with lots of perspectives and parallel subplots. In this episode, we re-live one part of a bigger story, that starts the revolt.
Out of context, this is sheer comedy. In context, the aftermath, which I won’t have time to get into, today, lacks humor, and leaves people in both the Mexican and American governments unhappy.
If you enjoyed this episode, and my original research, you can make a one-time donation at www.buymeacoffee.com/monkeyblocksf.
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Today’s episode is on ‘The Pathfinder’ John Charles Fre’mont and a conflict he found himself in, four months before the start of the Bear Flag Revolt. The differing takes, and spun storylines made today’s topic especially hard to ‘eliminate legend or call it out’, so it is a longer than usual episode.
If you enjoyed this episode, and my original research, you can make a one-time donation at www.buymeacoffee.com/monkeyblocksf.
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This is a recording of my live talk at the San Francisco Historical Society, on September 9, 2022.
You can watch the live talk and see the accompanying slides here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boQslzG2XcQ&t=1867s
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The Bear Flag Revolt is a pivotal point in California’s history, and the events that led up to the actual revolt are … just as complex as the actual event. Today we take a look at a few preceding storylines leading to the Bear Flag Revolt, give some backstory, some subplots, describe a few main characters, in not enough time to tell them all. There’s too much to know, so I’ll never know all there is to know about this event.
If you enjoyed this episode, and my original research, you can make a one-time donation at www.buymeacoffee.com/monkeyblocksf.
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In the last episode, we covered the early United States related history of John Sutter. Today, I pick up where I left off in John Sutter’s timeline.
This episode will be longer than my usual episodes, and, frankly, took more research than my other episodes, to ensure I had a solidified story to tell, but, it’s John Sutter … so, it’s hard to tell what’s fact from a creation of his mind.
If you enjoyed this episode, and my original research, you can make a one-time donation at www.buymeacoffee.com/monkeyblocksf.
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Today’s episode is about the complicated life of Johann Augustus Suter, better known as John Sutter. There is more to this man’s story than I anticipated, and, I went into this knowing there would be a lot to tell. I underestimated how much backstory there was before Sutter arrives in California.
If you enjoyed this episode, and my original research, you can make a one-time donation at www.buymeacoffee.com/monkeyblocksf.
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While my intro states I extract legends and tell the real stories, today’s episode is a mix of legends and real stories. Today, I am interviewing a connection made via this podcast.
Today’s guest does San Francisco history ghost tours, focused on, surprise, surprise, early San Francisco history. At first blush, it doesn’t seem like a ghost tour and a history podcast have much in common, but, you might be surprised. Stick around and listen.
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