-
“Two hundred years earlier, a devastating earthquake . . .”(40).
“That not a house in Concepcion or Talcahuano was standing; that seventy villages were destroyed; and that a great wave had almost washed away the ruins of Talcahuano.”
http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/faculty/RWA/research/current_research/chile-m-88-earthquake-page/darwins-description-of-the-.html -
“Bands of robbers and rebels fought an endless war of ambushes against the government troops” (200).
The first Opium War (1839–42) was fought between China and Britain, and the second Opium War (1856–60), also known as the Arrow War or the Anglo-French War in China, was fought by Britain and France against China.”
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Opium-Wars -
“…rich veins of silver and gold were discovered in the north” (65).
“The California Gold Rush was sparked by the discovery of gold nuggets in the Sacramento Valley in early 1848 and was arguably one of the most significant events to shape American history during the first half of the 19th century.”
https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/gold-rush-of-1849# -
“Tao Chi'en's and Eliza Sommers' feet first touched the soil of San Francisco on a Tuesday in April, of 1849, at two o'clock in the afternoon” (269).
“The largest group of "49ers" were Americans, arriving by the tens of thousands overland across the continent and along various sailing routes. It is estimated that almost 90,000 people arrived in California in 1849, of which about 50,000 to 60,000 were Americans.”
https://www.ci.emeryville.ca.us/659/Americans -
By that time there were more than 100,000 argonauts in California, and more kept arriving, scattered all through the mother lode, turning the world upside down…”(329).
“Almost overnight, the gold rush transformed San Francisco into a booming city filled with makeshift tent-houses… By 1849, as the gold rush fever swept through the country, the city's population exploded to a staggering 25,000.”
https://www.nps.gov/places/000/gold-rush-transforms-san-francisco.htm# -
“She sailed from Valparaiso on the radiant morning of February 18, 1849...” (179).
Perez Rosales sailed into San Francisco on February 18, 1849. A Chilean who was already in the country soon gave good news about the prospects for mining.”
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goldrush-vicente-perez-rosales/ -
“The last days of January 1850 witnessed the worst ice storms ever seen in those parts” (370).
“The winter of 1850 produced incessant rains with record and near record precipitation totals in the months of November, December, January and March”
https://www.sierrasun.com/news/education/sierra-history-the-gold-rush-winter-of-1850-part-2-2/ -
“In September of 1850, Tao was present at the noisy patriotic celebration when California became the newest state in the union” (386).
“In 1849, Californians sought statehood and, after heated debate in the U.S. Congress arising out of the slavery issue, California entered the Union as a free, non slavery state by the Compromise of 1850.”
https://www.parks.ca.gov/page_id=23856#:~:text=In%201849%2C%20Californians%20sought%20statehood,state%20on%20September%209%2C%201850.