Larkin’s decision to move to Monterey, in Mexico’s California, was to work with his very successful half-brother, Bostonian John Rogers Cooper, who made his fortune in the sea otter trade that was transitioning to the hide and tallow trade. 

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Larkin came to a critical juncture in life and had to make a drastic change. He has three options to choose from and he knows in which order he wants the options to work out in. 

Did his first choice come to fruition? His second choice? Maybe his third? Listen and find out. 

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Thomas Larkin is one of my favorite people from the early California story, and I’ve mentioned him in past episodes. Thomas Larkin inevitably comes up when discussing Yerba Buena’s history, which is also San Francisco's and California’s history. 

I’m excited to share this deep look into Thomas Oliver Larkin’s life, which will take more than one episode to tell. 

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This episode is a memorial to a Civil War Veteran and locally famous (in his time), San Francisco/Bay Area resident, Henry Fortmann. 

This story is special to me because it honors my listener's great-great-great grandfather, Henry Fortmann, and his connection to San Francisco's disinterment of the dead.

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This is Part 2 of my interview with author Terry Hamburg, author of "Land of the Dead, How the West Changed Death in America". 

In this episode Terry tells us how the four main cemeteries dealt with evicting the dead by the 1940s. I assure you, it's a fascinating story and it will give you historical reference for many parts of San Francisco as well as Colma's necropolis history. 

Purchase the book, here:

https://www.amazon.com/Land-Dead-Changed-Death-America/dp/1633889866/ref=sr_1_1?crid=9JDS5OLKVB7V&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.qU3vNv3F7ybQif2LJRd7hw.5Y3xrS6Kal6ldEU8bf_GtWAXWQiI3ngY7NSktN58ApA&dib_tag=se&keywords=terry+hamburg+land+of+the+dead&qid=1742942103&sprefix=terry+ham%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-1

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This episode is an interview with author Terry Hamburg, who wrote a very interesting book on all things dying, death, and burial in San Francisco history. We cover the earliest history of Colma and specifically discuss one cemetery, Cypress Lawn. 

This subject matter might not be for everyone, but please know I approach the discussion about the history of death and burials in San Francisco with respect and genuine curiosity.  I think you’ll find it fascinating. 

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The history I’ve read regarding July 9th, 1846, states that the USS Portsmouth pulled up to the shoreline at Montgomery and Clay Street, marines disembarked from the ship and onto land, then marched up Clay Street to raise the American flag in Portsmouth Square. It’s stated as if the soldiers stepped off the ship and directly onto land. But, is that accurate? 

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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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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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