Sam Brannan

When the ship bearing Sam Brannan and the flock of Latter-Day Saints arrived in San Francisco, they were surprised to find it occupied by the Americans. "There's that damned flag again," Brannan is supposed to have said. Brannan and his followers planned to travel overland to Utah where they would meet Brigham Young. The allure of San Francisco proved too much and Brannan, with many others, remained. When Brigham Young sent word that Brannan should forward the community's tithes to him, Brannan replied that the Lord was welcome to come collect in person. Brannan soon broke with the church.

Brannan assumed a leading role in San Francisco affairs, announcing the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill (after he'd taken care to open a general store in Sacramento) and organizing the First Committee of Vigilance. He became one of California's richest men during the 1850s. Brannan, however, loved drink and made some bad decisions. He bought up Napa Valley land where he hoped to build a resort. "Saratoga" was the name he'd planned to give it, but he showed up drunk on dedication day and announced that hereafter the place would be known as "Calistoga, Sarafornia!" The mineral springs and town are still known as Calistoga.

Brannan lost it all after his wife divorced him. She took all his San Francisco properties and let him keep Calistoga. Brannan soon mismanaged his resort into bankruptcy and disappeared from the public eye. He died a pauper in Escondido, California

Charles E. Bolton (Black Bart)

A handkerchief, dropped at a holdup scene, led a Wells-Fargo detective to discover the identity of the bandit who had been terrorizing his stagecoach line for two years. Black Bart turned out to be mild-mannered Charles Bolton, a bank clerk not believed by anyone to be capable of violence. In all his robberies, Bolton never harmed a soul. He picked exclusively on the Wells Fargo Company. As a calling card, he often left poems. Upon his release from San Quentin in 1888, the warden asked Bolton if he had given up his life of crime. "Yes," said Bolton, "I have." "Are you going to write any more poetry?" asked the warden. Bolton replied "I told you I wasn't going to commit any more crimes."

I've labored long and hard for bread
For honor and for riches
But on my corns too long you've trod,
You fine-haired sons of bitches.

Black Bart PO8

Lillie Hitchcock Coit

Lillie Hitchcock Coit went to live in the South during the American Civil War. She dressed in men's clothes and crashed their exclusive bastions and affairs. She survived an assassination attempt by a crazed and jealous cousin. Lillie was the beloved of the city's firemen. She was forever grateful to the Knickerbocker Company for rescuing her when she was young. She cheered for them as they fought fires. At her death, she bequeathed the city the unusual Coit Tower, shaped like a fire hose nozzle. Her tomb at Cypress Lawn is said to hold a shrine laded with fire memorablia still maintained by unknown persons! She is the subject of a future Tale from Colma.

Willie Coombs or George Washington II

Willie Coombs, also known as George Washington II, was a small-time phrenologist who almost made it big as Norton's chief rival. Early reports by Colonel Moustache spoke of both them as crowning glories of the city's indigent population. Coombs, a native of New York, walked through the city, carrying a banner and wearing a tricorn hat over his long powdered hair. Herbert Ashbury says that he wore a Continental uniform of tanned buckskin. A plump little man, he was confident of his comeliness and touted himself via the banner, posters, and his own voice as The Great Matrimonial Candidate.

He was one of many habitues of Martin and Horton's saloon. Here he spent his evenings imbibing steam beer and poring over maps and documents, planning his battles. He composed messages to Congress and to other nations, much like Norton did. It is hard to say who imitated who, but the jealousy they felt towards one another was intense. Like Norton, Coombs took his persona seriously and once spent a winter starving himself until friends convinced him that Valley Forge was over.

Coombs left the city abruptly after a clash with the Emperor. One day, he stormed into the police station, claiming that Emperor Norton was tearing down his posters. The police chuckled and informed him that there was no law against this; he would have to resort to civil action. George Washington II had no money, so he did as Norton did and went to Norton's favorite newspaper of the day, the Alta California, where he told his sad story. When asked why Norton would do such a thing, Coombs replied "Because he is jealous of my reputation with the fair sex."

Soon after, the Alta published an article describing its two resident crackpots. It made fun of Norton's slovenliness and pointed to the "light of insanity" shining in the eyes of Coombs. Both men stormed into the Alta and, declaring their perfect sanity, demanded a retraction.

A few days later, the Alta printed a new proclamation from Norton directing the Chief of Police to "seize upon the person of Professor Coombs, falsely called Washington No. 2, as a seditious and turbulent fellow, and to have him sent forthwith, for his own good and the public good, to the State Lunatic Asylum for at least thirty days." Coombs found it expedient to go back home to New York.

Mark Twain found him there in 1868, still thinking himself to be George Washington's reincarnation and displaying his legs for the enjoyment of the ladies. He petitioned Congress to give him the William Penn Mansion in Philadelphia and, when this edifice was torn down, he requested they give him the Washington Monument.