# San Francisco—Early California Experiences—Life on the Pacific Coast—Promoted Captain—Flush Times in California explained — Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant

> Chapter companion for Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant by Ulysses S. Grant.

## What happens

Grant describes his time on the Pacific Coast, including a failed potato farming venture with fellow officers, the impact of disease on Native American tribes, his promotion to captain following the death of Colonel Bliss, and the bustling, gambling-filled atmosphere of early San Francisco.

## Themes in this chapter

### Personal Integrity and Self-Reliance

Grant and fellow officers attempt to farm for self-sufficiency, illustrating resourcefulness and independence.

### The Horrors and Cost of War

Indirectly reflected in the decimation of Native American tribes by disease and the harsh realities of frontier life.

### The Role of Providence and Fate

The Columbia River flood that destroys the potato crop is seen as a fortunate turn, saving labor; promotion comes unexpectedly after a death.

## Character check-ins

### Ulysses S. Grant

Narrator and protagonist; describes his farming venture, promotion, and observations of San Francisco and Native American life.

### John A. Rawlins

Not directly mentioned in this chapter.

### Abraham Lincoln

Not directly mentioned in this chapter.

### Winfield Scott

Not directly mentioned in this chapter.

### Zachary Taylor

Not directly mentioned in this chapter.

### Andrew H. Foote

Not directly mentioned in this chapter.

### David D. Porter

Not directly mentioned in this chapter.

### Charles F. Smith

Not directly mentioned in this chapter.

## Key lines

> I with three other officers concluded that we would raise a crop for ourselves, and by selling the surplus realize something handsome.

Grant and three fellow officers decided to grow their own crop to make a profit.

_Illustrates the high cost of living and the officers' entrepreneurial spirit._

> Luckily for us the Columbia River rose to a great height from the melting of the snow in the mountains in June, and overflowed and killed most of our crop. This saved digging it up, for everybody on the Pacific coast seemed to have come to the conclusion at the same time that agriculture would be profitable.

A flood destroyed most of the crop, which was fortunate because the market was already oversupplied with potatoes.

_Highlights the irony of a disaster preventing a greater loss._

> The death of Colonel Bliss, of the Adjutant General's department, which occurred July 5th, 1853, promoted me to the captaincy of a company then stationed at Humboldt Bay, California.

Grant was promoted to captain after Colonel Bliss died.

_Key career advancement for Grant._

> I have but little doubt that many of the people who went to the Pacific coast in the early days of the gold excitement, and have never been heard from since, or who were heard from for a time and then ceased to write, found watery graves beneath the houses or streets built over San Francisco Bay.

Grant suspects many missing gold seekers died and were buried under the city's landfill.

_Reflects the dangerous and lawless nature of early San Francisco._

## Links

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