Mule-drawn wagons were lined up twenty deep as the drivers waited their turn to unload their cargo onto the decks of the paddle-wheel steamers tied up along the riverbank. Wranglers shouted and cracked their long whips as they herded sheep and cattle up ramps leaned against the vessels. The bleating and bellowing of the animals, mingled with the clanging of streetcars and whistles from arriving and departing steamers was deafening. Opposite the station was a shack with a rooftop sign that advertised: ‘California Steam Navigation Company – Steamers for San Francisco. Cabin $5 – Deck $2.’Nearby, a rival steamship company sign invited visitors to take an ‘Exciting steamer ride up the Mighty Sacramento River.’ Below, a barker dressed in a flashy striped suit waved tickets in the faces of passers-by, urging them not to miss the trip of a lifetime! As arriving passengers poured from the stationhouse, urchin newspaper boys swarmed around them, shouting the latest headlines.
