California's eternal rampart; while Lafayette speaks to us of
friendship and chivalry, still alive in these matter of fact days. As
you walk through the streets you see also the name of Kearney, not
Dennis of "sand-lot" fame, but that of General S.W. Kearney, whose
sword aided in placing the star of California in our Nation's Flag;
you read too the name of the old Indian chief, Marin, and that of
Montezuma takes you across the Rio Grande and back to the days of
Mexican romance and barbaric splendour. Here also Montgomery is
remembered, the patriotic commander of the Portsmouth, who gave orders
to his marines to raise the Stars and Stripes, in place of Spanish
ensigns and the Bear Flag, on the Plaza of Yerba Buena, old San
Francisco, in 1846. We find also such well known names as Scott,
Sherman and Stanford. We have too a St. Francis street and a St.
Joaquin street; Sumner, Sutter, Tilden and Webster are remembered
also. Nearly all the states of the Union speak to us by these waters
of the Pacific in the stones of the streets. All the original Thirteen
except Georgia have been honoured. Possibly this will receive
recognition in the future. It is to be noted, however, that the
adjectives are omitted in the Carolinas and New Hampshire. New York is
the exception together with Rhode Island. The other States which have
given their names to streets are Alabama, Arkansas, California, the
Dakotas without the qualifying adjective, Florida, Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,
Nebraska, Nevada, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
The natural inference from this is that San Francisco has drawn
her population from all parts of the land; so that here you have
representatives of our great country, north, south, east and west
gathered together. While there are many who delight to call themselves
Native Sons, yet their fathers have sprung from households in New
England and in the South and in the Middle States and elsewhere and