Caption: California's Inducement to Immigrants

Source/Date:Wasp, July 10, 1880

Ultimate Source(if different):

Creator: Frederick Keller(?)

Remarks: This is probably a reference to the Mussel Slough dispute between the Southern Pacific and farmers that resulted in a gunfight. However, whatever may have happened there, the notion that the Southern Pacific was either interested in or capable of blocking immigration to California is utterly fanciful. For a careful, devastating, assessment of Mussel Slough and of the role of the SP in California's development, see Richard Orsi, Sunset Limited: the Southern Pacific and the Development of the American West, 1850-1930 (University of California, 2005)

Keywords: Monopoly; Political influence; Farmers; California