Port of San Francisco

Port of San Francisco. Canoes, Clipper Ships and Steamers. , From the native Ohlone and Miwok peoples’ tule reed canoes to today’s immense cargo ships, vessels have plied San Francisco Bay for many centuries., In 1775, the Spanish ship San Carlos sailed through the Golden Gate to become the first European vessel to enter the harbor. For the next seventy-nine years, under Spanish and then Mexican rule, the port saw little traffic. That changed soon after the United States gained control of California after the Mexican-American War in 1848., The next year the California Gold Rush swung into full gear. The whole world seemed to head to San Francisco. Clipper ships and steamers brought opportunity seekers, as well as trade goods from around the globe. Hundreds of ships were abandoned in the port as crews headed to the Sierra gold fields., Today, shipping continues through the Golden Gate on ships guided by computerized navigation systems unimagined a century ago., Images, top to bottom: , During World War II, thousands of army ships carried 23 million tons of supplies and transported 1.65 million soldiers out the Golden Gate to the Panama Canal, Hawaii, Guam, the Philippines, China, Siberia and Alaska., Crown of England, SS Lurline, During the Gold Rush, San Francisco’s harbor changed almost overnight into a bustling center of maritime commerce. In 1849 alone, 770 ships carried more than 91,000 passengers and uncounted tons of cargo through the Golden Gate., Ohlone Tule Reed Canoes , The Ohlone gathered tule reeds to construct boats like the ones shown here. They used these boats to hunt, fish and travel in the San Francisco Bay and surrounding areas., The tradition of building tule canoes is still alive today. Ohlone celebrate their culture by building tule reed boats and revitalizing other traditional practices., Image: , Painting of Ohlone in tule canoe on San Francisco Bay. , Louis Choris, 1822