Lecture on Richard Henry Dana, (Two Years Before the Mast), "Dame Shirley", and Ishi

Three fascinating characters from California's history. Richard Henry Dana, a college student who took two years off to become a merchat seaman in 1834. Sailed from Boston to California. His Two Years Before the Mast, became an instant best seller, an unrivalled look at California under Mexican rule.
Dame Shirley, the pen name of Louise Clappe, travelled out to the gold mining community of Rich Bar with her husband in 1850, and wrote a series of letters to her sister Molly. In them she describes the rough and tumble life of a mining community.
Ishi was the last of the Yahi tribe, and the last "wild" Indian in America. Coming out of the California Sierras in 1911, and ending up living in a museum in San Francisco, his story is one of great tragedy. Yet Ishi was never bitter, always friendly, and was ever fascinated with the new world in which he found himself.