SF, CA - Emporer Norton

Today is an RV day and we worked on projects and whatever else needed being done. We did take a walk in the afternoon and wanted to see where the hang-gliders take off from that we see winging past the campground here. Not too hard to find, just walk up the hill and over the cliff to their ‘airport.’ It was after 4:00 and the wind was up so there were quite a few of them.

If you have any contact with San Francisco, you’ve heard of Emporer Norton. Yep, for a short time in mid 1800’s, San Francisco actually had an emporer. Well, actually, the whole US had an emporer since he called himself the Emporer of these United States.’

EMPORER NORTON

He originated from South Africa where he arrived with an inheritance of $40,000, a considerable sum in the mid-1800’s. He then invested in real estate and soon amassed a fortune of $250,000. His next plan was to corner the market in rice when he heard that China was facing a famine and had placed a ban on rice export. Thus the price of rice skyrocketed in SF from 4 cents to 36 cents per pound and dollar signs lit up his eyes. He bought a boatload of rice, thinking he had cornered the market, just in time to see two more boatloads arrive from Peru. Oops. He tried to get out of his contract to buy the first boatload but the courts would not let him. He was forced to declare bankruptcy and left SF in 1858.

He returned in 1859 with lots of new ideas, especially against the government of the US. He declared himself the ‘Emporer of these United States’ and began to issue proclamations and decrees. He abolished the government of the US citing that:

        ‘        ...fraud and corruption prevent a fair and proper expression of the public voice; that open violation of the laws are constantly occurring, caused by mobs, parties, factions and undue influence of political sects; that the citizen has not that protection of person and property which he is entitled.’

He issued money and used it to pay his debts (worthless then but pretty valuable now). He developed a uniform with epaulettes and braid. Sounds kind of quirky, right? Was he crazy? Or, was he crazy like a fox? He issued instructions to form a League of Nations and he saw the need to build a bridge between Oakland and San Francisco ideas which eventually came to fruition. He was feted at restaurants in the area, he had box seats at openings of plays and musicals and merchants accepted his money as payment for goods. The city of San Francisco, bemused and entertained by him, tolerated his antics and valued the interest he added to the city.

Robert Louis Stevenson’s daughter summed up his position in SF the best in her autobiography, This Life I've Loved. She said that Norton "was a gentle and kindly man, and fortunately found himself in the friendliest and most sentimental city in the world, the idea being 'let him be emperor if he wants to.' San Francisco played the game with him."

Here is a plaque at the Transbay Terminal commemorating Norton I's role in the history of the Bay Bridge.