Mtn View Oakl

The tour group is gathering.

William Gwin was the first senator from California, with John Fremont.

He was also a doctor, and had served in politics in Mississippi.

Edward Veitch supposedly invented the bobbie pin, when bobbed hair was popular.

John Hays was a captain in the Texas Rangers and a military officer of the Republic of Texas. He fought in armed conflicts from 1836–1848, including against the Comanches in Texas and during the Mexican-American War.

Hays was elected sheriff of San Francisco County in 1850, and became the US surveyor general for California in 1853. Hays co-founded the city of Oakland.

Julia Morgan was the first licensed female architect in California, and designed over 700 buildings, most notably much of Hearst castle in San Simeon.

Charles Crocker was a railroad executive who founded the Central Pacific Railroad, which constructed the westernmost portion of the first transcontinental railroad.

Francis Smith was a borax miner, business magnate and civic builder in the Mojave Desert, San Francisco Bay area, and Oakland.

Henry Kaiser was an industrialist, with the Kaiser Shipyard which built Liberty ships in WWII, Kaiser Aluminum, Kaiser Steel., Kaiser Permanente health care, and Kaiser Automobiles.

David Colton was vice-president of the Southern Pacific Railroad and financial director of the Occidental & Oriental Steamship Company. A city in southern California is named for him.

Bernard Maybeck is most famous for designing buildings for the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, of which only the domed Palace of Fine Arts survives.

Warren Bechtel was the founder of the Bechtel Corporation, one of the world's largest engineering and construction services firms. He started as an employee in the early US railroad industry in 1898 after his Oklahoma cattle ranch failed.

Domenico Ghirardelli tried and failed at mining, then opened a tent-store selling various supplies and confections to miners. He expanded another store and hotel in San Francisco, then formed Ghirardelli Chocolate Co.

James Folger founded the Folger's Coffee Company in 1860. Previously he had worked in reconstructing both Nantucket and San Francisco after city fires.

Elizabeth Short is the famous murder victim nicknamed the Black Dahlia for her dark hair and flowers she often wore. Her murder is unsolved.

Fred Korematsu resisted relocation of Japanese during WWII, and was imprisoned, He later was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998.

Edward Eliseian (he spelled it Elisian) was a race driver. He stopped his car during the 1955 Indy 500 to try to save Bill Vuvkovich who had crashed. Ed later died in a fiery crash at the Milwaukee Mile.