Description
Includes numerous handwritten letters between George Holbrook Baker, his sister, mother, and father, John Baker. Also includes
business cards from Baker’s lithography business in San Francisco, a brief description of Baker’s life before and after coming
to California, diaries from Baker’s voyage through Mexico to California, and correspondence between the Society of California
Pioneers and Baker.
Background
George Holbrook Baker was a pioneer who came out to California in 1849. Soon after his arrival, he came out to the mining
camps on the Sacramento River and finally became associated with General Winn and established a general merchandise business
in Sacramento. He was also one of the most successful newspaper artists of the pioneer’s days in the West Coast. Later, he
established a successful lithography business in San Francisco. In 1863, he was invited to join the Society of California
Pioneers.