From a tent town in 1849 Sacramento grew into a booming metropolis in a few years as evidenced by George H. Baker's classic "City of the Plain" from 1857. Steam and sail boats of all sizes carry goods and passengers up and down river while a train rolls into town from the east, completing the transportation link that firmly established the city as one of the few places to be in California in its first decade of Statehood. This illustration was a world-wide promotion for Sacramento and the Golden State; the plate shown here is from an undated French language newspaper.
