(San Francisco) San Francisco, C./Apr. 9 (1849). Bold manuscript postmark on folded cover to Connecticut with manuscript "40" rate, letter datelined "South Saleda Bay" (Sausalito), contents include: "At last we are at the entrance of the golden gates, full of sanguine hopes, and glorious anticipations. The many marvelous stories we heard in N.Y. are here more than confirmed and labor has at last found a place where it can assert its superiority to capital.", letter goes on to say "You may wonder at not seeing this letter headed San Francisco, we are 5 miles from town directly across the bay on a spot where it is intended to locate a navy yard and where five Am(erican) men of war are anchored, in fact it is the chief naval station on the Pacific.", Extremely Fine, this is the finest known example of the very rare San Francisco manuscript. Estimate  $2,000 - 3,000. $0 (Image)