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97-476: The Angel Island Immigration Station , on the northeast corner of the island, which has been designated a National Historic Landmark , is where officials detained, inspected, and examined approximately one million immigrants, who primarily came from Asia. Angel Island is the second largest island in area of the San Francisco Bay ( Alameda is the largest). On a clear day, Sonoma and Napa can be seen from

194-522: A Chinese immigrant who worked in a rat-infested lumberyard in Chinatown, the San Francisco Health Board quickly quarantined the local area to neutralize possible disease-causing agents. Persons suspected of having any contact with this sickness were sent to isolation facilities. After more deaths, tissue samples were sent to Angel Island for testing to determine if they harbored Yersinia pestis ,

291-511: A helipad and the associated radar and tracking station (IFC). The missiles were removed in 1962, when the military left the island. The missile launch pad still exists, but the station atop Mount Caroline Livermore was restored to its original contours in 2006. The bubonic plague posed such a threat to the U.S. that Angel Island opened as a quarantine station in 1891 to screen Asian passengers and their baggage prior to landing on U.S. soil. The construction of this federally funded quarantine station

388-649: A military reserve. Indeed, during the Civil War, the island was fortified to defend San Francisco Bay from possible attack by Confederate forces. In the 19th century, new arrivals to the U.S. entering at the Port of San Francisco were housed and processed in quarters located at the Pacific Mail Steamship Company docks on the San Francisco waterfront. After the quarters at the docks proved inadequate and unsanitary,

485-610: A part of Mexico . This voyage would bring Dana to a number of settlements in California (including Monterey , San Buenaventura , San Pedro , San Juan Capistrano , San Diego , Santa Barbara , Santa Clara and San Francisco). After witnessing Thompson's sadistic practices, including a flogging on board the ship, he vowed that he would try to help improve the lot of the common seaman. The Pilgrim collected hides for shipment to Boston, and Dana spent much of his time in California at San Diego's Point Loma curing hides and loading them onto

582-411: A prolonged stay at the detention center because the appeal process was long and tedious. Additionally, the length of stay varied depending on what country the individual was coming from. Japanese immigrants often held documentation from government officials that expedited the process of entering the country. This resulted in the majority of detainees being Chinese since they had no alternative but to endure

679-458: A regular schedule. Fort McDowell was used as a detention station for Japanese , German and Italian immigrant residents of Hawaii arrested as potential fifth columnists (despite a lack of supporting evidence or access to due process). These internees were later transferred to inland Department of Justice and Army camps. Japanese and German prisoners of war were also held on the island, supplanting immigration needs, which were curtailed during

776-451: A serious assault as a consequence of his zeal. His prominence in these cases, along with his fame as a writer, brought him much social recognition on his visit to England in 1856. Three years later, his health gave way from overwork, and he set out on a voyage round the world, revisiting California, where he made the observations that appear in the postscript to this book. The postscript is titled, "Twenty-Four Years After." On his return, Dana

873-456: A six-month suspension. In his junior year, he contracted measles , which in his case led to ophthalmia . This worsening vision inspired him to take a sea voyage. But rather than going on a fashionable Grand Tour of Europe he decided, despite his social standing, to enlist as a merchant seaman . On August 14, 1834, he departed Boston aboard the brig Pilgrim , captained by Frank Thompson, bound for Alta California , at that time still

970-457: A standard reference on the legal rights and responsibilities of sailors. He defended many common seamen in court. During his voyages he had kept a diary, and in 1840 (coinciding with his admission to the bar) he published a memoir, Two Years Before the Mast . The term "before the mast" refers to sailors' quarters, which were located in the forecastle (the ship's bow ), officers' quarters being near

1067-647: A study, authorized in 1904, recommended building a new immigration station on the isolated and nearby Angel Island. In 1905, the War Department transferred 20 acres of land on the north shore of the island, facing away from San Francisco, to the Department of Labor and Commerce as the site for the new immigration station. Architect Walter J. Mathews designed the station compound to include an enclosed detention center with an outdoor area and guard tower as well as an administration building, hospital, powerhouse and wharf, which

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1164-571: A sugar plantation, a bullfight, and various churches, hospitals, schools, and prisons, a trip documented in his book To Cuba and Back . During the American Civil War , Dana served as a United States Attorney , and, in the Prize Cases , successfully argued before the Supreme Court that the U.S. president had the power under the U.S. Constitution to blockade Confederate ports. After

1261-557: Is a monument dedicated to Chinese immigrants who entered the United States through the immigration station. It was completed in 1978 and placed in 1979. The monument's inscription says "Leaving their homes and villages, they crossed the ocean only to endure confinement in these barracks. Conquering frontiers and barriers, they pioneered a new life by the Golden Gate." The inscription is reminiscent of Chinese poems that were carved into

1358-511: Is a small sliver (0.7%) at the eastern end of it (Fort McDowell) which extends into the territory of the City and County of San Francisco . The island is separated from the mainland of Marin County by Raccoon Strait , the depth of the water approximately 90 feet (27 m). The United States Census Bureau reported a land area of 3.107 square miles (8.05 square kilometers) and a population of 57 people as of

1455-469: Is a subspecies of broad-footed mole endemic to Angel Island. The military had planted 24 acres of Bluegum Eucalyptus ( Eucalyptus globulus ) on the island for windbreaks, beautification, timber, and erosion control. By the mid-1980s, the area covered by eucalyptus had expanded to 86 acres. In the 1980s, California State Parks undertook environmental studies to remove most of the Eucalyptus from

1552-553: Is an excerpt: Richard Henry Dana, the second of that name, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 1, 1815. He came of a stock that had resided there since the days of the early settlements; his grandfather, Francis Dana , had been the first American minister to Russia and later became chief justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts; his father was distinguished as a man of letters. He entered Harvard College in 1831; but near

1649-814: The 2000 census . Angel Island emerged during the last Ice Age when the ocean, much lower and located miles to the west, shaped the landscape. The rocks of Angel Island are part of the Franciscan Complex , an extensive belt of marine sedimentary and igneous rocks which were deformed and metamorphosed during the Mesozoic Era . Metamorphism of the Franciscan Complex occurred at high pressures and low temperatures, producing indicator minerals jadeite and glaucophane , characteristic of subduction zone metamorphism . The rocks of Angel Island have been grouped with similar rocks displaying similar metamorphic minerals in

1746-605: The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Immigrants had to prove that they had husbands or fathers who were U.S. citizens in order not to be deported. The immigration station at Angel Island was predominantly used to inspect, disinfect, and detain Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian immigrants who sailed across the Pacific Ocean. In addition to standard medical examinations, Chinese immigrants were inspected for parasitic diseases, and

1843-533: The Spanish naval vessel San Carlos made the first European entry to the San Francisco Bay under the command of Juan de Ayala . Ayala anchored off Angel Island, and gave it its modern name ( Isla de los Ángeles ); the bay where he anchored is now known as Ayala Cove. In his book Two Years Before the Mast , published in 1841, Richard Henry Dana Jr. mentions in chapter 26, that in 1834 his sailing ship collected wood from "a small island, about two leagues from

1940-507: The U.S. Army was concerned about Confederate naval raiders attacking San Francisco. It decided to construct artillery batteries on Angel Island, first at Stuart (or Stewart) Point and then Point Knox. Col. René Edward De Russy was the Chief Engineer; James Terry Gardiner was the engineer tasked with designing and supervising the work. The Army established Fort Reynolds, which was garrisoned by Battery B, 3rd Artillery Regiment . The post

2037-458: The 1950s to build the Nike missile radar and tracking installation, was re-contoured to resemble its original appearance, and increased 16 feet in height as a result. The access road up the west side of the mountain was removed, and replaced with a winding trail up the east side. On October 12, 2008, at approximately 9 p.m. PDT , a fire visible from all around the San Francisco Bay broke out on

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2134-681: The 19th century allowed annual grasses introduced from Southern Europe to replace the native perennial grasses. Before European colonization, the Angel Island area maintained a diverse oak woodland ecosystem consisting of coast live oak, California Bay, and madrone. Additionally, grasslands and coastal scrub primarily covered shrubbery in the South and West portions. Ongoing removal of non-native plants, including French broom ( Genista monspessulana ), Italian thistle ( Carduus pycnocephalus ) and Ice plant ( Carpobrotus edulis ), continues in an effort to restore

2231-658: The Angel Island Immigration Station, roughly 175,000 were Chinese and 117,000 were Japanese. Between 75 and 82 percent entered America successfully. The predominantly Chinese immigrants who were detained at Angel Island were not welcomed in the United States. As recounted by one detained in 1940: "When we arrived, they locked us up like criminals in compartments like the cages at the zoo." Held in these "cages" for weeks, often months, individuals were subjected to rounds of long and stressful interrogations to assess

2328-449: The Angel Island immigration station began in 1905 but was not used until 1910. This zone was known as China Cove. It was built for controlling Chinese entry into the United States. From 1910 to 1940, Angel Island served as an immigration station processing immigrants from 84 countries, mostly from China, Japan, Russia and South Asia (in that order). The purpose of the immigration station was to investigate Chinese who had been denied entry from

2425-507: The Chinese Exclusion Act. Since children of citizens are also considered U.S. citizens, regardless of where they are born, it is illegal to deny them entry if they can prove their familial relationship. Immigrants falsely claiming familial ties became known as " paper sons " or "paper daughters". Some American citizens of Chinese descent participated in immigration fraud as purported parents in return for money, or to help other people of

2522-519: The Colma Formation near Blunt Point on the south coast of the island. These sandstones are only weakly consolidated and are eroding to provide a supply of sand to the south coast of the island, in contrast to the northern and western beaches which are dominated by pebbles and cobbles. The shape of the hillslopes on Angel Island include the scars of prehistoric landslides and mass wasting, and deposits of eroded material may have been transported away from

2619-793: The December following his return to Boston in 1836, Dana re-entered Harvard, the hero of his fellow students, graduating the following June. He next took up the study of law, at the same time teaching elocution in the College, and in 1840 he opened an office in Boston. While in law school he had written the narrative of his voyage, which he now published; and in the following year, 1841, issued The Seaman's Friend . Both books were republished in England and brought him an immediate reputation. After several years of practicing law, during which he dealt largely with cases involving

2716-803: The East Bay Hills and on the Tiburon Peninsula as the "Angel Island Nappe". The island's form is roughly, featuring steep ridges radiating from the central peak of the Mount Caroline Livermore. The rocks are diverse, including well-exposed serpentinite in the old quarry, sandstones and conglomerates containing clasts of glaucophane schist on Kayak Beach, meta-volcanics and cherts with dark blue amphibole and brown needles of stilpnomelane on Perles Beach. However, their relationships to one another are not well understood. The Franciscan Complex rocks are unconformably overlain by flat-lying sediments of

2813-529: The Mast . But you can read, and so you must have read it. His chapters describing Cape Horn must have been written with an icicle." On September 22, 1836, Dana arrived back in Massachusetts. He then enrolled at what is now Harvard Law School , then called the Dane Law School after Nathan Dane . He graduated in 1837, and was admitted to the bar in 1840. Dana went on to specialize in maritime law . In

2910-478: The October 1839 issue of a magazine, he took a local judge, one of his own instructors in law school, to task for letting off a ship's captain and mate with a slap on the wrist for murdering the ship's cook, beating him to death for not "laying hold" of a piece of equipment. The judge had sentenced the captain to ninety days in jail and the mate to thirty days. In 1841, Dana published The Seaman's Friend, which became

3007-616: The U.S. House of Representatives from Essex County, Massachusetts . He lost to incumbent Republican Benjamin Butler and also received fewer votes than Democrat Otis P. Lord . In 1876, his nomination as minister to Great Britain was defeated in the Senate by political enemies William Beach Lawrence and Benjamin Butler, partly because of a lawsuit for plagiarism brought against him for a legal textbook he had edited, Henry Wheaton 's Elements of International Law (8th ed., 1866). Immediately after

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3104-554: The U.S. government before the U.S. Supreme Court during the Civil War in the Prize Cases . Both as a writer and as a lawyer, he was a champion of the downtrodden, from seamen to fugitive slaves and freedmen. Dana was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts , on August 1, 1815 into a family that had settled in colonial America in 1640, counting Anne Bradstreet among its ancestors. His father

3201-602: The Yerba Buena anchorage, called by us 'Wood Island' and by the Mexicans 'Isla de los Ángeles' and was covered with trees to the waters edge." It is shown, labeled I. de los Angeles , on an 1850 survey map of the San Francisco Bay Area made by Cadwalader Ringgold and an 1854 map of the area by Henry Lange . Quarry operations began in the 1850s on the east side of the island near Quarry Point, with quarried stones used in

3298-590: The actual composition of this work was little more than begun when he died in Rome, January 6, 1882. His son, Richard Henry Dana III , married Edith Longfellow, daughter of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow . Additional biographical information and insights into the life of Richard Henry Dana Jr. are in the "Introductory Note" to the Harvard Classics edition of Two Years Before the Mast , edited by Charles W. Eliot, L.L.D., and published by P.F. Collier & Son in 1909. Here

3395-469: The administration building and women's quarters. As a result, all the immigrant detainees, about 200, were relocated to a landlocked facility in San Francisco and the former Immigration Station was returned to the U.S. Army. During World War II it served as a prisoner of war processing center and denoted as North Garrison. In 1943, Congress repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act. After the war, the Army decommissioned

3492-585: The army designated the entire island as "Fort McDowell" and developed further facilities there, including what is now called the East Garrison or Fort McDowell. A quarantine station was opened in Ayala Cove (which at the time was known as Hospital Cove) in 1891. During the Spanish–American War the island served as a discharge depot for returning troops. It continued to serve as a transit station throughout

3589-429: The bacteria responsible for spreading the bubonic plague. At this time, the plague was difficult to diagnose due to other diseases which could mask the presence of plague. The culture was tested on animals for four days, and Y. pestis was confirmed. Bacteriologist Joseph J. Kinyoun , who was stationed at Angel Island in 1899, believed that the plague would spread throughout San Francisco's Chinatown. The construction of

3686-408: The barracks walls of the immigration station by detained Chinese immigrants. Richard Henry Dana Jr. Richard Henry Dana Jr. (August 1, 1815 – January 6, 1882) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts , a descendant of a colonial family, who gained renown as the author of the classic American memoir Two Years Before the Mast and as an attorney who successfully represented

3783-420: The beginning of his third year an attack of measles left his eyesight so weak that study was impossible. Tired of the tedium of a slow convalescence, he decided on a sea voyage; and choosing to go as a sailor rather than a passenger, he shipped from Boston on August 14, 1834, on the brig Pilgrim , bound for the coast of California. His experiences for the next two years form the subject of the present volume. In

3880-493: The birth of Angel Island State Park. Additional acreage was purchased four years later, in 1959. The last federal Department of Defense personnel withdrew in 1962, turning over the entire island as a state park in December of the same year. There is one active United States Coast Guard lighthouse on the island at Point Blunt . The lighthouse at Point Stuart has been disestablished. The island's native plant communities include coastal grassland and coastal scrub , mostly on

3977-403: The blue ocean, experienced the wind and dust of journey. Confinement in the wooden building has pained me doubly. With a weak country, we must all join together in urgent effort. It depends on all of us together to roll back the wild wave. The Angel Island Chinese Monument ( 37°52′13″N 122°25′32″W  /  37.87023°N 122.42563°W  / 37.87023; -122.42563 )

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4074-454: The book's publication, Dana had been charged by the editor of two earlier editions, William Beach Lawrence, with infringing his copyright, and was involved in litigation that continued for thirteen years. In such minor matters as arrangement of notes and verification of citations the court found against Dana, but in the main Dana's notes were vastly different from Lawrence's. In 1877, Dana was one of

4171-419: The boy's father to protest enough that the practice was abolished. In 1825, Dana enrolled in a private school overseen by Ralph Waldo Emerson , whom Dana later mildly praised as "a very pleasant instructor", though he lacked a "system or discipline enough to ensure regular and vigorous study." In July 1831, Dana enrolled at Harvard College , where in his freshman year his support of a student protest cost him

4268-488: The construction of a new fortress on Alcatraz Island , a new Navy shipyard on Mare Island , and a bank in San Francisco. In 1867, General McDowell took control of the quarry and used it for Army construction at Fort Point , the San Francisco Presidio , and on Angel Island itself. Like much of the California coast, Angel Island was subsequently used for cattle ranching. In 1863, during the American Civil War ,

4365-590: The counsel for the U.S. federal government , appearing before the Halifax Fisheries Commission , appointed under the Treaty of Washington (1871) to resolve outstanding issues, including fishing rights. The Commission gave an award directing the U.S. to pay $ 5,500,000 to the British government. Towards the end of his life he went to Europe to devote himself to the preparation of a treatise on international law, but

4462-460: The country, which extended the process, since their testimony had to be verified before proceeding. If there was any doubt that the applicant was lying, the questioning process was prolonged. If deviation was suspected from the testimony presented by the witnesses, the applicant and the rest of the family would be in jeopardy of deportation. Some applicants appealed the decision of the Board, resulting in

4559-439: The detainees turned to poetry as expression, spilling their emotions onto the very walls that contained them. Many of these poems were written in pencil and ink, or in brush, and then carved into the wooden walls or floors. Some of the poems are bitter and angry, placid and contemplative, or even hopeful. America has power, but not justice. In prison, we were victimized as if we were guilty. Given no opportunity to explain, it

4656-411: The end of the Civil War, he resigned his office since he did not approve of President Andrew Johnson 's policy of Reconstruction, which was denounced by Radical Republicans as being too moderate in regard to blacks’ civil rights and the punishment of former Confederates, and entered private practice. During 1867–1868, Dana was a member of the Massachusetts legislature and also served as a U.S. counsel in

4753-403: The ferry or rented seasonally on land and used on the island's main roads. Electric scooters and Segways can also be rented. Due to the terrain, roller skates, roller blades, skateboards, kick scooters , and personal Segway scooters are prohibited. Dogs (except service dogs) are not allowed. Wood fires are prohibited. Charcoal fires are allowed, but charcoal is not available for purchase on

4850-515: The first half of the 20th century, with troops engaged in World War I embarking and returning there. During the war, the post was commanded by Colonel George K. McGunnegle , who reached the mandatory retirement age of 64 in 1918 but remained on duty until the end of the war. After the war, the disembarkation center was commanded by William P. Burnham , who had commanded the 82nd Division in France during

4947-424: The former military bases and immigration station. Mule deer ( Odocoileus hemionus ) were reintroduced to the island by the army in 1915 for hunting. In the absence of predators, the deer population expanded and overgrazed the island. The deer population is now managed annually by California State Parks and the Department of Fish and Game. In 2002, the summit of Mount Caroline Livermore, which had been flattened in

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5044-481: The immigrants that traveled through Angel Island were from Asian countries, such as China, Japan, and India. The facility was created to monitor the flow of Chinese immigrants entering the country after the implementation of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. The Act only allowed entrance to merchants, clergy, diplomats, teachers, and students, barring laborers. At Ellis Island, only between one and three percent of all arriving immigrants were rejected; at Angel Island,

5141-424: The island and enter the United States. Often, successful immigrants produced elaborate instruction manuals that coached fellow detainees in passing interrogations; if anyone was caught with these manuals, they would most likely be deported. Those that failed these tests often feared the shame of returning to China, and some would commit suicide - either before leaving, or on the voyage back to their homeland. Many of

5238-400: The island and spread to an estimated 100 acres (40 ha) within an hour. By 8 a.m. the next morning, the fire had scorched 250 acres (100 ha) – a third of the island – and was 20 percent contained. Firefighters ran around from the mainland and helicopters dropped water and fire retardants to protect the historical buildings and extinguish the fire that

5335-446: The island by currents in the San Francisco Bay. Until about 10,000 years ago, Angel Island was connected to the mainland; it was cut off by the rise in sea levels due to the end of the last ice age . From about 2,000 years ago, the island was a fishing and hunting site for Coast Miwok Native Americans . Similar evidence of Native American settlement is found on the nearby mainland of the Tiburon Peninsula upon Ring Mountain . In 1775,

5432-585: The island sheltered from the westerly winds from the Golden Gate . It is thought that the Coast Miwoks used regular fires to expand the grassland and shrublands at the expense of the woodlands. Commodities from continents worldwide have seamlessly merged into the environment through livestock transportation and Spanish missionaries' seed cultivation. The grasslands and shrublands provided edible seeds and bulbs, and supported larger numbers of deer and small game. The Angel Island Mole, Scapanus latimanus insularis ,

5529-408: The island's south- and west-facing slopes and ridge tops, and evergreen woodland – predominantly of Coast Live Oak ( Quercus agrifolia ), bay ( Umbellularia californica ), toyon ( Heteromeles arbutifolia ) , and madrone ( Arbutus menziesii ), with California Hazelnut ( Corylus cornuta ) and Western Sword Fern ( Polystichum munitum ) in the understory – on the eastern and northern portions of

5626-439: The island, in order to restore native flora and reduce fire danger. The proposal generated controversy and received much local media coverage, and was approved to begin in 1990. Eucalyptus were removed from 80 acres between 1990 and 1997, and nursery-grown native plants were planted in the cleared areas. Six acres of historically significant eucalyptus trees were retained. As elsewhere in California, intensive cattle grazing in

5723-406: The island. There are 11 environmental campsites, including an ADA site, 9 numbered sites (each site accommodating up to 8 people), and a kayak-accessible group site (holds up to 20 people). Night travel on the island is prohibited in some areas for reasons of park security and public safety. Metal detectors, while allowed, are not recommended, because digging or disturbing the soil or ground in

5820-515: The island. Golden Gate Ferry operates ferries to the San Francisco Ferry Building . During the off-season (October–March), all ferries run a reduced schedule. All ferry fares include park admission. Private boats can also access the island. The California State Park Annual Day Use Pass can be used to pay day use dock fees for private boats, but it is not accepted from visitors coming via the public ferries. Bicycles can be brought on

5917-517: The last gathering of around 200 immigrants, including around 150 Chinese, were exchanged from Angel Island to brief quarters in San Francisco. In 1964, the Chinese American community successfully lobbied the State of California to designate the immigration station as a State Landmark. Today, the Angel Island Immigration Station is a federally designated National Historic Landmark . The detention barrack

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6014-409: The legitimacy of their immigration applications. Immigrants were made to recall minute details of their lives. On occasion, translators may have not have spoken the particular dialect of the immigrant competently; most Chinese immigrants were from southern China at that time, many spoke Cantonese . It was difficult to pass the interrogations, and cases were appealed many times over before one could leave

6111-401: The military installations, reduced its presence on the island, and left the former Immigration Station to deteriorate. It wasn't until 1963 that the island, including the immigration facilities still standing, was converted to a state park. The buildings were set for demolition but were spared, after Ranger Alexander Weiss discovered Chinese poetry, partially obscured by layers of paint, carved in

6208-493: The new immigration laws. The station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under the title Angel Island, U.S. Immigration Station, and is a National Historic Landmark . The station is open to the public as a museum – "a place for reflection and discovery of our shared history as a nation of immigrants". In 1850, President Fillmore declared Angel Island, the second largest island in San Francisco Bay, to be

6305-458: The north side of the island; San Jose can be seen from the south side of the island. The highest point on the island, almost exactly at its center, is Mount Caroline Livermore , more commonly known as simply Mt Livermore, at a height of 788 feet (240 meters). This peak is named for Caroline Sealy Livermore . The island is almost entirely in the city of Tiburon , in Marin County , although there

6402-520: The number was about 18%. The Chinese were targeted due to the large influx of immigrants that were arriving in the United States. Chinese immigrants were seen as a threat because they occupied low-wage jobs, and after the economic downturn during the 1870s, Americans experienced serious unemployment problems. This resulted in increased discrimination against the Chinese, who were labeled as unsuitable due to their appearance and social status. The detention center

6499-703: The original evergreen woodland, perennial grassland, and coastal scrub plant communities. In addition to the eucalyptus, plantings from the military period of Monterey Pine ( Pinus radiata ), Cork Oak ( Quercus suber ), Australian Blackwood ( Acacia melanoxylon ) , Canary Island Date Palm ( Phoenix canariensis ), Century Plant ( Agave americana ), Japanese Redwood ( Cryptomeria japonica ), Incense Cedar ( Calocedrus decurrens ), Deodar Cedar ( Cedrus deodara ), Coast Redwood ( Sequoia sempervirens ), Giant Sequoia ( Sequoiadendron giganteum ), Norfolk Island Pine ( Araucaria heterophylla ) , Monkey puzzle tree ( Araucaria araucana ) and others can be found in and around

6596-495: The park is prohibited. Angel Island is served by PG&E via two 12 kV undersea cables which cross Raccoon Strait from Tiburon. As of mid-2015, peak electrical load is approximately 100 kW. One cable is out of service and the other is deteriorating. Instead of replacing the cables, PG&E is investigating using the island for a distributed energy resources microgrid pilot project. United States Immigration Station, Angel Island Angel Island Immigration Station

6693-445: The questioning. Since the goal of Angel Island was to deport as many Chinese immigrants as possible, the whole process was much more intrusive and demanding for the Chinese compared to other applicants. The Immigation Station was in operation for thirty years; however, there were many concerns about sanitation and for the safety of the immigrants at Angel Island. The safety concern was proved to be warranted when, in 1940, fire destroyed

6790-463: The real applicants would know about, for instance, their family history, location of the village, their homes and so on. However, a way around these questions was preparing them months in advance with their sponsors and memorizing the answers. To ensure that the applicant was telling the truth, witnesses from the United States, who were often other family members, were called in to corroborate the applicants story. The "family members" sometimes lived across

6887-548: The rights of seamen, he began to take part in politics as an active member of the Free Soil Party. The Free Soil Party was founded in 1847–48 in opposition to the extension of slavery into the western U.S. territories newly acquired from Mexico. During the operation of the Fugitive Slave Act he served as counsel on behalf of the fugitives Shadrach Minkins , Thomas Sims , and Anthony Burns , and on one occasion suffered

6984-405: The same ethnicity. As a result, an extensive and grueling interrogation process was made to weed out the people for making fraudulent claims. The applicant would then be called before a Board of Special Inquiry, composed of two immigrant inspectors, a stenographer, and, if needed, a translator. Over the course of a few hours or days, the individual would be grilled with specific questions that only

7081-508: The ship's owners to a different ship: the Alert . Dana gives the classic account of the return trip around Cape Horn in the middle of the Antarctic winter. He describes terrifying storms and profound beauty, giving vivid descriptions of icebergs , which he calls incomparable. He found the most incredible part of the journey the weeks and weeks it took to negotiate passage against winds and storms—all

7178-569: The ship. Dana's description of his time on Point Loma depicted love and concern for the Hawaiians who worked there alongside him. He may have been predisposed to feel positively toward them by a previous stay in Andover, Massachusetts , among evangelicals who had embraced Hawaiians in New England and sent the first Protestant missionaries to Hawaii. Wishing to return home sooner, Dana was reassigned by

7275-452: The station and Chinese immigrants could be detained for a period as short as two weeks to as long as two years. A person's racial identity and social class determined the intensity of the examination imposed, resulting in fewer white Europeans and American citizens being subjected to the inspections. A fire destroyed the administration building in 1940, and subsequent immigration processing took place in San Francisco. On November fifth of 1940,

7372-531: The stern. His writing evinces his later sympathy for the oppressed. With the California Gold Rush later in the decade, Two Years Before the Mast would become highly sought after as one of the few sources of information on California . Dana became a prominent abolitionist , helping to found the anti- slavery Free Soil Party in 1848 and representing the fugitive slave Anthony Burns in Boston in 1854. He

7469-404: The tests for intestinal parasites required a stool specimen. Immigrants described the examination and disinfection process as brutal, humiliating, and indecent. Passengers who were found to be sick were sent to the hospital in the immigration station until they could pass a medical examination and an immigration hearing. Investigation processes determined the length of time an immigrant would stay at

7566-505: The trees mostly undamaged. The fire burned several stands of Monterey Pine ( Pinus radiata ) originally planted by the U.S. Army, which will be restored to native evergreen woodlands. Prior fires include one in 2005 that burned 25 acres (10 ha), and a smaller 2–3-acre blaze in 2004. Access to the island is only by boat at Ayala Cove Ferry Terminal . There is ferry service to the island from San Francisco or from Tiburon . The Angel Island-Tiburon Ferry operates daily from Tiburon to

7663-695: The trial of Confederate President Jefferson Davis . On August 24, 1868, Dana wrote a letter to Attorney General William Evarts arguing that the United States should abandon the prosecution because, even though there was no doubt that Davis had committed treason, a jury in Virginia would be unlikely to convict, which "would be most humiliating to the Government and people of this country." A conviction, even "if obtained, will settle nothing in law or natural practice not now settled, and nothing in fact not now history...." In 1868, Dana ran as an independent candidate for

7760-487: The war years. After World War II ended, the reorganization of the San Francisco Port of Embarkation did not include Fort McDowell, and the post was decommissioned on August 28, 1946. In 1954 a Nike missile station was installed on the island. The missile magazines were constructed above Point Blunt on the island's southeast corner, and the top of Mount Ida (now Mount Caroline Livermore) was flattened to make way for

7857-808: The war. On 6 May 1932 the Army created the San Francisco Port of Embarkation as a command which included the Overseas Replacement and Discharge Service at Fort McDowell, Fort Mason and the Pacific Army Transport Service ships and facilities. In 1938, hearings concerning charges of membership in the Communist political party against labor leader Harry Bridges were held on Angel Island before Dean James Landis of Harvard Law School . After eleven weeks of testimony that filled nearly 8,500 pages, Landis found in favor of Bridges. The decision

7954-518: The while having to race up and down the ice-covered rigging to furl and unfurl sails. At one point he had an infected tooth, and his face swelled up so that he was unable to work for several days, despite the need for all hands. He also describes the scurvy that afflicts members of the crew after the rounding of the Horn. In White-Jacket , Herman Melville wrote, "But if you want the best idea of Cape Horn, get my friend Dana's unmatchable Two Years Before

8051-424: The wooden walls of the men's barrack in 1970. "These poems carved into the walls remain as a memorial to all of those who passed through the island's harsh detention barracks on their journey to a new life in the U.S." Today, more than 200 poems have been recovered and restored, and all but the detention centers are currently available to the public. Of the approximately one million immigrants who were processed at

8148-496: Was an immigration station in San Francisco Bay which operated from January 21, 1910, to November 5, 1940, where immigrants entering the United States were detained and interrogated. Angel Island is an island in San Francisco Bay . It is currently a State Park administered by California State Parks and a California Historical Landmark . The island was originally a fishing and hunting site for Coastal Miwok Indians, then it

8245-567: Was a haven for Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala . Later, it was developed as a cattle ranch, then, starting with the Civil War, the island served as a U.S. Army post. During the island's Immigration Station period, the island held hundreds of thousands of immigrants, the majority from China , Japan , India , Mexico and the Philippines . The detention facility was considered ideal because of its isolated location, making it very easy to control immigrants, contain outbreaks of disease, and enforce

8342-580: Was a member of the Boston Vigilance Committee , an organization that assisted fugitive slaves. In 1853, Dana represented William T. G. Morton in Morton's attempt to establish that he discovered the "anaesthetic properties of ether". In 1859, while the U.S. Senate was considering whether the United States should try to annex the Spanish possession of Cuba , Dana traveled there and visited Havana ,

8439-567: Was accepted by the United States Department of Labor and Bridges was freed. During World War II, the need for troops in the Pacific far exceeded prior needs. The facilities on Angel Island were expanded and further processing was done at Fort Mason in San Francisco. Prior to the war, the infrastructure had been expanded, including building the Army ferry USAT  General Frank M. Coxe , which transported troops to and from Angel Island on

8536-713: Was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as United States Attorney for Massachusetts. In his argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in the Prize Cases , which upheld Lincoln's blockade of Southern ports, he greatly increased an already brilliant legal reputation. He spoke out in favor of African-American voting, education, property, and firearms ownership, stating: We have got to choose between two results. With these four millions of Negroes, either you must have four millions of disfranchised, disarmed, untaught, landless, thriftless, non-producing, non-consuming, degraded men, or else you must have four millions of land-holding, industrious, arms-bearing, and voting population. Choose between

8633-399: Was completed in 1890 at a cost of approximately $ 99,000. The compound contained many separate buildings including detention barracks, disinfection facilities, convalescence quarters, and an isolation hospital that was known as the "leper's house". Even with the new construction, the facilities were lacking in cleanliness, staffing and adequate space. In response to the death of Wong Chut King,

8730-459: Was fully contained by October 14, 2008, at approximately 7 p.m. 380 of the island's 740 acres (300 ha) were burned in the fire. With the exception of one abandoned water tank, no structures were lost in the fire. Firefighting efforts were coordinated from the USCGC Sockeye . In portions of the evergreen woodlands, the fire burned through quickly, consuming the understory, but leaving

8827-456: Was later known as China Cove. Angel Island Immigration Station, sometimes known as "Ellis Island of the West," began construction in 1905 and opened January 21, 1910. Construction of the facility involved leveling a former Coast Miwok village site and shell mound , including the interred remains of numerous people. The main difference between Ellis Island and Angel Island was that the majority of

8924-557: Was named by Second Lieutenant John L. Tiernon , commander of Battery B, in honor of John F. Reynolds , a Union Army general who had been killed at the Battle of Gettysburg . This portion of the island is now known as Camp Reynolds or the West Garrison, and it subsequently became an infantry garrison during the US campaigns against Native American peoples in the West. In the later 19th century,

9021-502: Was only a few days and for others it lasted for months, the longest recorded stay being 22 months. This was significantly different from Ellis Island, which had more relaxed regulation and allowed many immigrants to enter the United States on the day of their arrival. Interrogations were extended because of the racial discrimination against Asians that was prevalent at the time. Chinese immigrants, mostly males, claimed to be sons of Chinese individuals who were American citizens, in response to

9118-436: Was opened in 1910, after a series of laws were enacted which significantly restricted Chinese immigration. Immigrants arrived from 84 countries, with Chinese immigrants accounting for the largest ethnic group to enter San Francisco until 1915, when Japanese immigrants outnumbered the Chinese for the first time. The length of time immigrants spent detained varied depending on how long the interrogation process lasted. For some it

9215-426: Was really brutal. I bow my head in reflection but there is nothing I can do. Another example: I thoroughly hate the barbarians because they do not respect justice. They continually promulgate harsh laws to show off their prowess. They oppress the overseas Chinese and also violate treaties. They examine for hookworms and practice hundreds of despotic acts. A more hopeful example: Twice I have passed through

9312-607: Was renovated by the California State Parks, which reopened February 16, 2009. Docent tours for school groups can be made by appointment. After sitting vacant since World War II, the hospital near the detention barrack was renovated, at a cost of $ 15 million from a variety of federal, state and private sources, and opened as a museum in 2022. In 1955, the State Park Commission authorized California State Parks to purchase 38 acres (15 ha) around Ayala Cove, marking

9409-480: Was the poet and critic Richard Henry Dana Sr. As a boy, Dana studied in Cambridgeport under a strict schoolmaster named Samuel Barrett, alongside fellow Cambridge native and future writer James Russell Lowell . Barrett was infamous as a disciplinarian who punished his students for any infraction by flogging. He also often pulled students by their ears and, on one such occasion, nearly pulled Dana's ear off, causing

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