California Narratives: Phoenixiana, or Sketches and Burlesques

Description (from source site)
George Horatio Derby of Massachusetts graduated from West Point in 1846 at age 23. He then served in the Army Topographical Engineers at Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo before being sent to California in 1856. He remained there for seven years, leading three exploring expeditions and winning a place as one of the state's first humorists with pieces published in the San Diego Herald and republished around the nation. This database reprints a book originally published in 1855. It contains Derby's peices as "Professor John Phoenixiana" and "Squibob," poking fun at such topics as military surveyors and explorers; contemporary travel accounts of the Mission Dolores, Benecia, Sonoma, San Francisco, and San Diego; literary societies and women's clubs; astronomy; and Army life.

Sources Library of Congress. California As I Saw It, 1849-1900. Vol. 198. [database online] Washington: Library of Congress, 2000. Derby, George Horatio. Phoenixia; or, sketches and burlesques. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1903.

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