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The city also lacked a secure jail and, from October 1849 to May 1851, prisoners were detained on a ship in San Francisco’s harbor. This makeshift, floating prison was surrounded by hundreds of other vessels that had been abandoned by crews rushing to the gold mines, and prisoners easily and frequently escaped.
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The second shooting occurred on May 14, 1856 when James Casey, a politician on the Board of Supervisors, shot and killed James King of William1, the editor of a popular local newspaper. Certain that Casey and Cora would escape conviction through a corrupt judicial system, close to 3,000 men stormed the jail four days later, armed with rifles and a canon.
- Clare Sears.
"A Dress Not Belonging to His or Her Sex"
1 James King had adopted the descriptor “of William” (his father’s name) to distinguish himself from other James Kings who lived in his hometown of Georgetown, Maryland.
