When it was learned that the south was determined to secede there could be but one result, a civil war. Thousands would be wounded and die upon the battlefield or in the hospitals. To relieve their sufferings as much as possible the loyal northern men organized the three commissions. They were known as the sanitary, the Christian, and the freedman's commission. The leader of the movement was Henry W. Bellows of Massachusetts, a co-laborer in Christian work with Thomas Starr King. In 1862 he wrote to King asking him to organize branch commissions in California. The movement was started and in the fall of that year California sent east to the suffering soldiers $480,000. All classes contributed, even those who favored the south, for the sanitary or Red Cross commission, which later developed, made no distinction in assisting the wounded. In October, 1863, Mr. Bellows telegraphed to King, "the sanitary funds are low. We have already distributed over seven millions of dollars. California has been our main support in money, and if she fails we are lost." King responded, "We will send you $25,000 a month." And Mr. King, putting both body and soul into the work of collecting funds, made good his promise. California contributed over $1,200,000 gold to the sanitary fund and $34,000 to the Christian fund. The amount was equal to over a million and a half in currency, for nothing but greenbacks was in circulation in the eastern states. California with her gold helped to save the Union. Of this amount $275,000 was collected by Ruel C. Gridley [15] through the repeated sale of his Austin sack of flour.
When the news of the threatened Civil war reached California, the southern wing of the Democratic press sneered at the idea of any war and declared the reports untrue. During the time that they were denying the reports of war, their friends were secretly planning to secede. When the fact was undeniable that war existed, then they began abusing the government. The majority of the Democratic press took good care to keep within the bounds of martial law. The San Jose Tribune, San Joaquin Republican, Stockton Argus, Visalia Expositor and Merced Express abused the government and the United States troops. They were excluded from the mails by the orders of General Wright and thus suppressed [16].
During the war this press continued its abuse, and it culminated April 15, 1864, in the destruction of several San Francisco offices by a mob. When the news was received of the assassination of President Lincoln, on the morning of April 15th about 8:00 o'clock, it created intense excitement throughout the loyal state. In San Francisco a body of men rushed to the Democratic Press and smashed things generally, and ended by throwing all of the type out of the window. The crowd howled. Beriah Brown, the editor, started hurriedly for San Leandro. The police dispersed the crowd, but again forming they served the Catholic religious paper, the Monitor [17] as they had served the Press. Then followed in turn the News Letter, edited by the Englishman Frederick Marriott, and the Occident, published by Zacharaih Montgomery, one of the bitterest secessionists in the state. Burning the printing cases of these papers in the streets, the mob started on the run for the office of the French paper, the Echo de Pacifique. The Alta, owned by Fred MacCrellish, was in a part of the same building. MacCrellish succeeded in pacifying the mob and thus saved a part of the French paper. The police now succeeded in driving back the mob and soon after General McDowell put the city under martial law and United States soldiers guarded all of the streets.
The ships Sawnee and Saginaw were sent to California in August, 1865, to capture the rebel privateer Shenandoah. She had been preying on the commerce of the North Pacific and obtained many prizes. The Panama steamers ran each night without lights and were armed with Dahlgren guns, revolvers and cutlasses, for they were in constant fear of this privateer. No steamships were captured. They would have been a rich prize, for every steamer carried from $1,000,000 to $2,500,000 in gold.
Hilarious show!! Dang! What was his ol' dawg named? The Hound? I forgot!!
for correction
I've always wondered why we were called Yankees. I've always thought it was because of baseball team 
