The hide and tallow trade was important not only for
its immediate economic effects but also because the writings of men
engaged in the trade greatly heightened American interest in California.
On
board the ship Pilgrim in 1835 was a young Bostonian named Richard
Henry Dana. For eighteen months, Dana and his shipmates collected
hides along the California coast. He also made close observations
of California's land and people.
When Dana returned to New England, he published his
recollections in Two Years Before the Mast (1840). He described for
his countrymen in precise detail the beauties of the California landscape,
its capacious harbors, abundant wildlife, and salubrious climate "than
which there can be no better in the world." He was contemptuous
of the Californios, "an idle thriftless people" who could "make
nothing for themselves." He was amazed that they bought "bad
wine made in Boston and brought round by us" when their own
country abounded in grapes. "In the hands of an enterprising
people," he concluded, "what a country this might be!"
