William Perkins

Born in Toronto, Canada, in 1827, William Perkins was living in Cincinnati when he departed for the gold country in 1849. After his arrival in San Francisco on June 9, he made his way to the southern mines at a time when most of the prospectors were headed northward. By chance he soon settled in Sonora, where he became immediately less interested in making a fortune and more interested in the colorful society that surrounded him.

Perhaps Perkins's Canadian heritage attracted him to the city; Sonora had become somewhat of a Mecca for foreignborn immigrants. The city was consequently more varied in its culture than its counterparts to the north, and it therefore made a highly interesting subject for Perkins's perceptive eyes and ears. In the following selection from his memoir, Perkins describes the particularly unusual amusement of bull and bear baiting...