Trespassers at the Golden Gate: A True Account of Love, Murder, and Madness in Gilded-Age San Francisco
Gary Krist
Crown Publishing Group
Copyright 2025 by the author

It should have been fairly straightforward. She shot him in broad daylight, in front of dozens of witnesses, and was immediately taken into custody. Laura D. Fair killed lawyer and aspiring politician A.P. Crittenden in a fit of jealousy. That much was obvious. But as the trial dragged on, it quickly became clear that Crittenden was a two-timing bastard who had strung Fair along for years, promising her that he’d divorce his wife, and marry her. The bum deserved what he got, but what would be an appropriate punishment for Fair?

Krist devotes much of the text to chronicling Crittenden’s life, and how he kept Fair just close enough for her to believe he’d follow through on his promises.

But that’s not the real story here.

Between all of that, Krist shows how San Francisco turned from a rough frontier town to a major metropolis in just a few decades. The discoveries of gold and later silver brought thousands of people from the East, and they brought their attitudes with them.

That’s a major subtext in the story. In it’s early years, San Francisco’s rough and tumble nature meant that racism was minimal. Anyone could make a name and fortune for themselves, if they were willing to work for it. Like Ah Toy, who arrived in the city barely 20 years old and alone (her husband died on the voyage over from China). Turning to the only trade she could – sex work – she became prosperous enough to open and manage several brothels and boarding houses. She would appear at city functions and events decked out in her finery to no criticism (if not acclaim), and could bring lawsuits against clients who stiffed her.

Likewise, Mary Ellen Pleasant, after gaining some notoriety in the East for her support of the abolitionist cause and working on the Underground Railroad, headed west to help her fellow Blacks in the Bay Area. She used the modest fortune she inherited from her husband to open boarding houses / hotels / brothels. Sharp money management and good investments allowed her to increase her wealth, which she used to further the civil rights cause. Pleasant would still work as a maid or servant – so she could listen in on conversations and get investment tips. It might have shocked some of her employers to know that she was wealthier than they were.

But after the Transcontinental Railroad made it easier for people to get to San Francisco, they brought their mindset with them. Not only was the city “cleaned up”, they brought their ideas of Class with them.

All those Chinese and Blacks? Well, they – for whatever reason – tended to work in jobs like maid, cook, or manual labor. To the Easterners, those jobs were The Help. And if you were upper class, had pretensions of being upper class, or wanted to be upper class, you Did Not Mingle with The Help…… and segregation and discrimination seeped into place, creating a self-perpetuating cycle….. Something to keep in mind when considering the lingering effects of racism.