COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO LATER DOCS FULL

Hoffman barely had time to throw his two valises aboard and jump on himself. Then, on the urging of the visitor, he hitched up his mules to the buckboard. Old Donohoe of the Ocean House warmly shook his hand, poured him a drink, and started to give him the news of the fighting at Ensenada.

COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO LATER DOCS FULL

Hoffman was the only passenger to get off the Orizaba, he received the full treatment. Otherwise, the place was as dead as its cemetery. The only excitement at La Playa was the arrival every other week of the Orizaba. New Town was so new that nobody paid any attention to it. Here were the stores (all seven of them), the bars, and the hotel, and here is where all the excitement took place, when there was any. Some of these had been built around a small plaza. In 1853 Old Town had about 100 houses, mostly adobe and mostly ramshackle. With its dusty streets, dilapidated houses, and barren hinterland, the town would undoubtedly qualify as a depressed area in the modern sociologist's book. Together these mustered a population of barely 600, and a good many of those were Mexicans without visible means of support. Like Gaul, it consisted of three parts: La Playa, Old Town, and New Town. At any rate, he was full of hope and confidence.Īnd yet, San Diego in 1853 was not exactly a town to inspire great hope and confidence. Perhaps it was this broken thread that influenced the young man in his decision. He liked San Diego, but could he make a living in it as a doctor? There was only one man who had tried it, and he died the same month Dr. When his contract was up, he decided to have a closer look. Most of the cities he saw left him cold, but the little town of San Diego stirred him to a feeling of warmth. gave him his chance, and for the better part of a year he cruised between San Francisco and Panama. A job as ship's surgeon with the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. Literate and ambitious, he wanted to see the world before it swallowed him. While most of his classmates had started to practice as soon as they received their diplomas, he had delayed. David Bancroft Hoffman, 28 years old and a recent graduate of Toland Medical College in San Francisco, it was a warm day in more ways than one.

It was a warm day, and by the time the young man had dumped his two heavy valises into the skiff, he was wiping his brow. Awkwardly she discharged her passenger into the skiff that came out from the wharf. Slowly the steamer made her way toward the little settlement on the curving shore. This was not the first time he had admired the colorful panorama of San Diego Bay, but it was the first time he was here on business the business of finding a home. The young man at the taffrail of the good ship Orizaba as she rounded Point Loma was in a thoughtful mood.

County of san diego later docs