H75.177.4

• california gold rush

Vigilance Committee Sharpshooters. Condition: very good. The first Vigilance Committe disbanded in 1851. But there was a continuing perception of violence in San Franicisco. The tide of unrest led to the creation of a second Vigilance Committee in 1856. This second committe set up fortified headquarters known as "Fort Gunnybags," challenged both the state and federal governments, and executed four men it said had escaped justice. This ambrotype shows some of the second Committe's enforcers. From the History Information: Object: Ambrotype of six men: "Sharpshooter -- Vigilance Committee, San Francisco, May 15, 1856. History: The first Vigilance Committee disbanded in 1851. But there was a continuing perception of violence in San Francisco. The tide of unrest led to the creation of a second Vigilance Committee in 1856. This second Committee set up fortified headquarters known as "Fort Gunnybags," challenged both the state and federal governments, and executed four men it said had escaped justice. This ambrotype shows some of the second Committee's enforcers. The ambrotype, a positive image on a glass plate, was a major advance in photographic technology. Ambrotypes were invented in the early 1850s, and replaced daguerreotypes as the favorite form of pictures until the development of paper photographs in the 1860s. Museum Purchase