Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1947. . First printing. Includes a foreword by Robert Glass Cleland; editor's preface and notes. A selection of 25 of the most colorful and revealing letters, most written by Alpheus B. Thompson, a ship captain born in Maine, headquartered for a while in Oahu, married Francesca Carrillo, the daughter of a prominent Califonia family, and forever after he considered Santa Barbara his home. As the fur trade declined around 1820, due to the overtrapping of the otters for their pelts, the trade in hides and tallows from the rancheros of the Californios became a major part of the trade with China was an out growth of the fur trade in otter pelts which were plentiful in California and prized in the orient. These letters include much information on the local history and politics of the 1820s and 1830s, during the Gold Rush era, and up to the beginning of the Civil War. Illustrated with 2 black and white portraits; the title page has a red vignette of Thompson's brand. Bibliography and index of persons. 94 pp.  Fine in very good dust jacket ( tape repairs at upper end of spine of dj, some rubbing to black background.) HC 1st ed -