San Francisco’s Welcome to Gen. Grant. September 20, 1879.

Description

This is a rare and perhaps unique set of photographs produced by the San Francisco firm Bradley and Rulofson in late 1879.

When Ulysses S. Grant left the office of the Presidency in March 1877, he was also leaving behind fifteen years of life in the public eye, first as a successful general in the U.S. Civil War, then the leading commander of Union forces until the end of the conflict, and finally as a two-term president. His presidency had been beset by battles over Reconstruction in the South and corruption charges against many of his allies and associates. Happy to be leaving Washington, D.C., but with no specific plans on what to do, Grant and his wife, Julia, embarked on a trip to Europe that would be repeatedly extended, both temporally and geographically. 

By the time they were done, two and a half years later, the Grants had travelled throughout Europe, the Holy Land, Egypt, India, Southeast Asia, China, and Japan. Along the way, Grant met many of the other leading figures of the era, including Queen Victoria, Otto von Bismarck, Tsar Nicholas II, Li Hongzhang, and the Meiji Emperor. Everywhere Grant went, as in the United States, he was met by adoring crowds who celebrated him as the great general who ended the U.S. Civil War.

Finally feeling homesick, the Grants returned to the U.S. in September 1879, landing in San Francisco on September 20. There too, a huge crowd awaited them, along with a cacophony of cheering, whistles, and cannons from Fort Mason. The couple’s every move was reported on, and their visit included stops at various local landmarks including the Cliff House and Fort Mason, and the California Theater, where a play was staged recounting major events in Grant’s life. However, not all was cheerful; Grant had to accept a delegation of Chinese-Americans on federal property as virulently anti-Chinese local political leaders, including Mayor Andrew Jackson Bryant, would not allow the meeting to take place in the city. 

The photographs seen here depict various scenes from the Grant’s stop in San Francisco, including their apartments in the Palace Hotel, banners hung out and ceremonies held to welcome them (including one at City Hall), and a street procession. At center is a large portrait of Grant, which was almost certainly taken on site at Bradley and Rulofson’s gallery, visited by Grant on September 22. 

The Grants traveled some more around the U.S., including stops in Grant’s hometown of Galena, Illinois, before returning to the East Coast. The trip was a media sensation, reported on regularly in American and foreign newspapers. It also allowed Grant to present a good face of the U.S. to the world (encouraged in this regard by his successor Rutherford B. Hayes). It was widely speculated at the time that Grant would seek the Republican nomination and a third term in office (Hayes stuck to his commitment not to run for reelection), and the trip gave him considerable foreign experience which he had lacked during his presidency. 

In the end, Grant was nearly nominated at the 1880 Republican convention in Chicago, but the delegates instead eventually settled on James A. Garfield, who won the election but only was in office for a few months before being shot by an assassin; though not immediately killed, the wound developed into an infection from which Garfield died weeks later.

Rarity

This sheet compiles photographs taken by Bradley and Rulofson, a pioneering photographic firm in San Francisco. It was most likely offered at the pair’s studio in the wake of Grant’s visit as a souvenir. We are unaware of any other examples of this work.