Sept.7th – There [in Sacramento at 5:30 am, 09.07.1901] we learned that President McKinley had been shot. Got to Port Costa at 7:30[am] & there we crossed the bay on the largest ferry in the world (train and all). 32 miles from Port Costa to City. At Oakland we crossed the bay again on a big ferry (but not the train) & reached the city at 9:30. Took our grips to Winchester Hotel & now we are in room 325 at 12:30. Ate breakfast at a restaurant across the street. Cost 20¢. About 2:00 we jumped on the streetcar & rode to the Golden Gate Park, where we spent the rest of the day. It is a beautiful place. It is about 5 miles from here. Came back on the street car about 6:00 P.M. & ate supper across the way. Went to bed early & got up early.
President McKinley was shot the day before in Buffalo, New York, while greeting people in the Temple of Music at the Pan-American Exposition. At a time before television, cable, and a 24-hour news cycle, Jesse would have heard this from newsboys hawking papers or station employees at the Port Costa train station. McKinley lingered for over a week and even showed improvement for a while, so Jesse is recording the shooting, but not the death.
Jesse and John rode the Solano Ferry. Built in 1879, it was old when they rode it! It did indeed take whole trains across San Francisco Bay until 1930 when it was sold for scrap. It can be seen today serving as a breakwater in the San Joaquin River at Antioch, California.
Ads from 1900 for the Winchester Hotel say it costs 25 cents per night, has electric lights in every room, has reading rooms, and will transport customers and baggage for free from the ferry via “‘bus” (omnibus).
In 1903, the parade route that President Theodore Roosevelt took through San Francisco was filmed. A very grainy Winchester can be seen in the center back from 2:15 to 3:00 of the movie:
When the San Francisco Earthquake hit in 1906, the Winchester survived the initial quake but not the subsequent fire.
