The lawless Western town that needs a new sheriff around is a composite sketch of various places, one of which was the Barbary coast.
For instance let's go to a 1872 San Francisco chronicle article, "A Vigorous Check to Street Ruffianism The King of the Hoodlums Gets 415 Days in the County Jail--Juvenile Burglars--On the Barbary Coast"
It's a long quote but it's a good read
"...Judge Louderback in sentencing him made the following remarks: "Riley, you were born a bad man. You are one of the worst criminals at present in this city. You have appeared before the Court on all kinds of charges-vulgar and profane language, assault and battery, vagrancy, grand larceny, petty larceny, housebreaking, burglary and robbery. Citizens have refused to make complaints against you for fear you would indict some injury upon them. Men have begged officers not to subpoena them as witnesses against you for the same reason. Wives have entreated officers not to subpoena their husbands, one even going down upon her knees, for fear that you would murder her husband or commit some outrage upon his property. Wherever you have been you have proved yourself a terror to men, women and children. Your deeds of violence have acquired for you the infamous title of King of the Hoodlums."
Amazing...There's a fairly decent ~400 page 1933 book on the place named "The Barbary coast; an informal history of the San Francisco underworld" available at https://archive.org/details/barbarycoastinfo00asbu
And an Edward G Robinson (from "Little Caesar", inventor of the movie gangster) movie about it in 1935: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0026097
It's lost in the collective consciousness. There's stuff we'd find pretty hilarious looking at the archives. For instance, the city sent clergy to investigate the infidelity of the place in 1910.
For another colorful example, let's take a San Francisco chronicle article from October 8 1912 "Clergy denounces morale of city: Barbary Coast and Saloons Scored at Meeting of Juvenile Society"
"Vice conditions in San Francisco, particularly as presented by the Barbary Coast, were the subject of an address last night by Rev. Father Terrance...
"The climax of this iniquity." said the speaker, after telling about the dives in the Barbary Coast district, "Is rapped by the rapidly-multiplying dancing grills, where the dance steps indulged in are obscene, animal movements that would not be countenanced in the dominion of the Sultan at Constantinople. We have asked the Police Commissioners to separate drinking and dancing, as they have the power to do. If they fall us we must plan to carry the fight further. It is time that San Francisco ceased to be a by-word."
This spirit of San Francisco was born of the Barbary Coast
For instance let's go to a 1872 San Francisco chronicle article, "A Vigorous Check to Street Ruffianism The King of the Hoodlums Gets 415 Days in the County Jail--Juvenile Burglars--On the Barbary Coast"
It's a long quote but it's a good read
"...Judge Louderback in sentencing him made the following remarks: "Riley, you were born a bad man. You are one of the worst criminals at present in this city. You have appeared before the Court on all kinds of charges-vulgar and profane language, assault and battery, vagrancy, grand larceny, petty larceny, housebreaking, burglary and robbery. Citizens have refused to make complaints against you for fear you would indict some injury upon them. Men have begged officers not to subpoena them as witnesses against you for the same reason. Wives have entreated officers not to subpoena their husbands, one even going down upon her knees, for fear that you would murder her husband or commit some outrage upon his property. Wherever you have been you have proved yourself a terror to men, women and children. Your deeds of violence have acquired for you the infamous title of King of the Hoodlums."
Amazing...There's a fairly decent ~400 page 1933 book on the place named "The Barbary coast; an informal history of the San Francisco underworld" available at https://archive.org/details/barbarycoastinfo00asbu
And an Edward G Robinson (from "Little Caesar", inventor of the movie gangster) movie about it in 1935: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0026097
It's lost in the collective consciousness. There's stuff we'd find pretty hilarious looking at the archives. For instance, the city sent clergy to investigate the infidelity of the place in 1910.
For another colorful example, let's take a San Francisco chronicle article from October 8 1912 "Clergy denounces morale of city: Barbary Coast and Saloons Scored at Meeting of Juvenile Society"
"Vice conditions in San Francisco, particularly as presented by the Barbary Coast, were the subject of an address last night by Rev. Father Terrance...
"The climax of this iniquity." said the speaker, after telling about the dives in the Barbary Coast district, "Is rapped by the rapidly-multiplying dancing grills, where the dance steps indulged in are obscene, animal movements that would not be countenanced in the dominion of the Sultan at Constantinople. We have asked the Police Commissioners to separate drinking and dancing, as they have the power to do. If they fall us we must plan to carry the fight further. It is time that San Francisco ceased to be a by-word."
This spirit of San Francisco was born of the Barbary Coast