Why, he was the Emperor of the United States of America and Protector of Mexico, that's who!

Joshua Abraham Norton (January 17, 1811–January 8, 1880), a businessman of San Francisco, California who lost his fortune investing in Peruvian rice, famously anointed himself His Imperial Majesty Norton I, Emperor of the United States, and Protector of Mexico in 1859 and "reigned" until his death.

Though he was considered insane, or at least highly eccentric, the citizens of San Francisco (and the world at large) in the mid-to-late 19th century celebrated his presence, his humor, and his deeds—among the most notorious being his "order" that the United States Congress be dissolved by force (which Congress and the U.S. Army ignored), and his numerous (some claim prophetic) decrees calling for a bridge to be built across San Francisco Bay. The King in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is reportedly modeled after him.

Self-proclamation
Having become fully disgruntled with the inadequacies of the political structure and state and federal governments of the United States, Norton took matters into his own hands on September 17, 1859, when, in letters to the various newspapers of the area, he summarily proclaimed himself "Emperor of These United States":

At the pre-emptory request of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and now for the last nine years and ten months past of San Francisco, California, declare and proclaim myself the Emperor of These United States.

Emperor Norton regularly strolled the streets of San Francisco in an elaborate blue uniform complete with tarnished gold-plated epaulets.At the pre-emptory request of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and now for the last nine years and ten months past of San Francisco, California, declare and proclaim myself the Emperor of These United States.
He would, on occasion, add "Protector of Mexico" to this title. Thus commenced his "unchallenged" 21-year reign over America.

Imperial decrees
As is the role of any emperor, Norton issued numerous decrees on matters of state. Obviously, now that a monarch had assumed power, there was no further need for a legislature, and on October 12, 1859, the Emperor issued a decree that formally dissolved the United States Congress. He also observed that "...fraud and corruption prevent a fair and proper expression of the public voice; that open violation of the laws are constantly occurring, caused by mobs, parties, factions and undue influence of political sects; that the citizen has not that protection of person and property which he is entitled". As a result, the Emperor ordered that "all interested parties" gather at Platt's Music Hall in San Francisco in February 1860 so as to "remedy the evil complained of".

His decree was not properly observed by the rebellious politicians in Washington. Serious measures appeared to be called for, and in another imperial decree of January 1860, Emperor Norton I summoned the army to remove them:

WHEREAS, a body of men calling themselves the National Congress are now in session in Washington City, in violation of our Imperial edict of the 12th of October last, declaring the said Congress abolished;
WHEREAS, it is necessary for the repose of our Empire that the said decree should be strictly complied with;
NOW, THEREFORE, we do hereby Order and Direct Major-General Scott, the Command-in-Chief of our Armies, immediately upon receipt of this, our Decree, to proceed with a suitable force and clear the Halls of Congress.
Much to the disappointment of the Emperor, the army failed in its appointed task, and the former Congress persisted in their disobedience to his decrees. This necessitated further decrees in 1860 that dissolved the republic and forbade the assembly of any members of the former Congress. This battle against the former leaders of his empire was to persist throughout his reign, and it appears that the Emperor eventually, if somewhat grudgingly, granted consent for the Congress to continue operating.

Despite his challenges with the recalcitrant Congress, Emperor Norton I, as a benevolent leader, took it upon himself to issue decrees that pertained to the direct betterment of his subjects. On August 4, 1869 he abolished both the Democratic and Republican parties. And the failure to refer to his adopted home city with appropriate respect was the subject of a particularly stern edict in 1872:

Whoever after due and proper warning shall be heard to utter the abominable word "Frisco", which has no linguistic or other warrant, shall be deemed guilty of a High Misdemeanor, and shall pay into the Imperial Treasury as penalty the sum of twenty-five dollars.

After examining a number of his Imperial Edicts, it is tempting to conjecture on the mental condition of America's only sovereign monarch. Unfortunately, diagnosing the precise psychological condition of Emperor Norton I is an impossibility, due to the anecdotal nature of all the documents that relate his behavior. It has been suggested by some that he may have been schizophrenic, as "delusions of grandeur" are symptoms frequently associated with that condition [2] (http://www.notfrisco.com/colmatales/norton/nortdiag.html). However, it is also possible that he was quite sane.

For all of his quirks and regardless of the precise nature of his psychological condition, it cannot be denied that Emperor Norton I was, on some occasions, a visionary, and a number of his Imperial Decrees exhibited a profound wisdom. Among his many edicts were instructions to form a League of Nations, and he explicitly forbade any form of discord or conflict between religions or their sects. The Emperor also saw fit on a number of occasions to decree the construction of a suspension bridge connecting Oakland and San Francisco, his later decrees becoming increasingly irritated at the lack of prompt obedience being exhibited by the authorities:

WHEREAS, we issued our decree ordering the citizens of San Francisco and Oakland to appropriate funds for the survey of a suspension bridge from Oakland Point via Goat Island; also for a tunnel; and to ascertain which is the best project; and whereas the said citizens have hitherto neglected to notice our said decree; and whereas we are determined our authority shall be fully respected; now, therefore, we do hereby command the arrest by the army of both the Boards of City Fathers if they persist in neglecting our decrees.
Given under our royal hand and seal at San Francisco, this 17th day of September, 1872.
This decree, unlike most, was eventually carried out; construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge began in 1933 and was completed in 1936.

Life as Emperor
The reign of Emperor Norton had a fairly well documented routine. His days consisted of him inspecting his dominion (the streets of San Francisco) in an elaborate blue uniform with tarnished gold-plated epaulets (given him by officers of the United States Army post at the Presidio of San Francisco), and wearing a beaver hat decorated with a peacock feather and a rosette. Frequently he enhanced this regal posture with a cane or umbrella. During his ministrations, Emperor Norton I would examine the condition of the sidewalks and cable cars, the state of repair of public property, the appearance of police officers, and attend to the needs of his subjects as they arose. He would frequently give lengthy philosophical expositions on a variety of topics to whoever was in earshot at the time.

It was during one of his Imperial inspections that Norton is reputed to have performed one of his most famous acts. During the 1860s and 1870s there were an unpleasant number of anti-Chinese demonstrations in the poorer districts of San Francisco, and ugly and fatal riots broke out on more than a handful of occasions. During one such incident, Emperor Norton I is alleged to have positioned himself between the rioters and their Chinese targets, and with a bowed head began to recite the Lord's Prayer repeatedly. Shamed, the rioters dispersed without incident.

A scandal occurred in 1867 when a police officer named Armand Barbier arrested the Imperial Majesty, for the purpose of committing him to involuntary treatment for a mental disorder. This caused monumental outrage amongst the citizens of San Francisco and sparked a number of scathing editorials in the newspapers. Police Chief Patrick Crowley speedily rectified matters by ordering the Emperor released and issuing a formal apology on behalf of the Police Force. Emperor Norton I was magnanimous enough to grant an Imperial Pardon to the errant young police officer who had committed the (perceived) act of treason. Possibly as a result of this scandal, all police officers of San Francisco thereafter would salute the Emperor as he passed in the street.

Emperor Norton I was clearly much loved and revered by his subjects. Although penniless, he regularly frequented the finest restaurants in San Francisco, and the proprietors of these establishments took it upon themselves to add brass plaques in their entrances that declared "By Appointment to his Imperial Majesty, Emperor Norton I of the United States". This vanity appears to have been tolerated without complaint by the Emperor. By all accounts, such Imperial "seals of approval" were much prized and a substantial boost to trade for such businesses. No play or musical performance in San Francisco would dare to open without reserving balcony seats for the Emperor and his two mongrel dogs, Lazarus and Bummer. (As a sidenote, the death of Lazarus, in an 1863 accident with a vehicle belonging to the Fire Department of San Francisco, led to a period of public mourning. In 1865, when Bummer died, Mark Twain was sufficiently moved to write an epitaph for the Imperial Canine, saying that he'd died "full of years, and honor, and disease, and fleas".)

Emperor Norton I did receive some small tokens of formal recognition for his station; the census of 1870 records a Joshua Norton residing at 624 Commercial St, and lists him with the occupation of "Emperor". The Emperor would also issue his own money on occasion in order to pay for certain debts, and this was generally accepted as legal tender by local businesses. (Typically these notes came in denominations of 50 cents to five dollars, and the few notes still existent have fetched thousands of dollars at recent auctions [3] (http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/nortm3.html)). Certainly the city of San Francisco honored its sovereign; when the uniform of the Emperor began to look shabby, the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco, with a great deal of ceremony, appropriated enough money to buy him an appropriately regal replacement. In return, the Emperor sent them a gracious note of thanks and a patent of nobility in perpetuity for each Supervisor.

Here are some of his other decrees:

September 17, 1859 – Joshua A. Norton, who lost his money in an attempt to corner the rice market, today declared himself Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico.

December 2, 1859 – Norton I dismissed Gov. Wise of Virginia for hanging John Brown and appointed John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky to replace him.

February 1, 1860 – Decree from Norton I ordered representatives of the different states to assemble at Platt’s Music Hall to change laws to ameloriate the evils under which the country was laboring.

July 16, 1860 – Decree from Norton I dissolved the United States of America.

October 1, 1860 – Decree from Norton I barred Congress from meeting in Washington, D.C.

February 5, 1861– Norton I changed the place of his National Convention to Assembly Hall, Post and Kearny, because Platt’s Music Hall had burned.

September 17, 1861 – A new theater, Tucker’s Hall, opened with a performance of “Norton the First,” or "An Emperor for a Day."

October 1863 – Death of Lazarus, Emperor Norton’s dog.

February 14, 1864 – Norton I arrived in Marysville to join the celebration of the opening of the railroad.

November 11, 1865 – Mark Twain wrote an epitaph for Bummer, the long-time companion of Lazarus.

January 21, 1867 – An overzealous Patrol Special Officer, Armand Barbier, arrested His Majesty Norton I for involuntary treatment of a mental disorder and thereby created a major civic uproar. Police Chief Patrick Crowley apologized to His Majesty and ordered him released. Several scathing newspaper editorials followed the arrest. All police officers began to salute His Majesty when he passed them on the street.

July 25, 1869 – Decree from Norton I that San Franciscans advance money to Frederick Marriott for his airship experiments.

August 12, 1869 – Decree from Norton I dissolved and abolished the Democratic and Republican parties because of party strife now existing within our realm.

December 15, 1869 – Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, left San Francisco to seek his yearly tribute from the legislature and lobbyists. He inspected the new capitol during the gala ball celebrating the buildings’ inauguration.

December 16, 1869 – Decree by Norton I demanded that Sacramento clean its muddy streets and place gaslights on streets leading to the capitol.

August 1, 1870 – Norton I was listed by the Census taker with the occupation of “emperor,” living at 624 Commercial St.

September 21, 1870 – Decree from Norton I that the Grand Hotel furnish him rooms under penalty of being banished.

March 23, 1872 – Decree by Norton I that a suspension bridge be built as soon as convenient between Oakland Point and Goat Island, and then on to San Francisco.

September 21, 1872 – Norton I ordered a survey to determine if a bridge or tunnel would be the best possible means to connect Oakland and San Francisco. He also ordered the arrest of the Board of Supervisors for ignoring his decrees.

January 2, 1873 – Decree from Norton I that a worldwide Bible Convention be held in San Francisco on this day.

March 18, 1873 – David Belasco made his stage debut at the Metropolitan Theatre playing Emperor Norton in the play “The Gold Demon.”

January 8, 1880 – Norton I dropped dead on California St. at Grant Ave. He was on his way to a lecture at the Academy of Natural Sciences.

January 9, 1880 – Headline in the Morning Call: “Norton the First, by the grace of God Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, departed this life.”



Here are some other sites:
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/GENERAL/norton1.htm
http://jubal.westnet.com/hyperdiscordia/emperor_norton.html
http://www.notfrisco.com/colmatales/norton/index.html
http://www.notfrisco.com/nortoniana/
http://www.molossia.org/norton.html
http://www.macreativedesign.com/norton/norton.htm

Do a search for "Emperor Norton" and see what comes up! We don't hear anything about him on the east coast, but he's part of our history!

Ah! Once again the open road!

We left Santa Rosa after a quick stop for more Smart Water (if you don't know what this is, do find out) and a good-bye to Cole at the Market.

Our destination: Redwoods National & State Park. Awesome.

Driving from California, south to north, is long. Days to cross it. Well, I suppose if you wanted to do it all in one day, you could, but that's not our point. Nonetheless, we drove for a few hours prior to our first stop.

Being on the road again was great. Not that Cole's wasn't, but we had gotten used to not traveling and I was worried that we'd get to steady on our land-legs. It would be like starting over. Those fears were banished very quickly. We picked up where we left off.

Route 101 going north through California has always been the main route for such a trek. Old tourist traps are still running full-swing with no interstates sort of near by to steal their business.  The lure of the tourist trap can be hard to resist, even for a consumption-weary crew such as we. And kitsch almost always wins out.

We broke down and actually shelled out money (though not a lot) on two such traps. Both were pleasant stop overs.

The first was the hole in a big redwood tree. We paid $3 for the car load and got to drive through the middle of a living (and actually quite healthy) redwood. It was, I suppose, interesting. A nice lesson on how nature wins, but man still tries to push his boundaries. No, there didn't need to be a road through a tree. And in all respects, there shouldn't have been a hole through a tree. But in the end, the tree lived. There are certainly much more horrible things you can do to a tree. We saw those next.

Driving north, we'd look across the mountains and see square patches, bald, where a forest used to stand. These are clear-cuts. What a horrible thing to do to a forest. It's like decapitating a body. The body (the mountain) is still there, but it's dead. Yes, trees can grow back, but the forest, as it was, can never ever come back. It's disgusting and shows zero respect for nature and God. But then, when the Almighty is the dollar, you bow only to that. The dollar dictates that you clear cut. Therefore, sustainable practices such as selective cutting, seem slow and costly. It's true, it slower and thus will cost more, but can we really put a price on an old-growth forest? Forget about the whole hippy-treehugger thing and think about its sheer beauty alone. Would you rather have forests or tree farms?

The clearcuts ran for much of the trip, looking like huge scars on the sides of hills. Some had shrubs and brush, certainly not natural to a dense forest floor. But since there was now amble sunlight, these weeds could grow and choke out any actual trees that are trying to repopulate the area. Sad and disgusting.

Despite these near constant reminders of how selfish and greedy humans can be, especially when money is involved, we trudged on, taking a side road called Avenue of the Giants. This allows the traveler to experience a handful of redwood from the comfort of their own car. It keeps nature at a safe and TV-like distance. That's a good thing though, because it also keeps littering and nature-abusive humans at a safe distance from the forests. Those who really want to experience the redwoods can do so through trails and roughing it. Those who want to experience such things rarely destroy them, even unconsciously.

Upon this road were signs for other drive-thru trees and random tourist stops. One was called "Confusion Hill." Nikki remembered it from some documentary. They say that the magnetic field is a bit off there and that makes things all wonky. They built a shack to prove it. The shack is built on the side of a hill and conforms to the contour of the hill. Meaning, it's slanted big time. They claim that water flows uphill, and it really does appear to. There are other such optical illusions there too. We tried them all and generally just goofed around with this other family who was there with us.

"Other family." That's right, other. It's strange how we've become a family. Not strange, but natural. (And sad that "natural" is "strange.") her.

We all stumbled around, trying to focus and regain our balance. Quite a bit of fun. After the shack thing, we hung out in a well-landscaped grove of redwoods. These trees are huge. The trees at Big Sur are slightly shorter, I think, but fatter. So from the ground the trees at Big Sur were bigger, but looking up, the redwoods seem to stretch for miles. It's like nothing we have in Pennsylvania.

I know many people are pretty ok with huge timber companies slaughtering entire forests, but before you can really have an opinion on this, you have to see these things for yourselves. I wish we had more time here. Weeks or months even. I want to really experience the dense old growth forests.

Humbolt County is known for two things (outside of the activist community). One is that this is where the Big Foot legend comes from. Second is that this is where the best pot in the world comes from. Now, do you think there is a connection here? Best pot = Big Foot? I think the mystery is finally solved.

Humbolt is also beautiful, I just wish we could see more of it. We stopped in a little town called Garberville. Lots of hippy stuff. Also, every little town, even this one, which is the size of Montandon, in Pennsylvania, has a healthfood store. And all of these healthfood stores are way better than the one in Lewisburg (which doesn't take much).

First, we grabbed Yawbus at this little gas station. The large tattooed fellow who took our order was super nice and even came over to the table to ask us how our sandwiches were. Delightful. While I have no taste for southern California, northern California had more than made up for it.

We checked out the healthfood store, bought some mouth-watering chips that I've become addicted to and milled about the rest of the town.

Nikki and I bought new bags and Ashley searched for a skirt. No skirt was found and we departed, driving through more groves of redwoods.

Running low on gas, we pulled into a mom & pop station in Eureka, CA.  It was Nikki's turn to pump so she got a first row seat to see a car with more rust than paint (the trunk couldn't even close because the rust had eaten the lock!), a windshield that looked like in won a battle with someone's head, but perhaps not by much as all of the other windows were simply gone. The rest of the car was dented and had huge chunks taken out of it. The real gem, however, were the two girls, obviously transplanted from what could only be described as some Louisiana swamp, who yelled very loudly at every male who walked anywhere near their excuse for a car, "Do you have a cigarette?!" How classy! We got pictures. The plates on the car claimed California, but which from which Californian junk yard did these two fine ladies steal their chariot?

Filled with full-on belly laughs (and after a quick call to Brad, our travel consultant), we drove another hour to our campsite.

Though we had reservations, the reservations only assure that we get a site. It doesn't assure which site we get. Because we arrived so late, we got literally the last site available. Number 12. It's not bad. A little on the small side. Actually, when we were setting up the tent, a twelve year old kid rode by on his bike, fairly loudly exclaiming, "Wow! That's a small tent site!"

With that accomplished, we went back into "town" where there was a cafe, sat down and to our surprise an extremely nice waitress suggested that we could order veggie burgers and that they were vegan. So we did! This wasn't some hippy cafe. This was a greasy spoon. It was a diner. The word "cafe" only takes the edge off. We ate and decided to get firewood: Only $5!

We pulled the car next to a wheel barrel filled with chunks of wood. The whole thing was ours for only $5. Nikki, being the brave girl that she is, knocked on the door to an old airstream trailer now serving its life as a home for the $5 for wood guy.  Five dollars for wood guy poked his head out of what was probably his bathroom window, "I'll be right out."

A minute later, he appeared at the front door thing with half-buttoned jeans, suspenders and no shirt. He wasn't some fat dirty hick, he was ripped. As Ashley put it, "he had an eight pack!" He covered himself with a blue denim shirt, buttoned a button or two and helped us load up the car. He then grabbed his chainsaw as we looked at each other maybe wondering if this was the last thing we'd ever see. But no, he was one nice fellow. He was cutting up more wood for us! After he sawed two or three pieces, he grabbed his ax and gave us two armloads and even made a bunch of kindling. What a guy!

Ashley had to sit in the front seat with Nikki and I, and the wood pile in the back would shift with every turn, but we made it back to the campsite.

I'm not very good at starting fires, but for some reason, the fire gods were smiling upon us. In no time at all, we had a beautiful campfire. Our first of the trip. Well worth the five bucks and there's even wood left over for the next people!

A great little day. Nothing special, but yet, everything special.

Stats
Miles traveled today: 372
Hours on the road: 7
Miles traveled in total: 5928

Pictures
Pictures from Eric's Camera.
Pictures from Ashley's Camera.

Where are we?
Map showing where we are today!
(Purple = where we've been. Red = where we traveled today.)