aving come to admire the pluck, if not the good fortune, of young Phineas, I disembarked in San Pedro when he did. We were two penniless lads, but Phineas quickly proved exceedingly industrious. He obtained employment with the small transportation firm of Douglass and Sanford driving a mule team back and forth between the tiny port of San Pedro and the nearby village of Los Angeles.

Not content driving mules, Phineas soon transformed himself into the owner of the entire stage coaching business. And, appreciating that San Pedro's harbor was too shallow and muddy to support true shipping, Phineas spent his leisure hours taking soundings of the harbor's depths to determine how it might be improved.

Stranded | We Land in San Pedro | Stagecoach Adventures
Harnessing the Iron Horse | A Bay Bows to His Will
The Fulfillment of Family | A Fair & Agreeable Isle