How Gold Rush settlers stayed alive using salt from this antique San Francisco schooner

Peterson’s Salt Schooners During San Francisco’s Gold Rush

Before trucks and bridges linked the Bay Area, James Peterson’s five scow schooners ruled San Francisco’s waters. His father-in-law Fred Siemer built the Alma in 1891, naming it after Peterson’s daughter.

These flat-bottomed boats hauled salt from Alviso to San Francisco, meeting the huge demand that began during the Gold Rush.

Just one or two men crewed each vessel, sailing through shallow creeks and resting on mudflats at low tide.

By 1918, Peterson had turned Alma into a tow barge, still moving salt across the bay.

The restored Alma now floats at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, where you can step aboard this wooden workhorse that once fed the Bay Area’s commercial boom.

Gold Rush Fever Turned San Francisco Bay Into a Shipping Hub

Gold found in 1849 changed San Francisco Bay from quiet Ohlone waters to America’s busiest port almost overnight.

Miners and settlers rushed in by the thousands, all needing salt to keep their food fresh. Many spots around the bay were too shallow for regular ships.

Captain John Johnson saw this problem as a chance to make money and started the first salt business at Mount Eden in 1854, using the sun to dry out seawater.

Soon, salt making took off as everyone needed it to survive on the growing frontier.

Flat-Bottomed Boats Became the Bay’s Workhorses

Fred Siemer and other clever boat builders came up with a perfect fix for the bay’s tricky waters: scow schooners.

These flat-bottomed boats could sail in just a few feet of water and sit safely on mud when the tide went out. Builders made over 400 of these boats between 1850 and 1906.

Most were about 60-70 feet long but needed only one or two people to run them. They carried everything from hay to lumber, working like the delivery trucks of their day.

Siemer Built the Alma for His Son-in-Law in 1891

Fred Siemer built the scow schooner Alma in 1891 at his Hunters Point boatyard.

The boat cost $2,800, with thick side-by-side planks that traded speed for strength and lower cost. Alma was 59 feet long and 22. 5 feet wide with a shallow 3.5-foot bottom perfect for mudflats.

Siemer named the boat after his granddaughter, Alma Peterson, whose father James Peterson would soon put the vessel to work in his growing boat business.

Peterson Ran a Five-Vessel Family Shipping Business

James Peterson took over the Alma as part of his growing shipping business.

He set up near Mission Creek, close to where the baseball park stands today, giving him easy access to San Francisco markets.

Peterson grew his business to five scow schooners that sailed all over the bay. His fleet linked far-off farming towns with the busy city, bringing needed goods to market.

This family business showed how small boat owners could succeed.

Salt Routes Kept the Peterson Fleet Busy Year-Round

Alma and her sister boats spent most of their time hauling salt from Alviso to San Francisco’s hungry markets.

People always needed salt to keep food fresh before they had fridges.

By the early 1900s, Leslie Salt Company started buying up smaller salt makers around the bay, but boat owners like Peterson stayed busy.

His crews learned to work with the tides, timing their trips to Alviso’s shallow waters during high tide to load the valuable white cargo.

Crews Mastered the Art of Tidal Navigation

Peterson’s sailors got really good at “working the tide” through the bay’s tricky waters.

They sailed into creeks at high tide, then let their boats rest on mud as the water went out for loading. With just one or two men, they did everything from sailing to loading heavy cargo by hand.

When stuck in shallow spots, they used a trick called “kedging” to pull themselves forward by dropping an anchor ahead and pulling toward it.

They traveled from the Sacramento Delta to Milpitas, getting salt and farm goods.

Hay Deliveries Filled the Decks Between Salt Runs

Peterson’s boats didn’t just carry salt. His scows hauled huge loads of hay to feed San Francisco’s thousands of horses that pulled wagons and streetcars.

Channel Street became a busy spot where often a dozen scows tied up three deep, their decks stacked high with hay bales. The Annie L.and other boats in Peterson’s fleet regularly carried more than 350 bales each trip from farms all over.

Fire was always a worry at these crowded hay docks.

Big Companies Started Squeezing Out Family Operators

Leslie Salt Company grew into a giant, becoming the world’s biggest industrial salt maker by the 1930s. Their growth put pressure on small carriers like Peterson.

At the same time, bigger steamships and better docks made it harder for small scow owners to compete on main shipping routes.

Peterson kept going by focusing on shallow-water routes that bigger boats couldn’t handle. Many family shipping businesses closed as big companies took over bay shipping.

The Alma Lost Her Sails and Became a Barge

Peterson took off Alma’s masts in 1918, changing her from a sailing vessel to a towed barge. The mastless Alma kept hauling sacks of Alviso salt while steam tugs pulled her instead of using wind power.

This change matched what was happening all over the bay as motor boats replaced sailing craft. Peterson kept his business running despite these new technologies that changed bay shipping.

The old ways were fading, but Peterson found ways to keep his fleet working.

Trucks and Bridges Spelled the End for Water Transport

Frank Resch bought the Alma from Peterson in 1926 and put in a gas engine so she could carry oyster shells without needing a tow.

By then, Peterson’s once-proud five-scow fleet had mostly broken up as bridges and trucks changed bay transportation.

The Carquinez Bridge opened in 1927, followed by the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge in the 1930s, making water transport less needed.

More trains and better roads let people reach shore spots without boats.

The Last Survivor of a Vanished Maritime World

The Peterson fleet represented the backbone of Bay Area commerce before modern infrastructure connected the region.

These humble vessels enabled economic growth by providing essential links between isolated communities around the bay.

Today, only the Alma survives as a National Historic Landmark, preserved at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

The vessel stands as the last witness to the era when Peterson’s family business helped build the Bay Area economy through salt delivery and other essential cargo.

The scow schooners may be gone, but their legacy lives on in the commercial connections they helped establish.

Visiting Alma (Scow Schooner), California

You can visit the Alma scow schooner at 2905 Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco to learn about James Peterson’s salt business that supplied the Bay Area.

The pier is temporarily closed for renovations, so the ships are at Mare Island Naval Shipyard where you can view them from shore.

When the pier reopens, admission costs $15 (kids 15 and under free) and National Parks Passes work. Limited seasonal sailing tours happen when available.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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