Recollections of a Newspaperman: Old California, the U.S. Mint, and the San Francisco Earthquake

Though his career hit heights far beyond his work as a California journalist, Frank Leach always thought of himself as a newspaperman. Emigrating to the Golden State with his family as a boy, he saw it grow into an important center of business and agriculture.

Along the way, he became superintendent of the U.S Mint in San Francisco. During his tenure, the devastating 1906 earthquake and subsequent fires destroyed much of the City by the Bay, leaving the nation stunned. Leach and his men save...