Explore the real-world places that appear in Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Boston Harbor (Union Wharf), Cape Horn, Santa Barbara Presidio and Roadstead, Old Mission Santa Barbara, San Pedro Harbor and 7 more.
Boston, Massachusetts — The Pilgrim departs, August 1834
Dana, a Harvard student recovering from measles-damaged eyesight, signs on as a common sailor aboard the brig Pilgrim. He leaves Boston on August 14, 1834, bound for California to collect cattle hides. The departure launches his two-year voyage as an ordinary seaman, far from his comfortable Boston life.
Boston was a leading American port in the 1830s and the center of the New England hide and trade business with California. Merchant houses such as Bryant, Sturgis & Co. sent ships around Cape Horn to trade manufactured goods for hides.
Boston Harbor is now a waterfront of parks, harbor walks, and the Boston Harborwalk trail. Historic wharves remain along the downtown waterfront, and the area is open to the public.
Visit: Boston Harborwalk (park)
Southern tip of Chile — The brutal rounding of the Horn
The Pilgrim rounds Cape Horn in the austral winter, facing freezing gales, ice, and long dark days. Dana describes the hardships of the crew, including the sailors' frozen rigging and sodden clothes, as well as the sight of a great iceberg. The passage shows the dangers of sail before steam.
Cape Horn was the notorious southernmost point of South America's Tierra del Fuego archipelago. It was first rounded in 1616 and became a dreaded route for sailing ships before the Panama Canal opened in 1914.
Cape Horn is a Chilean national park area with a lighthouse, a chapel, and a monument depicting an albatross. It can be visited by expedition cruise ships and small boats.
Visit: Cape Horn National Park Monument (monument)
Santa Barbara, California — First California landfall of the Pilgrim
The Pilgrim arrives in January 1835 and anchors in the open roadstead off Santa Barbara. Dana describes the Mexican-era town, the mission, the presidio, and the dangerous surf, and he witnesses a local wedding, with California hospitality and fandango dancing. The trading routine of hides and goods begins here.
The Santa Barbara Presidio was founded by Spain in 1782 as the last of four royal presidios in Alta California. It was a Mexican possession during Dana's visit.
The Santa Barbara Presidio State Historic Park preserves restored adobe buildings, including El Cuartel, in downtown Santa Barbara. Visitors can tour the exhibits and grounds.
Visit: Santa Barbara Presidio State Historic Park (historic site)
2201 Laguna St — The 'Queen of the Missions'
Dana notes the mission as one of the finest on the California coast, with its twin towers, red-tiled roofs, and the Native American neophytes who lived and worked there. He observes the decaying power of the missions under Mexican secularization. The mission stands as a landmark above the town.
The mission was founded on December 4, 1786 by Franciscan Father Fermín Lasuén. The current stone church was completed in 1820 after earlier earthquake damage.
Old Mission Santa Barbara is an active parish church and museum that is open to visitors for self-guided tours. It remains one of the best-preserved of California's missions.
Visit: Old Mission Santa Barbara (historic site)
Los Angeles Harbor, San Pedro — The hide-curing port
San Pedro is the harbor where Dana and the crew load hides carried from inland ranchos. He calls it the worst place on the coast, describing the exhausting labor of carrying hides on their heads down the cliffs. He also portrays the loneliness of the shoreline and the dangerous southeasters.
San Pedro served as the port of the Pueblo de Los Angeles during the Mexican period and was a center of the hide-and-tallow trade. It grew into the Port of Los Angeles after the 1870s.
The Port of Los Angeles is one of the busiest container ports in the Western Hemisphere. Dana's Point and the San Pedro waterfront offer parks and maritime attractions.
Visit: Los Angeles Maritime Museum (museum)
Point Loma, San Diego — Dana's long stay at the hide houses
Dana is transferred to the Alert and spends months working at San Diego's hide houses on the beach at La Playa, curing and storing hides. He befriends Hawaiian (Kanaka) workers such as Hope, and he meets sailors on the beach. His time here provides some of the book's most detailed accounts of the trade.
La Playa was the main anchorage and landing for San Diego in the 1830s, with hide houses along the shore. The settlement served as the place where hides were cured before shipment.
The La Playa area of Point Loma is now a residential neighborhood near Cabrillo National Monument and the bay shore. Cabrillo National Monument overlooks the harbor and provides views of the bay.
Visit: Cabrillo National Monument (monument)
Old Town San Diego — Mexican-era pueblo
Dana walks from the beach to the small adobe pueblo of San Diego, which he finds sparse and unimpressive. He describes the low adobe houses, the presidio ruin, and the poor state of the settlement. His visit includes the story of Ruth, the Pilgrim's fate, and his encounters with local families.
The Presidio of San Diego was founded in 1769 and the pueblo grew below it during the Mexican period. Old Town was the center of the settlement until New Town developed in the 1860s.
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park preserves adobe buildings, museums, and restaurants. Presidio Park above it has the Junípero Serra Museum.
Visit: Old Town San Diego State Historic Park (historic site)
Custom House Plaza, Monterey — The capital of Alta California
Monterey was the capital and customs port where trading vessels paid duties. Dana found it the most pleasant town on the coast, with its clean white adobe houses, and describes the customs formalities and the fandangos. The ship stops here between voyages along the coast.
The Monterey Custom House, built in 1827 under Mexican rule, is the oldest government building on the California coast. In 1846 Commodore John Sloat raised the U.S. flag here during the Mexican-American War.
The Custom House is part of Monterey State Historic Park and is open as a museum. It sits near the waterfront Custom House Plaza.
Visit: Monterey State Historic Park – Custom House (historic site)
San Francisco — A near-empty bay in 1835
Dana visits San Francisco Bay and sees the tiny settlement of Yerba Buena, with only a handful of buildings and Mission Dolores nearby. He predicts that the great bay will someday hold a large city and port. His forecast of its future is one of the book's best-known moments.
Yerba Buena was founded in 1835 by William Richardson and later became San Francisco. The Gold Rush of 1849 turned the village into a major city.
Yerba Buena Cove has been filled in and is now part of the Financial District and Embarcadero. The Ferry Building and waterfront promenade run along the area.
Visit: San Francisco Ferry Building (landmark)
3321 16th St, San Francisco — Mission San Francisco de Asís
Dana describes the decayed mission near the bay, noting its few remaining Native American residents and the neglect of the buildings. He contrasts the abundant land with the weak colonial settlement. The visit adds to his picture of California before American settlement.
Mission San Francisco de Asís was founded in 1776, and the current chapel, completed in 1791, is the oldest intact building in San Francisco. It survived the 1906 earthquake.
Mission Dolores is a museum, chapel, and cemetery open to visitors. It is next to the Basilica built in 1918.
Visit: Mission Dolores (historic site)
Orange County, California — The cliff where hides were thrown
Dana describes San Juan Capistrano's coast and the high cliffs where sailors threw hides down to the beach, the hardest labor of the voyage. He calls the spot the only romantic place on the coast. The cliff is today named for him.
Dana Point was named for Richard Henry Dana Jr. after his book made the area famous. The harbor was built in the 1960s and a replica of the brig Pilgrim sits there as a tall ship.
Dana Point Harbor has parks, a marina, and the Ocean Institute with a replica of the brig Pilgrim. A statue of Dana and a Pilgrim-themed visitor area stand near the headlands.
Visit: Ocean Institute and Tall Ship Pilgrim (tour)
Cambridge, Massachusetts — Dana's roots and Harvard
Dana was a Harvard student when measles weakened his eyes and led him to ship out as a sailor. After returning in 1836, he finished at Harvard and wrote the book while at law school. The narrative was published in 1840.
Harvard College was founded in 1636 in Cambridge. Dana graduated in 1837, studied law, and later became a leading maritime lawyer and abolitionist.
Harvard Yard is open to visitors, with campus tours offered. The university's libraries hold Dana's papers and related materials.
Visit: Harvard Yard (landmark)
More by Richard Henry Dana: All Richard Henry Dana books
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