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Trespassers at the Golden Gate : a true account of love, murder, and madness in Gilded-Age San Francisco Cover Image Book

Trespassers at the Golden Gate : a true account of love, murder, and madness in Gilded-Age San Francisco / Gary Krist.

Krist, Gary, (author.).

Summary:

"Shortly before dusk on November 3, 1870, just as the ferryboat El Capitan was pulling away from its slip into San Francisco Bay, a woman clad in black emerged from the shadows and strode across the crowded deck. Reaching under her veil, she drew a small pistol and aimed it directly at a well-dressed man sitting quietly with his wife and children. The woman fired a single bullet into his chest. "I did it and I don't deny it," she said when arrested shortly thereafter. "He ruined both myself and my daughter." Though little remembered today, the trial of Laura D. Fair for the murder of her lover, A. P. Crittenden, made headlines nationwide. As bestselling author Gary Krist reveals, the operatic facts of the case--a woman strung along for years by a two-timing man, killing him in an alleged fit of madness--challenged an American populace still searching for moral consensus after the Civil War. The trial shone an early and uncomfortable spotlight on social issues like the role of women, the sanctity of the family, and the range of acceptable expressions of gender, while jolting the still-adolescent metropolis of 1870s San Francisco, a city eager to shed its rough-and-tumble Gold Rush-era reputation."-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780593444214
  • ISBN: 0593444213
  • ISBN: 9780593444238
  • ISBN: 059344423X
  • Physical Description: xx, 376 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map ; 25 cm
  • Edition: First edition.
  • Publisher: New York, New York : Crown, [2025]

Content descriptions

General Note:
Map on lining papers.
Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-360) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:
A Restless Man -- A Town of Mud and Gold -- Setbacks -- No Place for a Lady -- Assorted Insurrections -- An Ungovernable Woman -- Blue, Gray, and Silver -- The Fortunes of War -- The Silver Magnet -- Love in Bloom -- Provocateurs -- Living Dangerously -- The War After the War -- A City on the Move -- Broken Promises -- Bicoastal Relationships -- Wife vs. Wife -- A Splendid Ruin -- A Threat -- The Restless Ghost -- The Great Man Honored -- Dueling Cliches -- A Female Hercules -- Neither Saint Nor Demon -- The Lady Triumphs

Search for related items by subject

Subject:
Fair, Laura D., 1837-1919.
Crittenden, Alexander Parker, 1816-1870.
Murder > California > San Francisco > History > 19th century.
San Francisco (Calif.) > History > 19th century.
San Francisco (Calif.) > Social conditions > 19th century.
Genre:
True crime stories.

Available copies

  • 19 of 19 copies available at NC Cardinal. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at McDowell County Public Library.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 19 total copies.
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Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Marion Library 979.46 KRI (Text) 37810435835649 Adult Nonfiction Available -

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MARC Record

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1001 . ‡aKrist, Gary, ‡eauthor. ‡0(CARDINAL)768544
24510. ‡aTrespassers at the Golden Gate : ‡ba true account of love, murder, and madness in Gilded-Age San Francisco / ‡cGary Krist.
250 . ‡aFirst edition.
264 1. ‡aNew York, New York : ‡bCrown, ‡c[2025]
264 4. ‡c©2025
300 . ‡axx, 376 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : ‡billustrations, map ; ‡c25 cm
336 . ‡atext ‡btxt ‡2rdacontent
337 . ‡aunmediated ‡bn ‡2rdamedia
338 . ‡avolume ‡bnc ‡2rdacarrier
500 . ‡aMap on lining papers.
504 . ‡aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 315-360) and index.
5050 . ‡aA Restless Man -- A Town of Mud and Gold -- Setbacks -- No Place for a Lady -- Assorted Insurrections -- An Ungovernable Woman -- Blue, Gray, and Silver -- The Fortunes of War -- The Silver Magnet -- Love in Bloom -- Provocateurs -- Living Dangerously -- The War After the War -- A City on the Move -- Broken Promises -- Bicoastal Relationships -- Wife vs. Wife -- A Splendid Ruin -- A Threat -- The Restless Ghost -- The Great Man Honored -- Dueling Cliches -- A Female Hercules -- Neither Saint Nor Demon -- The Lady Triumphs
520 . ‡a"Shortly before dusk on November 3, 1870, just as the ferryboat El Capitan was pulling away from its slip into San Francisco Bay, a woman clad in black emerged from the shadows and strode across the crowded deck. Reaching under her veil, she drew a small pistol and aimed it directly at a well-dressed man sitting quietly with his wife and children. The woman fired a single bullet into his chest. "I did it and I don't deny it," she said when arrested shortly thereafter. "He ruined both myself and my daughter." Though little remembered today, the trial of Laura D. Fair for the murder of her lover, A. P. Crittenden, made headlines nationwide. As bestselling author Gary Krist reveals, the operatic facts of the case--a woman strung along for years by a two-timing man, killing him in an alleged fit of madness--challenged an American populace still searching for moral consensus after the Civil War. The trial shone an early and uncomfortable spotlight on social issues like the role of women, the sanctity of the family, and the range of acceptable expressions of gender, while jolting the still-adolescent metropolis of 1870s San Francisco, a city eager to shed its rough-and-tumble Gold Rush-era reputation."-- ‡cProvided by publisher.
60010. ‡aFair, Laura D., ‡d1837-1919. ‡0(CARDINAL)436994
60010. ‡aCrittenden, Alexander Parker, ‡d1816-1870. ‡0(CARDINAL)436995
650 0. ‡aMurder ‡zCalifornia ‡zSan Francisco ‡xHistory ‡y19th century.
651 0. ‡aSan Francisco (Calif.) ‡xHistory ‡y19th century.
651 0. ‡aSan Francisco (Calif.) ‡xSocial conditions ‡y19th century.
655 7. ‡aTrue crime stories. ‡2lcgft ‡0(CARDINAL)340776
77608. ‡iOnline version: ‡aKrist, Gary. ‡tTrespassers at the Golden Gate ‡bFirst edition. ‡dNew York : Crown, [2025] ‡z9780593444221 ‡w(DLC) 2024022796
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