This is a postcard from the 1840s. The time of both the Mexican War and the great Boston-California hide trade. Boston/New England's shipping trade, the rise of the shoe manufacturing of the greater Boston area, the pre-gold rush cattle/hide wealth of the Californios are all part of the background, as is the shipping bonanza of the Mexican War.

The cattle were driven down to water side, killed and skinned and shipped in tallow on board the Boston ships all the way around the Horn. It created a way of life that would be swept away by the gold rush.