The Nate Harrison Historical Archaeology Project

Palomar Mountain - San Diego, California
The Official Site of the SDSU Historical Archaeology Field School

The March 21, and April 20, 1884, San Diego Union articles

The San Diego Union ran a story on March 21, 1884, reporting that Harrison had died in a recent storm. The newspaper article noted that, “Poor ‘Nate’ Harrison was drowned in the San Luis Rey River during the recent storm. He was a Southern slave and has resided here many years.” Unfortunately, the brief article did not specify where “here” was, or how long “many years” constituted. Less than a month later, the newspaper recanted the story, asserting that, “Nigger Nate is not drowned as was reported in the Union; he still lives to vote the Republican ticket and beat his way through the world. Although neither of these small stories placed Harrison on the mountain, they did situate him in northern San Diego, near the San Luis Rey River. In addition, they intimated that he was widely known in the local region and had likely lived in San Diego County for quite some time.

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