America’s Only Emperor: The Strange, True Story of Emperor Norton

0:01 San Francisco, the City by the Bay, City of Fog, the Paris of the West, the Gay Bay, but never ever San fran Oh no, no, no, no, no no. And if you dare to utter the despised word Frisco, you're in trouble. But whatever you call it, it's a city of drama, a city of legends, and most importantly, a city absolutely crawling with legendary characters. And today, on this very special crossover episode, we're going to talk about one of San Francisco's most iconic legends in America's only Emperor.

0:44 History is messy, weird, wild, anything but boring. We're rainy day rabbit Holes, exploring the unhinged side of history, politics, and culture. Let's fall down the rabbit hole. Dunt dun dum. Thank you. Welcome back, friends and spooky bitches, because today we are joined by the gorgeous Gabby gals from PNW Haunts and Homicides. Caitlin Say hi, Caitlin Hello, and Cassie you say hi, Cassie. Oh hello, creepy people. You might remember our beautiful podwives from last year when we joined them in their city of Portland to explore the Shanghai tunnels and learn all about the historic Crystal Hotel. Oh plus hot tub time. Oh yeah, oh yeah that stays between all. So I was gonna say, did we share that? Yeah?

1:41 PNW Haunts and Homicides is where ghosts, murder, and Pacific Northwest Weirdness all hang out together. Basically, if it's spooky, weird or slightly cursed, they're covering it. So what are you waiting for? Go subscribe to PNW Haunts and Homicides now, okay, I'll wait. Oh wow, she's bossy. Shaye, you're hired. I do what she says? You, guys, I wouldn't I wouldn't mess around. Yeah, honestly. Now, before we get started, I think we should come up with a mashup of our two podcast names. What do you think? I'm down? I like it. Okay, So I've got I've got a top three, so you have to tell me what you think. Okay, So the first one, Rainy Day Haunts and Holes. Does that sound a little too sexual? I mean it could? Or could?

2:35 Isn't that great? Yeah? Double? I like it? Yeah? Okay, how about this PNW Rabbit Homicides Rampant Rabbit hump Homicides. Well, I mean, we had, by mistake, been referred to as humps and homicides, so I feel, you know, it's in. The spirit of our show. So for me, it kind of it's like rabbits snapped and I'm just imagining. Are you guys familiar with Monty Python on the Holy Grail? There's like, yes, just rabit like a wheel, people in there and it's all it's got like fangs, it's got blood down, it's fur. I'm just thinking of that. Okay, So how about this one rainy day homicide holes? I knew it. We have a hole, Yes, had to have holes in it. Hole, I like the holes the holes have to say or does that just sound like our vaginas have knives? I mean, hey, that could be the cover art. Like a bikini woman. There's knives sticking out of the like like you know how you get like hair sticking out of the edge of the pin.

3:55 That's exactly what I was picturing. Yes, a bush, a knife bush. I have not had a chance to research it, but I've actually heard about a device that they are using from what I remember reading in South Africa. Think of like almost like a diaphragm, but like a really angry one. Holy shit, and. They're using it as like a protective device. I've heard this before when say oh wow, okay, so it's got sharp pieces. Wow, yes it has teeth. Yeah. Interesting, Okay, I have to look into this. I've not heard of it.

4:37 I'm going to plan to look into this for sure. I haven't had a chance to. I just saw it the other day and I was like, I. Think there are certain people that should always have that in place, Like if you're auditioning for anything in Hollywood. Right. At the abbey. Possibly a good idea. At the abbey. I heard that's real bad. You're on a private jet with millionaires. Certainly true spaces I was gonna say, I'm just gonna say, anywhere on planet Earth as a woman, Yeah, basically, yeah. I mean a lot of times you just have to have it in your purse, but in certain places you have it, but kind of like sometimes you have to Yeah, well.

5:22 That's a different kind of purse. Yeah, that's where I keep my keys. I don't know about you guys. All right, no matter what our ship name is, it's definitely a rainy day in the Haunted P and W today because we're together, Okay, so I know that the assignment that we had agreed on for our crossovers was specific Northwest legends, but you guys did kind of go off on that because our episode about Finn's Treasure was not it was more Colorado and like it wasn't really P and W. The Wyoming Montana. Uh, I mean, yeah, it's adjacent. I claim them, Yeah.

6:07 W adjacent. I do too, because they have yellowstones, so they have to be which is. What we were coming exactly. So you took creative liberties with the assignment, and I also, of course took creative liberties with the assignment directions. Now I recognize that San Francisco is not part of the Pacific Northwest. Somebody sent us a really terrible review of Cali. I don't even know that San Francisco is not part of the PAW. It's my podcast. We read somewhere that there was there was a description that once included parts of northern California, but I didn't see how far that's northern California is, so in some definitions it is also I.

6:49 Always say, we're podcasting from the P ANDW, so whatever we talk about it counts, So shut the fucks there you go, that's true. If we talked about it. Northwest Japan now was officially out of the bazilfic Northwest it's on the path. Right, is another good way to get around it. And San Francisco isn't even part of Cascadia. But honestly, Washington and Oregon have way more in common with San Francisco than San Francisco has with southern California. I think I think. That probably makes sense. Yeah, And frankly, we have way more in common here in Washington and Oregon with San Francisco than we do with say, Idaho. I agree, where you're basically required to join a militia or be really shitty about trans people using the bathroom, I agree, right, yeah, I agree.

7:42 I'm on board with the whole potato thing. But Cassie is not Wallace, Idaho. If that's a place we should go take a trip. Wallace, Idaho is northern Idaho. But it's like this little tiny gym full of transplants that didn't go there for the militia and it's just an art and fun and well, we will disown all of Idaho except for Wace. And they're quirky, I mean, they made They made a thing in the middle of the road that in the middle of one of their intersections that said center of the universe. Oh that's right, the go back to government. Yeah, yeah, do it. Because they in order to preserve their town and stop the government, they made all their entire towns and historic uh historic monuments.

8:26 I love that. Oh yeah, that was right, because they wanted to tear down a bunch of the historic buildings to build the freeway. So they made the entire downtown. Because I ninety used to stop there and then you had to go through town, stop at the stoplight, go around a corner, a couple more corners, and then get back on a freeway. It didn't continue through at all, and so they wanted to make it go through by basically running through the town. And the town said, oh hold on, hold on, we got to fight this, give us a minute. And then they made every every building a historical monument so they couldn't. Tear down Very smart. Yes, I love that. Yeah, they have lots of lore there. They're crazy. While is that ho look it up. There's tons of hants. Oh yeah.

9:10 So I would like to officially offer San Francisco a partnership with Western Washington and Western Oregon and consider it an honorary member of both the P and W and Cascadia. What do you think, Let's do it. Are you in charge? I am in fact, I'm in I'm going to make it a proclamation. Oh m hmm, by the power vested in Shay. The power vested in me that I've given myself. And this leads us into today's topic because this story isn't a legend technically, but it is about a legendary historical character, someone who like me, absolutely loved making proclamations. Today we are talking about Joshua A. Abraham Norton, the Emperor of the United States. Oh boy, oh, let's go back to our favorite time and history, the eighteen eighties, nineties, hundreds.

10:17 I'll do that. It feels very timely right now. Though, uh huh, I know reincarnation. We well, this is an emperor that you would actually be like, okay with, I'd actually vote for this. Yeah, yeah, we'll get that. We are traveling back to the eighteen hundreds, a time of discovery, destiny, and questionable hygiene. San Francisco was exploding after the discovery of gold in northern California in eighteen forty eight. California wasn't even an actual state, yet almost overnight, Sleepy Port Town became a mud splattered carnival of ambition.

10:58 Ships flooded the bay fast than they could be unloaded, so many that abandoned vessels were turned into warehouses, saloons, hotels, and occasionally mistakes. The streets rang with hammers and shovels, piano music spilling out of gambling halls, arguments in a dozen languages, and the constant hum of men convinced they were about to strike it rich gold. Dazed men poured in from everywhere, farm boys, sailors, dreamers, grifters, gamblers, young, broke, and wildly optimistic. And where that kind of optimism gathers, so do the people hoping to separate it from its money.

11:38 If you couldn't mind the gold, you could mind the miners. The city was loud, filthy, and chaotic. Fortunes were made and lost Between breakfast and dinner. Laws were suggestions, justice was flexible, and reinvention wasn't just possible, it was expected. You could arrive in the morning and be someone entirely new by nightfall. In short Sam from Cisco was eccentric, ungovernable, and wildly theatrical, exactly the kind of city where the idea of an emperor of the United States doesn't sound completely impossible. And into this beautifully unhinged mess walked Joshua Abraham Norton. That's very imperial. What a name? Yeah, Jan for short? Hey Dan, my god, Emperor Jan. That's just gonna have ember Jan. I love it. Joshua Norton was born on February fourth in London to Jewish parents, maybe in eighteen fifteen, maybe in eighteen twenty or baby eighteen eighteen.

12:50 Historians argue records are fuzzy for Arnon, well, they're kind of. He's probably born at home and someone said later, yeah, I think he support a couple of years ago. I'm pretty sure it was. Yeah, exactly. There were some things going on. It's the eighteen hundreds stuff at all. You know, maybe since he was emperor, he just didn't want people to know his age, so he's like, yeah, it was very secret documents, but most people have collectively agreed to just go with eighteen eighteen. A few years later, Joshua's parents, John and Sarah Norton, packed up Joshua and his two brothers and set sail from London to South Africa as part of a British colonial effort happening at the time. Oh boo, so right out of the gate.

13:35 Joshua's life is marked by big moves, imperial ambition, and people thinking they can just pick up and start over somewhere else, which is brand. Yeah and colonial. Take what yeah? Oh, I like to have that. Okay. Oh, it's kind of like dogs being on things like that's mine all that. I'm feeling a little bit. That's a little too close to home for me right now. No, nothing anymore. The puppy owns it all. Has somebody on your stuff? I don't what yeah, No, Honestly, I took my bath mat out of the dryer this morning, and the last thing that Charlotte did in.

14:20 Like the hour before I hopped. On to record with you guys, was too unceremoniously pee on it yet again. It's her pea pad. She was like, oh, this is nice to be here. It's also there. Is a literal pea pad in is comfortable. This is fuzzy. It smelled good because it just came out of the job. Yeah, she's boogie. It did smell good. Yeah, she is bougie, you guys, I hate to tell you my beautiful, adorable, angelic dog. Today I took him for a walk and he was rooting around in the grass and he was eating catshit no Broca's in the wild. Yeah, that's what I was thinking normally out of the cat box.

15:05 This is yep. So I have now been brushing his teeth and the cat's teeth every single night for the last week. So we'll see how that works. Okay, here we go with the same toothbrush. Actually, yes, I just washed it between. They don't know, they don't care, all right. So, by the age of twenty one, with help from his father, Joshua opened his own ship supplies business. He was ambitious, confident, and clearly trying to follow in his father's footsteps. Unfortunately, the business went bankrupt within eighteen months, and then things got much worse. Joshua's father's business began to fail, Then his mother died, Then both of his brothers passed away. Finally, in eighteen forty eight, his father, John died as well.

15:55 Within a relatively short span of time, Joshua lost his entire immediate family. So with nothing left for him in South Africa, Joshua took what remained of his inheritance, reportedly around forty thousand dollars, which do you want to guess how much that is today? It's a fuck ton of money. Yeah, forty million? Oh no, not quite. That's very ambitious. Nice job, four hundreds. It is about one point six million dollars today. Oh wow. I mean I would take it. Yeah, I mean that's that's a pretty good start. I don't get him home, Yeah yeah. I would slum it with a casual one point. I could take you for the future there, Yeah, yeah, true, Cassie True. And in eighteen forty nine he set sale for San Francisco and the promise of the gold Rush.

16:44 And this is where for a moment everything works out for jan So I'm taking I love better than saying Joshua Norton. Norton got to work immediately. He established Joshua Norton and Company, a real estate and important conn and within just three years had transformed that forty thousand dollars into two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which is roughly shit ten point five million dollars today. Get it? Wow. Okay, So I've always said I'm not interested in using the wija board. I actually think I would like to get to this. Fellow, get a little like investment advice. I need something I don't know, two materials. What do you think about crypto six six? Yeah, he increased it by six times, right yeah, maths yeah cracious.

17:43 Okay, well it went from what forty thousand and fifty Yeah, it's just over six times. And house short of time again three years, three years. That's insane. Somebody who really has nothing except for as far as like business skills or I mean, it seems pampered with his family, right yeah, I mean yeah it was. He he started his first business at twenty one with money from his father, and it was the same business basically his father was in. His father was in like a ship supplies company. So he started his own company and it failed within eighteen months. So you know, he turned it around, was able to make. A fortune created all by his own and he don't call it a company, right, Well, he so he had so it was a real estate and importing company.

18:32 So he was buying up land around San Francisco. And this is at a time during the Gold rush when people are pouring in, so the value of land is just going through the roof. He owned several tracks of land in San Francisco, including the extremely desirable North Beach area, which we know is pretty fougie at this point. Yeah, Joshua Norton or Jan was prosperous. He was respected. He's circulated in the upper esche of San Francisco society, and he lived the lavish lifestyle of the very rich. And then came eighteen fifty two. That year, a devastating rice famine hit China and a ban was imposed on rice exports out of the country. The result, the price of rice skyrocketed by about nine hundred percent. Holy nobody could afford the San Francisco tree, Nice called Jony. Oh my gosh, Norton.

19:37 I mean, how much of the American diet was really made of rice? I'm curious about that too. I have to wonder. Yeah, I don't know that that is something to look into, I know, especially in San Francisco at this point, Asian immigrants were pouring in because of the gold. I think that's the bigger issue, is that. Yeah, the population that that time like part of like their native food culture, they're probably not able to access it well. And part of the reason, actually, part of the reason that a lot of immigrants were coming from China was because of this famine. So yeah, yeah, it was. I mean, a lot of these people were poor farmers, a lot of them rice farmers, and yeah, there was a blight on the rice, and yet people were starving to death in China. So they were lured to the United States with this belief that they were going to come here and that gold literally grew on trees. Okay, So Norton, being a savvy and confident businessman, saw an opportunity. He attempted to corner the rice market. For roughly twenty five thousand dollars, which is about a million dollars to day, he purchased an entire shipload of Peruvian rice at twelve and a half cents per pound, when the going rate in San Francisco was around thirty six cents a pound.

20:57 Oh damn, it looked brilliant, not uh oh oh, because Norton wasn't the only one who had the same idea. Multiple ships carrying rice from Peru arrived in San Francisco all about the same time, and most of the rice was higher quality than the rice that Norton had bought. Oh no, so the rice market in San Francisco collapsed. Rice prices plunged to three cents a pound, where we bought it for twelve and a half cents a pound. Oh so, he tried to void his contract, claiming he had been misled about the quality of the rice. What followed was a lawsuit that dragged on for nearly two years, slowly bleeding him dry, and in eighteen fifty four, the California Supreme Court ruled against him. This rice gamble had ruined him. He lost most of his fortune over this, saying he tried to recover. In eighteen fifty five, he ran for San Francisco tax collector, hoping that public office might help him claw his way back. It didn't. By eighteen fifty six, at just thirty eight years old, Joshua Norton was forced to declare bankruptcy. He moved into a cheap boarding house on Kearney Street, and, in one last attempt to remain visible, to stay relevant, respectable, just someone, he announced his candidacy for the US Congress in eighteen fifty eight. When the election took place, the following year, Joshua Norton's name wasn't even on the ballot. Oh no,

22:29 So between eighteen fifty six and eighteen fifty nine, Norton slipped almost entirely into obscurity. Many historians believe he was in a deep depressive state. And it's hard to argue with that. Yeah, yeah, right, that makes sense. Such highs and lows, I mean, not getting on the ballot makes it pretty hard to win. And then that's kind of a fiber. It's a whole thing. It's a real snowball that. We're you know. Within fifteen years he had lost his entire family, built and law a massive fortune, and fallen from the heights of San Francisco society to near invisibility. Yeah. Just stick a forkun and me's done. High's and lows, highs and lows. For about a year, he basically disappeared. Historians can't figure out what he was doing in that year. And then Joshua Norton jan re emerged.

23:22 And when he did, he did it with a flourish, which we will get into after this quick break. Welcome back. I'm here with Caitlin Oh and Jody. I'm Joey we're here. We're here. With Jody and Caitlyn and Cassie. It's like it's like when I talked to my brother on the phone and I'm like, yeah, I was talking to my mom. Oh your mom. Yeah, it really is yeah. Yeah, oh yeah, your mom. Oh yeah, our mom. Sorry. Hen of the Pow Haunts and Homicides Podcast. Okay, ladies, where did we leave off the Emperor? He turned destitute.

24:18 Yeah, he disappeared, He had highs and lows, ups and downs, disappeared and now he's back. He's back. Joshua Abraham Norton was about to re emerge, reborn like a monarch butterfly if that butterfly came back with the pinions and a god complex. In July of eighteen fifty nine, Norton took out a paid advertisement in the San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin. It wasn't subtle. It was a full on manifesto addressed to the citizens of the Union. In it, Norton outlined what he saw as a national crisis and made it very clear that this crisis required immediate attention. Of course, and then in September of that same year, he escalated, as one does surprise, Joshua Norton personally hand delivered a letter to the bulletin.

25:17 Inside was a proclamation, the first of many. All right, Caitlin, you've got a pretty solid British accent. I'm gonna send you one. You're okay, thinking beans on toast. At the peremptory request and desire of the large majority of the citizens of these United States, I Joshua Norton, formerly of I'll go obey Cape of Good Hope, and now for the last nine years and ten months past of San Francisco, California, declare and proclaim myself emperor of these United States.

26:09 Community around on the plaza. It's not over. I'm sorry, there's so much more, Okay. So she led with really talking up my British accent, but then she just said pompous and that was. That's perfect, doing perfect, as I was like, thumbs up, it's perfect, excellent. Oh do go on, and in virtue of the authority thereby. In me vested Jesus Christ, do hereby. Order and direct the representatives of the different states of the Union to assemble in Musical Hall of this city on the first day of February next then there to make such alterations in the existing laws of the Union as may ameliorate the evils under which the country is laboring, and thereby cause confidence to exist, both at home and abroad in our stability and integrity. I'm sorry, that's just really hard to say about the United States.

27:29 With us and it hunger games or something. The first Emperor of the United States, I vote Caitlin for Emperor. Yeah, Emperor. Yes. The paper printed the letter in that evening's edition largely for humorous effect, and with that single act of indulgence, something remarkable happened. Thus began Norton's twenty years reign over San Francisco and technically the United States. The San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin took particular delight in him, faithfully publishing nearly all of his proclamations, often weekly, as Norton issued decrees with increasing confidence and frequency, and he wasted no time getting to work. The very next month, in October of eighteen fifty nine, Emperor Norton decided to abolish Congress.

28:28 Abolish Congress. I think we all really need to understand that. Unfortunately, this is what happens when, oh my god, I can't even think of the word anymore. You know when we humor, Yes, that's the one. Well, boy, this is what happens when we humor meetonger, particularly white men. Unfortunately, historically you give him an inch and they take a mile. Call it six? Who are myoc This is the Emperor of the United State. You know? Okay, it's just a vibe. Does anybody want to take on the next one? Or do you want me to do it? I will. Let's see what I can do with this one, okay? Is imperial majesty. Norton the first has issued the following edict, which he desires the bulletin to spread before the world. Let her rip, Yes exactly.

29:31 Fred fart noises, fart noises? Why do farts come up in every pumping? My? Oh, my god. It is represented to us that the universal suffrage, as now existing through the Union, is abused, That fraud and corruption prevent a fair and proper expression of the public voice. That open violation of the laws are constantly occurring, caused by mobs, parties, factions, an undue influence of political sex. That the citizen has not that protection of person and property which he is entitled to by paying his pro rata of the expense of government, in consequence of which we the Royal we do hereby abolish Congress. And it is therefore abolished. And we order and desire the representatives of all parties interested to appear at the Musical Hall of this city on the first of February next and then and there to take the most effective steps to remedy the evil complained of.

30:42 Okay, So now I really do wish that we were doing videos, yeah, because I want I really would like everyone to see my face when I say, sir, this is a Wendys. Do we know where he was for a year? Because he right? No more, he does not know where he was, because I am quite confident whatever the appropriate hallucinogenic drug at the time was pastime during that year? Was this when Elisiopia was that when they first accidentally found it. I don't know. Did he trip on some mushrooms?

31:25 Did he find some masho Opian was rampant in that in San Francisco at that time, So you know, Okay. So the very next day after making the proclamation abolishing Congress, Norton followed up with another letter to the Bulletin explaining that General Winfield Scott was not actually in the Pacific Northwest dealing with the San Juan Island dispute see our episode on the Pig War of eighteen fifty nine. Yeah, but had instead traveled west to escort the Emperor to Washington City so that Congress could be probably disposed. Oh, of course.

32:08 Of course, of course. General Scott unfortunately declined to come and escort the Emperor to Washington. End of excitement. I can't imagine why. Yeah, surprising no one. Undeterred, Norton's next act was to abolish the Supreme Court, which would be nice. I wish abolished Congress and the Supreme ar out, But gosh, if only i'd bring Jan back right now, vote Jan yeah, right right now over what we have vot Jam He's actually saying sane in this time, exactly. It's a great idea. Then in December, Norton was outraged by Virginia Governor Henry A. Wise, who had ordered the hanging of abolitionist John Brown on December second.

32:59 Thember responded accordingly, proclaiming, I do haded by discharge him Henry A. Wise from said office, and a point John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky to said office of governor of our province of Virginia. So now he's deciding who's governor. Somebody from Kentucky is now the governor of Virginia. Okay, well, I mean, hey, here's the thing is, when your emperor, that is a thing that you can do. It's his responsibility. Yeah, yeah, yeah, well and an abolitionist, correct me if I'm wrong, but. Those are those guys. So he was mad. Yeah that John Brown, who was an abolitionist, had been hanged.

33:45 And as am I. And here's the thing is, Emperor Norton was actually really progressive for his time. According to the Emperor Norton Trust, which is an organization that has been founded to kind of collect all of the story about Joshua Norton and keep it alive and honor him in the city. He was an adversary of corruption and fraud of all kinds, political, corporate, and personal. He was a persistent voice for the dignity, fair treatment, and legal rights of immigrants and other marginalized groups. Holy shit, So he commanded what a novel idea, I. Know, especially in eighteen fifty nine. Yeah, really, he commanded that courts allow Chinese people to testify because at that point, Chinese and Native Americans also were not allowed to testify in court. So if you attacked and assaulted a person of that was Chinese or Native American, they could not actually testify against you in court of law. It was a freebie. Yeah.

34:47 I don't think those were the only population, no, I know. I think there were a number in San Francisco that was horrific, right, yeah, yeah, that those would be the predominant group's impacted. So yeah, he warned, the eyes of the Emperor will be upon anyone who shall counsel any outrage or wrong on the Chinese. So he was an advocate of the Chinese. Yeah, fuck around and find out. Exactly he demanded, love that for us. He demanded that African Americans be allowed to ride public street cars and be admitted to public schools. With respect to Native Americans.

35:29 He proclaimed that all Indian agents and others involved in frauds against the Indian tribes should be publicly punished before as many and I'm saying Indian because that's what he was saying, but before as many Indian chiefs as could be assembled. He supported women's suffrage woo like, so early start out thinking like this guy is crazy, which maybe he was, but he was also kind of awesome. Yeah, hey, listen to that can be true. He was a religious humanist and pluralist who favored church state separation, warned against puritanism and secretarianism, which I don't know what that word is. I wrote it, but I don't know what it is. Refused to endorse any single church or synagogue and instead attended them all. Oh, he would just go from church to Oh, that's cute.

36:26 So everybody loved him. They're like, yeah, he hangs out with us, like every Sunday and or. Friday nights got busy weekends, Sundays, yeah. Yeah. He also prohibited the enforcement of state Sunday laws, which discriminated against Germans and Jews. He defended the people's right to fair taxes and basic services, including well maintained streets, streetcars, ferries, and trains. And he was an advocate for technological innovation when it served the public good. And Norton didn't stop at the US borders. Dicerned about the safety of the Mexican people, he declared himself Protector of Mexico and ordered ten thousand troops to be deployed to Mexico City to stabilize the government. He's like this obnoxious, crazy man with all the right mode like ideas. Spoiler alert, the troops were not deployed.

37:23 Yeah, well it's them, Yeah, exactly exactly. But eventually the fraud and corruption plaguing his great nation became too much, even for an emperor. On his birthday, February fourth, eighteen sixty, Norton proclaimed that the United States itself should be dissolved, declaring, we are certain that nothing was save the nation from utter ruin and falling to pieces except an absolute monarchy under the supervision an authority of an independent emperor and Supreme Council. Assimilation to the Russian form of government, with such alteration as may be adapted to the American nation. I'm concern Yeah, and then all the same, Yeah, I.

38:19 May have follow up questions when my brain stopped steaking, and when it became clear that no one was really listening. In July he tried again. Whereas it is necessary for our peace, prosperity, and happiness, as also to the national advancement of the people of the United States, that they should dissolve the Republican form of governments, and establish in its stead an absolute monarchy. We Norton the First, by the grace of God, Emperor of the thirty three States and the multitude of territories of the United States of America, do hereby dissolve the Republic of the United States.

39:10 And it is hereby dissolved. And all laws made from and after this date, either by the National Congress or any state legislature, shall be null and of no effect. All governors and all other persons in authority shall maintain order by enforcing the heretofore existing laws and regulations until the necessary alterations can be affected. Given under our hand and seal at Headquarters, San Francisco, this twenty sixth day of July eighteen sixty.

39:57 That was actually in that what I was gonna say, like just some random gets up and just dissolves the United States. And listen, you guys, he's said dissolved twice, so like he was pretty hus. Or meant it. He definitely meant dissolved. And this went on year after year. Now, all of this might sound like the ravings of a madman, someone who desperately needed help, and to say it's not, but that may well be true, okay, But instead of locking Emperor Norton away in an institution where the goal would have been to torture the madness out of him, San Francisco did something unusual. They embraced him Ordnate for free at local restaurants, often paying with imperial notes that he made himself.

40:56 Shut I dook up, he declared, I'm doing it right now. Where is my little tiny. Yeah, like, get canva out, I'm on this. Or he would declare that he was owed taxes by the establishment, and so they would pay in kind with food and services. Oh I love that he always had a seat at plays and public performances. They would literally save a seat for him. Residents made sure the Emperor was fed, housed, and cared for. Like people bought into this. He was like the pet of h I feel like they kind of probably felt bad for him, Like, oh you think your that's so cute. Yeah, they were taking care of the crazy guy.

41:46 Yeah, they're there, they're there, head pat. He was even given a regimental uniform hand me down pieces from both Union and Confederate soldiers, so his uniform was a mix of both. Did they have the Salvation Army back? I think so, I think goodwill. He carried an ornate walking stick, sometimes an umbrella, and after his death a small collection of walking sticks were found in his boarding house room, so he was really into these walking sticks. On formal occasions, he upgraded the look oversized gold eppelets, a sword and a beaver hat topped with an ostriche plume whoa oh in my and in his lapel.

42:32 He would always have a carnation donated by the local florist, and his proclamations weren't random. Norton read newspapers daily. He spent afternoons in the library reading, learning and writing. He played chess with the locals. He attended public lectures and debates. He even sat in on sessions of the state Legislature in Sacramento. And in between he patrolled the city. He loved inspecting streets, sidewalks, and infrastructure and calling attention to areas that needed improvement. Beneath the fantasy proclamations were often thoughtful, articulate, and elegantly written commentary disguised as absurdity. Yeah, yes, ravings of a madman. But beneath it there was substance.

43:23 But at least he was a well spoken and clearly like educated and informed to some degree. That's what I was wondering. His proclamation proclamations were definitely phrased and written with somebody who knew how to write official proclamations or had heard them enough to be able to write. Yeah, they were, you know, they were written like he had the authority to declare these things, which was the crazy part. He grew up in England, you know, which was a monarchy, so you know these were he was kind of familiar with that structure. So one of my personal proclamations of Emperor Norton's had to do with the name of his beloved city. Now this might maybe or maybe not actually attributed to him, but we're just for the sake of a good story going to believe that it is. Yes, we're going. So here's what it says. Whoever, after do and proper warnings, shall be heard to utter the abominable word frisco, which has no linguistic or other warrant, shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and shall pay into the Imperial Treasury as penalty the sum of twenty five dollars.

44:41 So no, okay, put it on my tip. I wonder how he would feel about vocal. Fray and Emperor Norton may have even been partially responsible for the Bay Bridge true story. On January eighth, eighteen seventy two, he proclaimed, where I was going to say, I hope it's a proclamation. Whereas we observe that certain newspapers are agitating the project of bridging the bay, and whereas we are desirous of connecting the cities of San Francisco and Oakland by such means. Now, therefore we Norton, the first de gratia, Emperor, do hereby prohibit the Ravenswood scheme being carried into effect an order that the bridge be built from Oakland Point to Telegraph Hill via Goat Island and lo and behold in the early nineteen thirties, So a little bit later, the construction of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge began right where the Emperor suggested, And ever since then there have been efforts, serious ones to rename the bridge in his honor.

45:55 I'm not mad. Now I'm here the Emperor Norton Bridge. That sounds much better than the Bay Bridge, Virgin Agin. The jan Bridge. Eventually, the city's tolerance was tested in eighteen sixty seven, a police officer arrested Emperor Norton under a law allowing the detention of people deemed insane. Oh oh no. The reaction from San Francisco was immediate and furious. I be newspapers mocked the arrest. Citizens protested, merchants complained. The public was not having it so this is amazing. The chief of police not only ordered Norton released, but issued a formal public apology stating that the Emperor had harmed no one and was deserving of respect. So in response, Norton did what any reasonable monarch would do. He issued an imperial pardon, my.

46:59 God, he is an biken. From that point on, police officers were known to salute Emperor Norton as he passed them in the streets, and it wasn't just symbolic affection. Norton routinely used his public presence to diffuse real world harm. During one anti Chinese rally, when tensions were escalating towards violence, Norton walked directly into the crowd and began reciting the Lord's Prayer over and over loudly, wo until the crowd grew quiet and eventually dispersed. It was one of several moments where Norton placed himself between vulnerable communities and public hostility, using spectacle, calm, and moral authority instead of force. And like we mentioned before, he even created his own imperial currency, beautifully printed notes signed by the Emperor himself. And while they had no lead value obviously, many businesses accepted them anyway, either as souvenirs or as a show of loyalty. Today, surviving notes are worth far more than their face value. Ever was Wow, if there's some left, Yeah, I think some businesses around San Francisco probably have. Sound so cool. I feel like going on a hunt. Now we got to look for signs of Emperor Norton. Norton also maintained a steady correspondence with world leaders. He wrote letters to Queen Victoria, at

48:31 one point suggesting marriage. I mean that's made. That's one way to get become legit exactly. Yeah, that he could have been Emperor king or whatever. Less a serious diplomatic proposal and more reflection of how fully he inhabited his role and to support himself, he sold photographs of himself, formal portraits that allowed citizens and tourists alike to take a little piece of the legend home with him. On January eighth, eighteen eighty, Emperor Norton collapsed on a street corner while on his way to a lecture at the California Academy of Sciences. He died before reaching the hospital. I'm come sad now, yeah, I notice miss softy. I am a softy. The city mourned more than ten thousand people.

49:20 Some estimates go as high as thirty thousand. People lined the streets for his funeral procession. It was one of the largest San Francisco had ever seen For a man with no official power. It was a remarkable testament to how deeply he had been woven into the city's identity, and despite later rumors, Norton was not homeless. He lived in a modest boarding house on Commercial Street, supposedly subsidized by local benefactors, and despite persistent speculation that he had secretly retained his fortune, no hidden wealth was found. What remained were his uniforms, his hats, his walking sticks, a single gold coin at a lifetime of carefully preserved dignity.

50:02 Among those who watched Emperor Norton move through the city, was a young journalist named Mark Twain. Don't know if you'd ever heard of him. Oh shit, that guy, yep. Twain would later model aspects of the character of the self declared king in the Adventures of Huckleberry finn On. Norton a gentle, tragic ruler whose authority existed only because people chose to believe in it, and that may be Emperor Norton's greatest legacy. He was never a con man, he never demanded obedience. He didn't rule through fear of violence. His power came entirely from collective agreement, from a city that decided kindness, humor, and imagination were better responses to madness than cruelty. To this day, Emperor Norton remains a symbol of San Francisco at its best, eccentric, defiant, compassionate, and just a little bit theatrical, a reminder that sometimes the most radical thing a city can do is choose to care. That's the story of Joshua Abraham Norton, the Emperor of the United States. That is just a crazy story.

51:04 I wish there was a video at that time or some some way to document There had to be something about him personally when you met him, because you know, when you're reading this, it's just crazy. It's just crazy crazy. Yeah, it's hard to see anything else, but people truly, like logically, yeah, but clearly people did see him that way. Yeah, if there's got to be photos, but like you can't really capture maybe all that wasn't a photo. But oh, there's some good photos here. I'm going to send you a couple. He totally reminds me of Santa Claus when you were talking about how he existed because people believed in him. It's so Santa.

51:45 Ah, that's so Santa. Yeah, so that's that's well, that was a great story, Shay. That was really we were very all of us are like so into it. We're looking them up. We're a picture trying to picture how he was as a person. There wasn't just like a lot of respect from like you know that that that quirky crazy guy down the road that everybody takes care of. He's just a good guy, harmless whatever. There. It was more than that they respected him and believed in what he had to say. Yeah, and so much of it made sense, and then so it so much didn't. Yeah, Well, you know everyone has ideas the other way around. Actually, it was more of his approach if he hadn't declared himself emperor and made all these proclamations and ended the United States, Like you know, he was onto some things with human rights, and he was onto something with with abolishing Congress. Yeah, well, I mean they're useless at this point, Yeah, exactly. Yeah, he really became kind of like a mascot of San Francisco.

52:57 They really adopted him and loved him him and they still celebrate him even to this day. Yeah, there's people that dress up as him. I love that. That's say cute. You know. I actually was aware of Emperor Norton, but I wasn't aware that he was a real person. So there's a one of my favorite authors is Christopher Moore, and there's a book called Dirty Jobs, and it takes place in San Francisco, and Emperor Norton shows up as a character in there. They just call him the Emperor, and it was the stopping he would go around and do proclamations and whatnot. And I just thought it was a fictional character in Christopher Moore's story. I had no idea it was based on this real character. Now, there's another little story within this story that I'm going to save for our next five minute Friday about two dogs that were famous in San Francisco at this time, and they were rumored to hang around with Emperor Norton, called Bummer and Lazarus. Were they in one of the pictures I was actually see pictures there? Yeah, yeah, there. It's just a little story to dogs that were beloved in the city, and they showed up in this book by Christopher Moore as well. They were the Emperor's dogs in Christopher Moore's book. Now, if if it was true, if they hung out with him, that's that's debated, but they were definitely dogs. So anyway, I love this story so much.

54:24 It was very much a feel good story in the end. Yeah, and it's it's strange to find people with his kind of morals and ethics in that time. So he obviously was suffering from mental illness or just or. Just any time some book. Sometimes he wasn't following a movement, he was starting a movement, yes, of the beginning of a movement really, though there's a lot of debates about his mental health, right, Obviously he had some mental health issues. Though there's a There was a whole essay written that I read about. You know, people will try to say that he had bipolar disorder or was schizophrenic, but this one essay thinks that no, probably not, he didn't. He didn't present with any symptoms of hallucinations or paranoia. He was very high functioning. The theory is he went into a deep depression after losing his fortune, and this was a way to cope with that, and he created a new identity for himself that could be respected and cared for without money, without having to have the wealth to travel in high society, he could get the respect of people without that. You know, whether or not he started out on a whim doing this and then was like, well this kind of is fun

55:56 and then maybe in the end he believed it. Who knows, But you know, he didn't arm anybody at all. In fact, it sounds like he actually helped people. So yeah, I. Don't know, hot take not a doctor, But is it possible that he was just a very like almost like a meta theatrical hierarchical writer like SNL and the Onion did not exist. This just he's like, you, guys, I'm doing this, Irene. You know, this tasy Yeah yeah, oh my god, yes, yeah.

56:37 You know, and Emperor Norton his proclamations, well they were they were very theatrical, but he really did bring up the issues of the time in them. So yeah, it was like you said, kind of like, you know, like the onion is satirical but does speak to the issues of the time. And and yeah, I think that you're onto something there that it was kind of like that, like ask now, like an onion just maybe not so you know in your face like it is today. I don't think people were ready for it, right, maybe it goes I'm here. Yeah. San Francisco was like, we fucking love this guy. It's really heartwarming that the city treated him as kindly as they did. I mean I thought so too, Like that is sweet, right yeah, and that to this day, right, and that's progressive for the time too, right, and especially like San Francisco was a little sand fran right. Yeah, you know they're they're a little progressive in the in the human rights. Uh yeah, yeah, in some ways. And you know, it was a rough place at the time.

57:39 I mean the gold Rush brought in the gold Yush, and it was there was you know, it was kind of lawless for a while. They had to be like, oh, we need some loss, right, oh shit, But you know, it's it's amazing that they found that compassion, and maybe part of that was from it being a bit of a melting pot. While they didn't treat immigrants super great all the time, you know, it is nice to see that at least they treated him well when in a time when people with mental illness were treated pretty horribly a lot of the time to literally torture. But at least we've learned from all of that, right, because we would never treat people with mental illness or people that were immigrants, or. We don't do that anymore like that.

58:21 We wouldn't do that anymore. Look at us manifesting, you know. And it's it's not like this country would bring back torturing children to torture the gay away from them, right. Yeah. Boy, that's pack people conversion therapies. You know, it's always worked. I think it works great. All right, guys. Well, I appreciate you being here with us to go on this rabbit holes again. So much fun. It was, Thank you, It was so great you guys the other weekend. Thanks for hanging out tonight. All right, well, thanks again to the ladies from PNW Haunts and Homicides. Go out find PNW hauntsond Homicides dot com. You can find links there to where you can listen and more. Follow them, listen and you'll get more great content from them. All right, guys, we love you. We will see you later day spooky bitches or is that your that's I'm stealing your thunder?

59:21 We say, have a creepy ass day? Do you want us just there? You go? Okay, have a creepy ass day. You've been listening to Rainy Day Rabbit Holes. We thought maybe you had forgotten? How could you forget? We are your hosts, Shay and Jody, and you can find all things on our website, randydayrabbit Holes dot com like sources, notes, pictures, links, whatnot. That beautiful website is designed and managed by the amazing and talented Letha Davis at Easybreezy dot com. That's easy brute e a s y b r z y dot com. All episodes are edited and produced by me Shaye and you can reach out with any questions or comments at Shae at Rainyday Rabbit Holes dot com. That's s A. T. E A. Thanks for listening. Please share the podcast with your friends and family, and stay curious. See you down the rabbit hole.