Men, women, and children were living in shacks, or sleeping on the ground under blankets draped over poles. News of the discovery of gold north of the city had prompted people of every kind and description to pour into the place to gather supplies before rushing to the hills. The scene around the bay in August 1863 was chaotic. The Sister inched their way to a clearing near the bow and grabbed hold of the railing as the small craft moved slowly away from the landing.

Some were sleeping, others were playing cards or discussing their mining claims.

The deck of the vessel was a swarm with prospectors en route to their diggings down river. Wearing black habits complete with scapulars, veils, and coifs, the women stepped aboard the steamer boat that was splattered with mud and dirt. Sister Mary Baptist Russell and four other nuns from the Sisters of Mercy Convent weaved their way around a parade of scruffy miners, traveling salesmen, and saloon girls crowded on a sturdy dock that was hugging a shore in San Francisco.

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