Sydney Ducks, the gang of ex-convicts from Australia who terrorised gold rush San Francisco
Extortion, gambling halls, sex clubs, child prostitution, brothels, animal fighting, murder, arson and rampant looting. This is how an Aussie gang held an American city captive for four years.
For three years during the height of the California gold rush, an infamous gang of ex-convicts from Australia held San Francisco to ransom.
The hundreds of vagabonds who made up the Sydney Ducks, as they were called by locals, landed on the US west coast straight from the penal colonies of NSW and Van Diemens Land (now Tasmania). They set up camp at the base of Telegraph Hill near the docks and ruled the area — and struck fear into greater San Francisco — for four years until vigilantes embarked on a series of lynchings to try to bring them under control.
Gangs of New York author Herbert Asbury, in his book The Barbary Coast, wrote: “By the early autumn of 1849, the arrivals from Australia (to San Francisco) had become so numerous, and so thoroughly dominated the underworld, that the district in which they congregated began to be known as Sydney Town, and it was so called for some ten years.
“It was this area that later became notorious throughout the world as the Barbary Coast, although the latter designation did not come into general use until the middle 1860s.”
San Francisco authorities — such as they were — never had a chance.
The Ducks ran extortion rackets, gambling halls, sex clubs, child prostitution, brothels and animal fights
Truth is, San Francisco was a lawless place in those days.
Between 1847 and 1850 the town’s population grew from a few hundred to about 20,000. The police force doubled in size — from six to 12. No surprise then, that arrests for crimes were rare. And when an arrest could be made, as mayor John W Geary said, the town lacked “the means of confining a prisoner for an hour”.
Meanwhile, ex-convicts from Australia were flooding in on the countless ships heading to northern California’s gold fields.
Unhindered by any form of control, the Ducks ran extortion rackets, gambling halls, sex clubs, child prostitution, brothels and animal fights. They are believed to have been responsible for hundreds of murders.
But their big earner was arson.
When the prevailing winds ensured the flames would blow away from Sydney Town, gang members would set a fire and wait as it took hold on the area’s jangled assortment of wooden buildings.
While the inferno wrought destruction, gang members would freely loot shops, banks, casinos and inns untouched by the flames.
Six times, the gang set alight to the town. And when they weren’t lighting fires, they were collecting money from nervous storekeepers and others as “insurance”.
The Boars Head featured a woman having sex with a boar, the Grizzly had a chained bear at the door, and the Goat was the haunt of Dirty Tom McAlear, whose claim to fame was that he would literally eat anything
The area in which the Ducks gathered was a cesspit of crime and human debasement. Muddy alleyways lined with decrepit alehouses of all varieties.
A contemporary journalist described these places as “hives of dronish criminals, shabby little dens with rough, hangdog fellows hanging about the doorways”.
According to Herbert Asbury, three of the most notorious SydneyTown dives were the Boars Head, the Goat and Compass and the Fierce Grizzly. The Boars Head featured a woman having sex with a boar, the Grizzly had a chained bear at the door, and the Goat was the haunt of Dirty Tom McAlear, whose claim to fame was that he would literally eat anything for a few cents.
When arrested on the charge of “making a beast of himself” in 1852, McAlear testified that he had been drunk for seven years and had had his last bath eight years before that.
Ducks were often recognisable, straight off the boat, by their shaved heads, “so recently (were they released) from confinement that the hair had not had time to grow”. Some had scars from hot irons on their faces. Their legs were bowed and they walked with a peculiar swinging gait, learnt from wearing leg irons. They were also identifiable by their accent and dialect, which bristled with criminal “flash talk”.
With the Ducks holding sway over San Francisco, and authorities powerless to rein them in, vigilante groups were formed. The first Committee of Vigilance was formed in 1851. Over the next few years, aided by secret trials, lynchings, and deportations, the vigilantes effectively decimated the Ducks.
On May 22, 1851 the Sacramento Daily Union reported: “Marshal White informs us that a gang of six or eight Sydney birds came up from the Bay, a night or two since, and immediately commenced entering upon their former vocations. One of them entered a barber’s shop in 2d street, and after being shaved himself, shaved the knight of the razor by offering him a spurious lump of gold which he asserted was worth $5, in payment for services rendered. The poor hair dresser was gulled out of his money. But the career of this villain was suddenly ended by our efficient Marshal, who afterwards arrested him for being engaged in a row in J street. The emigrant of Newgate is now lodged in secure quarters on board the prison ship.
“We can assure these Sydney gentry that their rascality in this city will speedily be put to an end, for they are marked, and our Marshal is ready to do his duty faithfully and promptly. We advise them to seek other localities for the perpetration of their infamous deeds, if they wish to escape that summary punishment which is certain to be visited upon them if they remain in this city”
A score of persons seized the loose end of the rope and ran backwards, dragging the wretch along the ground and raising him to the beam. Thus they held him until he was dead
In June 1851, a Duck by the name of John Jenkins, was caught stealing a safe. He was marched off, found guilty by the Committee of Vigilance and hanged at 2am.
The Alta California newspaper reported: “The crowd, which numbered upwards of a thousand, were perfectly quiescent, or only applauded by look, gesture, and subdued voice the action of the committee. Before the prisoner had reached the building, a score of persons seized the loose end of the rope and ran backwards, dragging the wretch along the ground and raising him to the beam.
“Thus they held him until he was dead. Nor did they let the body down until some hours afterwards, new volunteers relieving those who were tired holding the rope.
“The prisoner had not spoken a word, wither during the march or during the rapid preparation or his execution. At the end he was perhaps strung up without being aware of what was immediately coming. He was a strong built, healthy man and his struggles, when hanging, were very violent for a few minutes.’’
A month later two more Ducks were summarily executed by hanging, despite being held in the city jail. Vigilantes broke into the facility, hauled the two wretches out and strung them up.
By now, the jig was up for the interlopers from down under. Those who didn’t flee back to Australia — where another gold rush was getting under way in Victoria — kept a very low profile in San Francisco, or moved away to other parts of California or Canada.
By 1856, the scourge of the Ducks was over and the Committee for Vigilance dissolved, marking the occasion with a grand parade.
Originally published as Sydney Ducks, the gang of ex-convicts from Australia who terrorised gold rush San Francisco
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