Postcard (Just Like You)

Jack Powers

Jack Powers whose real name was John A. Power, (1827 – November 1860), was an Irish born immigrant who came to New York as a child, who became a soldier in the Mexican American War, in the garrison of Santa Barbara, California. During the California Gold Rush a well known professional gambler and a famed horseman, known as Jack Powers, in San Francisco and later in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. He had two brushes with the law in San Francisco in 1849 in Santa Barbara in 1853. He had difficulties with the vigilantes of San Francisco in 1856 and at Los Angeles in 1857. Long known for his skills as a horseman, on May 2, 1858, his skills were demonstrated in a 150-mile time over distance race for $5,000. At that time he was described in the Daily Alta California… more »