Biography

George W. Eayrs (1775-1855), one of the most daring and enterprising of the Yankee contraband traders who traveled up and down the coast of California between 1805 and 1814. Because of growing hostilities with American, English, and Russian ships in the eastern Pacific, Spain closed her ports in California in 1805, setting the stage for a lucrative contraband trade by American ships with the settlements and missions of Alta California who desperately needed to buy provisions and goods. On June 2, 1813, while lying near Point Concepción, Eayrs' ship, the "Mercury", was seized by Capt. Nicolas Noe of the "Flora" out of Lima, Peru, his goods confiscated, his Indian slave boy taken away, and Eayrs himself was held prisoner. Eayrs describes his confinement and the unjust seizure of his ship in the letters, which are addressed to the viceroy of Mexico, Félix María Calleja del Rey; to Eayrs' brother, his trading partner; Benjamin Lamb; and the commander at Guadalajara. — Worldcat

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