Detail of a drawing by Edwin A. Sherman depicting the raising of an American flag in Yerba Buena, (later known as San Francisco), 1846

Photograph of a detail of a drawing by Edwin A. Sherman depicting the raising of an American flag in Yerba Buena (later known as San Francisco), 1846. The flag is towards the left of the picture, and around it are four rows of soldiers in formation. An officer stands at the center of the formations, gesturing towards the flag. In the bay, there is a three-mast ship, the guns of which have just been fired, indicated by the two puffs of smoke near the hull. There are four smaller boats full of men headed from the main ship towards the shore. Behind the soldiers on the left are two barracks, and in the foreground there are seven men, two near a beached boat, and one with his hat off in celebration. Mountains fill the background.