A peek at historic S.F. sheriff's sword
The sheriff's office in San Francisco's City Hall was put on the cutting edge of history Thursday afternoon when a descendant of the city's most controversial sheriff brought an elaborate sword in for a ceremonial visit. The sword, an antique Army officer's weapon with a golden hilt, had been presented to San Francisco Sheriff Charles Doane on the occasion of his retirement in the fall of 1861. ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad Read all the good stuff without the ad breaks. Try our new app. Read all the good stuff without the ad breaks. Try our new app. Doane was probably the most unlikely man ever to hold the office of sheriff in San Francisco. He became sheriff in 1857, a little more than a year after he had led more than 1,000 armed men to the county jail and taken two prisoners from the previous sheriff. The prisoners - Charles Cora, a gambler, and James Casey, a member of the city Board of Supervisors - were then taken by the vigilantes and hanged for murder after a dr