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Inscribed on the dedication page "Presented to Capt. William G. Bluhm of the Schr. Ruby A. Cousins with respects of Phineas Banning 'Admiral'. San Pedro, Jany. 1883." Phineas Banning, a major figure in the growth of transportation and commerce in California in the years following the Gold Rush, arrived in the state in 1851, and became involved in freighting between Los Angeles and San Pedro the following year. In 1869 he built the first railroad in Southern California between the two cities. He was largely responsible for the development of the Port of San Pedro, and by the time of his death in 1883 controlled vast enterprises. About the book, Cowan writes "The rangers were largely occupied with border police duties or its equivalent service, and many delinquents were apprehended by them and brought to justice or otherwise exterminated. Bell has written more minutely upon the `seamy side' of society than any other California author, and there is a fascination about the book. From the long lists given us of murderous villains, thieving scoundrels, and other unholy characters, it would appear that the polite society of the south in those days was neither large nor extensive." J. Gregg Layne, in The Zamorano 80, notes that "Major Bell's reminiscences were the first cloth-bound book to be printed, bound and published in the city of Los Angeles...."