 The Californios' hides, tallow and horns provided the necessary trade articles for a mutually beneficial trade.The first United States, English and Russian trading ships began showing up in California before 1816.The classic book "Two Years Before the Mast" by Richard Henry Dana, Jr. written about 1832 provides a good first hand account of this trade.,

From 1825 to 1848 the average number of ships traveling to California increased to about 25 ships per year—a large increase from the average of 2.5 ships per year from 1769 to 1824.