The San Francisco Call - April 27, 1896 - The life of Colonel William P. Barnes, one of the best old-time sporting men of the State, is at a very low ebb. At his residence on Geary Street the end has been expected for several days.

William P. Barnes has a wife, the sister of Mrs. John H. Wise, wife of the Collector of Customs at this port. He also has an only child, Mrs. Bessie Franklin. His only living brother is Dr. Barnes of Ukiah, and his nephew is the Hon. Thomas L. Carothers of the same city. He also has two nieces, one the wife of James Stevens and the other the wife of Superior Judge Alexander of Salinas.

He is a native of Indiana and in 1849 he came to California and settled with his mother and father in the neighborhood of what is now known at Petaluma.

During the days when the Mormons were making trouble through Illinois and Iowa, Barnes, who was but a mere boy, engaged in the army sent out to do them battle. The name spirit he showed then has always followed him and he has been regarded as a man who, although not aggressive, could not be made to retreat a step when he knew he was right. This feature had many opportunities to develop in the early days of California, when each man had to rely on his own mettle for protection.

Bill Barnes became a member of the Pioneers of California when that society was first organized, and has been one of its shining members since. His associates have always been men most prominent in social, business, and political life, but he with the grit and determination he has always shown, held on until he saw them one by one pass to the great beyond.

"Colonel" Barnes, as he was usually addressed, was of a sporty turn of mind, like nearly all the other men who came to the new El Dorado in the days when the necessaries of life were paid for in gold dust. He was a great friend of Bill Briggs, who was, beyond a doubt, the most picturesque character, as a sport, that ever sat behind a layout. Barnes began as a protégé of Briggs, and subsequently they became partners.

Aside from his many silent charities which he has always attended to, directly or indirectly, even to his last illness, he will be remembered by his fellow pioneers as the one who inaugurated the bullshend breakfast outings in this State. Each year, until his health failed, it was he who headed the table and did the carving at the reunions of the Society of Old Friends, of which he was a leading member. It was in the days when Napoleon Broughton and Zeke Wilson of Sonoma were prominent as leaders of the democracy of this State. Barnes was their wire-puller at Sacramento.

There is a bit of international history attached to the name of William P. Barnes. Sometime in 1857 he and Grant Israel, who was the first owner of the old Cosmopolitan Hotel, long since out of existence, took a trip in a privately chartered schooner to the coast of Mexico. They were captured by the government and taken to Mazatlán, where they were cast into an adobe prison on a charge of filibustering. They were most cruelly treated, being prodded with bayonets and almost starved. The United States took up the matter and they were liberated. Subsequently they brought suit against Mexico for $100,000 damages, and the affair was left to a foreign board of arbitration, which allowed them $7,500 each. The Mexican Government, however, was not in a position to pay the money at the time, and the board allowed the amount to be paid in $500 installments each year. The debt was finally wiped out about eight years later.

Yesterday it was reported at Collector Wises's house that Colonel Barnes was very low and failed to recognize his friends.

Note - 'Sporting' men ran gambling establishments and other related enterprises. It was determined that Barnes and Briggs once had at least 150 faro parlors in the San Francisco area.