The major seaports of California have been Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, and San Diego. There are very few passenger lists for the west coast ports. The Family History Library has ten microfilms of crew lists from the U.S. Customs House for the years 1848 to 1851, 1854 to 1862, 1881, 1886, and 1892.

The National Archives has recently discovered passenger lists of vessels arriving at San Francisco for the years 1893 to 1953, with an index for 1893 to 1934. The Family History Library has copies of the lists for the years 1903 to 1918 and the indexes from 1893 to 1934.

 

The information was supplied by the immigrant or a traveling companion (usually a family member). Incorrect information was occasionally given, or mistakes may have been made when the clerk guessed at the spelling of foreign names. These indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.