By Lisa Klassen

The waterfront area of the Bay is filled with spots of interest…and infamy! Little wonder, as it was once known as the Barbary Coast, named after that nefarious North African coastline with a similar reputation of lawlessness and bawdy behavior around the turn of the century. Where vendors and shops now stand was once filled with saloons, brothels, boarding houses, gambling houses, and opium dens…dangerous territory!

This was the natural haunting ground for many forms of ruffians, and a place where luckless sailors were often “shanghaied.” At that time, to go from San Francisco to Shanghai meant you had to sail almost around the world, so if a ship was about to embark upon a long, hazardous journey, it was making a “Shanghai voyage.” The same was said for those poor seamen who were forced into service by the 23 or so waterfront gangs who roamed this area.

One of the most dangerous characters was Johnny Devine, the Shanghai Chicken. After losing his hand in a knife fight with another man during a drunken bar shoot-out, he had a large iron hook attached to the stump, which the Shanghai Chicken honed to a razor sharp point and used to inflict damage and fear. He soon became uncontrollable, and other gang members sought to shanghai the Shanghai Chicken to get him out of the way. These attempts failed as he always managed to escape his bonds…either by using his head or his hook!