[9] Mayor Phelan insisted that no display, speeches, or parade should accompany the presentation ceremony, and presented the monument to Supervisor T. A. Rottanzi, who accepted it in behalf of the citizens of San Francisco at 11:00 a.m.[5] To the Honorable the Board of Supervisors Of the City and County of San Francisco— GENTLEMEN: I hereby tender the City and County of San Francisco a fountain constructed of marble and bronze, emblematic of the Admission of California into the Union, designed by Douglas Tilden, sculptor, to be erected by me, with your consent, at the junction of Market, Turk and Mason streets and to be forever maintained by the city as a drinking fountain.

Yours respectfully,In 1948 it was moved to Golden Gate Park, and in 1977 returned to Market Street at its present location, on the initiative of the Native Sons.

[4] In the original design, the miner represents the Youth of California or the Native Sons of the Golden West, waving his hat in his left hand and "cheering lustily in triumphant enthusiasm".

[8] The bear heads are surrounded by rattlesnakes, symbolizing the Sierra Nevada mountains and "the attendant dangers of the wild Western life"; as originally installed, handles held between the bears' teeth could be pulled to release water from the heads of the snakes, where they would be caught in cups decorated with a buffalo motif for drinking.

[9] The quote inscribed on the pedestal is from a speech by William H. Seward in the US Senate on March 11, 1850, arguing for the admission of California: "The perpetual unity of the Empire hangs on the decision of this day.

After it arrives, it is able to dispense "the best ice-cold soda water" for all the children until it starts to run low, whereupon it walks over to the Native Sons' monument to ask for help.

The Native Sons' monument dispensed soda for the girls, and the boys were directed to the Cogswell Fountain (which stood at California and Market, but had been torn down in 1894 by an angry mob).