[1][2] In the spring of 1849, he arrived in Sacramento City, which was fast becoming the supply center for the mining region.
For the first several months, Birch had a partner, Charles F. Davenport, a close friend and former owner of a stage company in Rhode Island, who had traveled with him to California.
[1][2] On August 18, 1849, Birch advertised the changes in his business in Sacramento's Placer Times, announcing himself as the sole proprietor.
Although business was sometimes adversely affected by frequent stagecoach robberies, and periods of terrible weather, forcing temporary closure of some lines, Birch rapidly expanded.
Before the end of 1851, Birch's company was providing service to all the northern and southern mining areas east of Stockton, California.
He had frequently advertised in the two Sacramento newspapers and elsewhere, and, with his outgoing personality and obvious business acumen, he became a very popular figure of the time.
He received many glowingly favorable editorial mentions in newspapers both in California and on the East Coast.
Returning to California in the summer of 1857, Birch worked to consolidate his interests and set up the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line in partnership with George Henry Giddings, owner of the San Antonio-El Paso Mail.
Birch was one of a number of survivors who clung to a piece of the ship's wreckage, tossed in stormy seas for days.
[1] Birch gave the cup to George Dawson, a sailor who used it to collect rain water for drinking, and survived until rescue nine days later.