Bird's eye maple cane with eight sided gold cap topped with circle of gold bearing quartz. There is an inscription on each of seven sides and an engraving of the Seal of the State of California on the eighth. The top is edged with a band of gold nuggets. 5 inches below the cane top are two gold oak leaves on opposite sides which hold a braided silk rope finished with tassels at each end. The cane tip is missing. The cane was presented to Milton S. Latham by his associates in Sacramento when he became state Senator in 1853. He became Governor in 1860 but died after less than one month in office. The cane came to the donor through her mother Mary McMullin Godley who received it as a living bequest from Milton Latham's wife Mary McMullin Latham. The Latham estate was in Menlo Park and the widow lived there for many years (until ca. 1910). Mary McMullin Godley was a cousin and came to live with her when she became elderly.