The reality was more human.

He was curious.

He adapted.

He formed routines.

Accounts describe him walking through Golden Gate Park, using streetcars, visiting theaters, learning about money, and observing the dense urban world around Parnassus Heights.

He did not respond to every new technology with astonishment.

That stereotype was useful to newspapers because it made good copy.

The more unfamiliar the city seemed to him, the more dramatic the story appeared.

But intelligence is not measured by prior exposure to streetcars.

A person who has never seen an electrical device does not lack the capacity to understand cause and effect.