Gold Rush: Three Years in California

GOLD RUSH
“Looking at the map of California, it will be seen that the ‘mines’ occupy a long strip of mountainous country, which commences many miles to the eastward of San Francisco, and stretches northward several hundred miles. The Sacramento river running parallel with the mines, the San Joaquin joining it from the southward and eastward, and the Feather river continuing a northward course from the Sacramento—all of them being navigable—present the natural means of communication between San Francisco and the ‘mines.’ Accordingly, the city of Sacramento—about two hundred miles north of San Francisco—sprang up as the depôt for all the middle part of the mines, with roads radiating from it across the plains to the various settlements in the mountains.” ~J.D. Borthwick, 1857

“One of the classic first-person accounts of the California Gold Rush period.”

Gold was discovered in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 1848. By 1850, thousands of men and women had arrived in California from all corners of the world in hopes of finding their riches. Ownership of precious gold could mean power and prosperity, but with it came challenges and struggles of living in uncharted territory.

J.D. Borthwick, an artist and college graduate, arrived in California in 1852, and spent three years exploring the mining camps. First-hand, he experienced the development of communities such as San Francisco, Sacramento, Placerville, Marysville, and other towns in the Sierra gold mining areas of Northern California.

In his 1857 book, Borthwick colorfully portrays the diverse customs and social activities of the pioneers and gold miners, the commerce and enterprise of developing communities, and the everyday life of the early settlers of the Golden State. Within these pages he left us with a precious nugget of history as we are taken back to an important event of the 19th century.

Linda Pendleton writes a new Introduction for Gold Rush. Linda enjoys writing fiction and nonfiction books and is a native Californian.