Across the Continent - a Summer's Journey to the Rocky Mountains, the Mormons and the Pacific States

Samuel Bowles, editor of the Springfield Republican newspaper, accompanied Speaker of the House of Representatives Schuyler Colfax on this trans-continental trip in 1865. The pair travelled by rail from Springfield to Atchison, then by stagecoach through Oregon and Washington to Placerville, California, the easternmost reach of the new Pacific railroad, and then again by rail on to San Francisco. They returned via ship to Panama, across the Isthmus by rail, and home by sea.

This early travelogue is both expensive and hard to find in its first edition. It contains details of Samuel Bowles’s travels through North America and his experiences along the way. This is a fascinating work and is thoroughly recommended for anyone with an interest in the history of America.