The Diary of a Forty-Niner

By Chauncey L. Canfield and Alfred T. Jackson

Book Overview

One of the most important and memorable events of the United States' westward push across the frontier came with the discovery of gold in the lands that became California in January 1848. Located thousands of miles away from the country's power centers on the east coast at the time, the announcement came a month before the Mexican-American War had ended, and among the very few Americans that were near the region at the time, many of them were Army soldiers who were participating in the war and garrisoned there. San Francisco was still best known for being a Spanish military and missionary outpost during the colonial era, and only a few hundred called it home. Mexico's independence, and its possession of those lands, had come only a generation earlier. Everything changed almost literally overnight. While the Mexican-American War technically concluded with a treaty in February 1948, the announcement brought an influx of an estimated 90,000 "Forty-Niners" to the region in 1849, hailing from other parts of America and even as far away as Asia. All told, an estimated 300,000 people would come to California over the next few years, as men dangerously trekked thousands of miles in hopes of making a fortune, and in a span of months, San Francisco's population exploded, making it one of the first mining boomtowns to truly spring up in the West. This was a pattern that would repeat itself across the West anytime a mineral discovery was made, from the Southwest and Tombstone to the Dakotas and Deadwood. Of course, that was made possible by the collective memory of the original California gold rush. Despite the mythology and the romantic portrayals that helped make the California Gold Rush, most of the individuals who came to make a fortune struck out instead. The gold rush was a boon to business interests, which ensured important infrastructure developments like the railroad and the construction of westward paths, but ultimately, it also meant that big business reaped most of the profits associated with mining the gold. While the Forty-Niners are often remembered for panning gold out of mountain streams, it required advanced mining technology for most to make a fortune. Nevertheless, the California Gold Rush became an emblem of the American Dream, and the notion that Americans could obtain untold fortunes regardless of their previous social status. As historian H.W. Brands said of the impact the gold rush had on Americans at the time, "The old American Dream ... was the dream of the Puritans, of Benjamin Franklin's 'Poor Richard'... of men and women content to accumulate their modest fortunes a little at a time, year by year by year. The new dream was the dream of instant wealth, won in a twinkling by audacity and good luck... it] became a prominent part of the American psyche only after Sutter's Mill." While the gold rush may not have every Forty-Niner rich, the events still continue to influence the country's collective mentality.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1507570627
• ISBN13: 9781507570623
• Release Date: January 2015
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 0.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

What it was really like

If you have ever wondered what it might be like to have lived "back then" then this is the book for you. A first hand look at the day to day life of a 49er as he lived it. Not a dry history book but filled with personality and adventure. I have read many diarys and books of the old west and this is one of the best.

primary yet not dry history

A great read for anyone interested in the social environment of the 49er. Turns popular misconceptions upside down about the barbarity of these Gold Rushers--they actually were quite civilized.

Excellent

An antidote for all the revisionist history that's come out in the last 20 years. An actual account of a man's day to day life in the 1850's written as it happened. It gives you a good idea of what people were like back then.

AN ILLUMINATING ACCOUNT

A VERY INTERESTING FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT--STRESS FIRST PERSON. NOT A DERIVATITVE BOOK OF THOSE TIMES AS ARE SO MANY OTHERS. BOTTOM LINE, IT COULD VERY WELL BE THE BEST LOOK AT WHAT IT WAS REALLY LIKE IN THE GOLD FIELDS AROUND, NEVADA CITY---GRASS VALLEY, CALIF, IN 1850 THAT YOU COULD FIND.

A sleeper--gold fever and personal growth

Gold fever! This diary portrays one man's passage through the turbulent gold rush. From small farmer just wanting to return home with enough money to marry his sweetheart to a man aware of all the world has to offer. A journey of personal growth. Wonderful.