The Forty-niners: The California Gold Rush (U)

In this fascinating chronicle of the California Gold Rush written in 1918, American writer, Steward Edward White, gives an historical view of those early days of the mid-19th century, and the many challenges of the formation of a new frontier: incoming population, law and order issues, greed and power, political differences, successes and failures. White shows how quickly San Francisco grew from a population of a few hundred into a center for commerce, wealth, and politics. He writes of the Spanish days of early California, the 1846 Mexican War, and follows the movement of the Mormon population on its trail westward, and the challenge to create a civilized, law-abiding society. In Linda Pendleton’s new Introduction, we learn who Stewart Edward White was and the legacy he left of his many fiction and nonfiction books following his death in 1946. An explorer, conservationist, naturalist, and big game hunter, his love for nature, conservation, and adventure were to become very much a part of his literary works over his long literary career. Several of his nonfiction works are classics in the exploration of the paranormal and communication from the spirit world. He wrote with passion, whether about the adventures beyond the veil or about adventures in nature and the earthly frontier.