The Great Western Migration to the Gold Fields of California, 1849-1850
301
The Great Western Migration to the Gold Fields of California, 1849-1850
301Paperback(Reprint)
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Overview
The journey west, from the Missouri River to the Pacific coast, was made by some quarter of a million Americans during the 1840s and 1850s, and stands as one of the great human adventure stories of all time. When gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, California, in 1848, the immigration took on an urgency and a scope that would never be matched again, though the numbers of migrants was eventually equaled over time by the slower pace of those who went to Oregon and followed later to California to put down more permanent roots.
This work draws heavily from the diaries of 17 men and women who made the four month, 2,000 mile trek to California during 1849 and 1850. The text is divided into three main parts. Part One covers travel from the Missouri River to Fort Laramie, Part Two covers Fort Laramie to Fort Hall and Salt Lake City, and Part Three covers the trek from there to the Sierra Nevadas.
Each part has chapters that detail specific parts of the trail, sites, or locations where the migrants found something important to write about. The diarists' accounts tell of the adventures, hardships, desires, concerns, deprivations, sicknesses, deaths along the way, and of crossing the last great obstacle--the "Elephant," as many of them called it--the high ridge of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780786473946 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers |
| Publication date: | 08/29/2012 |
| Edition description: | Reprint |
| Pages: | 301 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.61(d) |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Preface 1
Introduction 3
Part I From the Banks of the Missouri to Fort Laramie 9
Getting Ready to Go 9
Leaving from Independence 15
Leaving from Weston/Fort Leavenworth 27
Leaving from St. Joseph 30
Along the Blue River Road to the Platte 36
Other Roads to the Platte 41
Falling in Along the Platte 45
Leaving from Kanesville/Council Bluffs 48
Fort Kearney 54
Fort Kearney to the Platte Fork 58
The Fork of the Platte 70
Crossing the South Fork of the Platte to Ash Hollow 74
Ash Hollow 78
Sioux Country Along the North Platte 80
Landmarks of the Western Plains 84
Scotts Bluff 90
On to Fort Laramie 94
Around Fort Laramie 98
Part II From Fort Laramie to Fort Hall and Salt Lake City 107
Into the Black Hills 107
Around Deer Creek 115
Ferry on the Upper Platte 119
North Platte Ferry to the Sweetwater 123
The Sweetwater, Independence Rock and the Devil's Gate 129
Along the Sweetwater 135
Ice Spring 138
South Pass and Pacific Springs 140
Pacific Springs to the Road Fork on Big Sandy 144
Sublette/Greenwood Cut-off 149
Big Sandy to Fort Bridger 153
At the Green River 157
Toward the Bear River Road 161
Around Thomas's Fork 169
Soda Springs and Steamboat Springs 174
Junction with Hudspeth Cut-off 177
On to Fort Hall 180
Fort Hall 182
Fort Bridger to Salt Lake City 186
Part III From Fort Hall and Salt Lake to the Sierra Nevada 193
Salt Lake to the City of Rocks 193
Fort Hall to the City of Rocks 198
Raft River Road 201
Merger of Fort Hall and Salt Lake Roads at the City of Rocks 204
Goose Creek to the Upper Humboldt River 206
Starting the Humboldt Run 213
Carlin Canyon 217
Dust, Deprivation, Depredation 219
Junction with the Lassen/Myers Cut-off 230
The Lassen Route from the Humboldt to Goose Lake 233
On to the Sink 245
At the Big Meadow 248
The Humboldt Sink 250
The Truckee Route to the Crest of the Sierras 253
The Carson Route Across the Desert 258
Along the Carson River 261
The Elephant - Up the Eastern Wall of the Sierras 265
Promised Land - Into the Sacramento Valley 271
Epilogue 274
Notes 275
Index 287