Description

In the California gold rush of 1849, fortune seekers from around the world flocked to the diggings in hopes of striking it rich. J.D. Borthwick, a young English artist, joined the mad scramble in 1851, making the arduous journey by ship and crossing the Isthmus of Panama.

From the lawless boomtown of San Francisco to the spartan camps in the mountains, Borthwick chronicles the extremes of gold fever life. He tells of claim jumping and claim making, fantastic successes and failures, grubstake partners and colorful conmen, honest toil and vigilante justice. This first-hand account captures the wild optimism and scrappiness the of starry-eyed ’49ers chasing their dreams of fortune.