By H. Lee Scamehorn
Edited by Edwin P. Banks and Jamie Lytle-Webb
“Scamehorn has carefully and thoroughly edited these diaries. his introduction, epilogue, and notes help to make the book a highly readable account of the California Trail and of the Gold Rush.”
Utah Historical Quarterly
“…a polished, readable account of the southern mines, a classic among gold rush narratives of this region, destined to take its place among the best in the field.”
Arizona and the West
“The volume is a significant addition to gold–rush bibliography as well as a valuable chronicle of mid–19th century America.”
Pacific Northwest Quarterly
When “California Fever” raced through southeastern Ohio in the spring of 1849, a number of residents of Athens County organized a cooperative venture for traveling overland to the mines. Known as the “Buckeye Rovers,” the company began its trip westward in early April. The Buckeye Rovers, along with thousands who traveled the overland route to California, endured numerous hardships and the seemingly constant threat of attacks from hostile Indians. On reaching their destination, the Ohioans discovered that rich deposits of gold were extremely rare, and that except for a few lucky fortune–seekers, mining required hard physical labor and yielded small rewards. They persisted nonetheless and most of the company returned to Athens in late 1851 or early 1852 with modest fortunes.
The arduous experiences of the overland trek were recorded by two Buckeye Rover diarists. The more compete account was compiled by John Banks. He wrote effusively while on the trail and throughout his stay of more than two years in the gold regions. J. Elza Armstrong, by contrast, was brief, even laconic, and his journal ended upon reaching California. The contrast between the two brings into focus the divergent personalities who were drawn to California by the lure of gold.
A nine–month segment of Bank’s diary, from February to November, 1851, had been missing at the time the story of the Buckeye Rovers was first published in 1965. This revised and enlarged edition contains the complete diaries. They offer valuable record of the Buckeyes’ adventures from the time they left home until the time they departed California for the return trip to Ohio.
H. Lee Scamehorn is a professor of history at the University of Colorado, Boulder campus. More info →
Edwin P. Banks is the grandson and Jamie Lytle–Webb is the great–granddaughter of diarist John Banks. More info →
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Paperback
978-0-8214-0923-7
Retail price: $28.95,
S.
Release date: December 1989
265 pages
Rights: World
Hardcover
978-0-8214-0922-0
Retail price: $49.95,
S.
Release date: December 1989
265 pages
Rights: World
Black Hills Ghost Towns
By Watson Parker and Hugh K. Lambert
The Black Hills have been famous ever since the gold rush days of the 1870s when General George A. Custer’s expedition in the summer of 1874 found and advertised placer gold in the Black Hills valleys and a rush to the Hills began. Indian claimants to the area were placated, defeated or ignored and by 1875 a gold rush that continues to the present was under way.The Homestake Mining Company in the Black Hills is today one of the largest operating gold mines in the world.
Denver in Slices
A Historical Guide to the City
By Louisa Ward Arps
·
Foreword by Thomas J. Noel
The Old West has been viewed from many perspectives, from the scornful to the uncritically romantic. But seldom has it been treated with the honest nostalgia of the wonderful accounts and pictures gathered in Denver in Slices.Ohio University Press/Swallow Press is proud to reissue this Western classic, which includes a brief survey of all Denver history, some slices depicting the most fascinating places and characters.
Travel - West · American History, West · Colorado · Western Americana
Survival On a Westward Trek, 1858–1859
The John Jones Overlanders
By Dwight L. Smith
When gold was discovered in the Fraser River country of British Columbia in the 1850s, St. Paul, Minnesota became the departure point for the plunge westward, as was St. Louis for the American gold rushes. Minnesotans soon caught the fever. Nine young men set out in July of 1858 for the goldfields of British Columbia.
Biography, Adventurers and Explorers · Literary Collections | Diaries & Journals · 19th century · North America · Western Americana · Gold Rush
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