Up and Down California in 1860-1864: The Journal of William H. Brewer, Fourth Edition, with Maps

Rating:
Summary: All Californians should read this book.
Review: Brewer was working for the Whitney survey of California's resources. The gold rush had slowed down, but excitment about finding new resources in California was at a fever pitch. I read the parts about New Almaden and New Idria first, because I am working at the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum. Brewer's journals give very clear and interesting pictures of the mining towns at that time. Mary Halleck Foote's (Susan Ward's) letters of ten years later in "Angle of Repose" by Wallace Stegner, show a very similar picture . Brewer was a curious, brave and nice guy, so he had no trouble going wherever he wanted to go. All Californians should read this book.

Rating:
Summary: All Californians should read this book.
Review: Brewer was working for the Whitney survey of California's resources. The gold rush had slowed down, but excitment about finding new resources in California was at a fever pitch. I read the parts about New Almaden and New Idria first, because I am working at the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum. Brewer's journals give very clear and interesting pictures of the mining towns at that time. Mary Halleck Foote's (Susan Ward's) letters of ten years later in "Angle of Repose" by Wallace Stegner, show a very similar picture . Brewer was a curious, brave and nice guy, so he had no trouble going wherever he wanted to go. All Californians should read this book.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful and moving book.
Review: This book is a lot of things. First, it's a marvelous description of what unmapped California was like--when Los Angeles had 4,000 inhabitants, and shootings every Saturday night. The physical descriptions of the state are very interesting. But it's also a sort of social record; Brewer stayed with families on his travels, and the description of life on these isolated homesteads is absorbing. Up and Down California is also, of course, an adventure story. Brewer and his companions traveled for four years, on foot, by horse, mule and steamer, throughout a vast and wild territory, sleeping outdoors in fine weather and foul. As I recall, the only time during this period when he was ill was when he spent a couple of nights in a hotel room! Last, the book is very moving; Brewer joined the California survey because of the death of his young wife and child in New England. The book is a compilation of his letters home to his family. After the survey was over he returned to Connecticut and had a very useful career in the new field of public health, as teacher and administrator. He was an honest man, a good writer, and dedicated public servant. The book is highly enjoyable, and it's not necessary to be a California to appreciate it!

Rating:
Summary: Paper time machine
Review: This book took me back, and walked me through California in the 1860s