A trip to the gold mines of California in 1848

John Swan (1817-1896), an English sailor, settled in Monterey in 1843 and joined other Californians in the rush to the gold fields to the north in July 1848. A trip to the gold mines of California in 1848 (1960) prints a memoir written out by Swan in 1870 giving an account of his ride north to Log Cabin Ravine and daily life as a prospector on the American River. A few months in the mines satisfy Swan, and he recounts his return to Monterey, where he spent the rest of his life. His book offers lively anecdotes of mining methods and miners in 1848 as well as of the land and people.