Customer Reviews

Eldorado: The California Gold Rush

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Dale L. Walker's approach to writing American history makes him the most absorbing historian of our times. He tells history by focusing on those who were involved; by drawing vivid and penetrating portraits of the characters who made the history. He is also an amazing researcher, unearthing material that escapes others. This makes him far more readable than Ambrose, and his material is richer as well. Eldorado tells the story of the California gold rush in such rich detail that the whole era springs to life. We come to understandings about what happened, and the men and women who settled California, and the implications of the gold rush that linger even in present times. This is a remarkable work, by a masterful historian, and one that, I suspect, will win literary awards.

Many books have been written about the California Gold Rush, and most recently a popular contender by H. W. Brands, but only the acclaimed author and historian Dale L. Walker, and expert in California history, could bring us such a brilliant and comprehensive account of this time and place of the American West, and he does so in his latest release, ELDORADO.

In the pre-Gold Rush era, California was a mecca of commerce for traders from all over the world. Those who stepped foot on its shores, or made the overland journeys across the Oregon or Santa Fe trails, all sought a prosperous beginning. John Augustus Sutter was no exception, as he left his wife and children and their home in Switzerland, evading substantial debt and economic loss, to start over. Dale L. Walker enlightens the reader on the important role the "Empresario" Sutter played in the commercial and social development of northern California, and ultimately, if not ironically, how such a man in his business ventures suffered, rather than gained, from the discovery of gold at the site of his new saw mill.

Though the story of James Marshall's discovery of gold at Sutter's mill, under Sutter's employ, is likely the key highlight in the history of the Gold Rush, it is a perfect example of how the glamour of such an event can mask the reality of the craze, if not madness, that developed afterward. Walker offers great depth on how the news of the gold discovery reached the media and governments all over the world. How the news was received, who believed it and who didn't, and how those who did attempted to claim their share of the new fortune. Walker offers detailed accounts of the sea journeys around Cape Horn, or the partial sea journeys to the malaria laden jungles of Panama, then to San Francisco Bay - the prices they paid, the accommodations they received, and the fears and anxieties they faced. Rather by land or by sea, the trek alone was dreadful and life-staking. The disease cholera an invisible gauntlet, more so then the social and environmental challenges, to the success in reaching the land of gold.

Dale L. Walker has never failed to provide readers with a compelling, engaging narrative on any of his subjects, but ELDORADO could very well be his best work yet, and is sure to receive worldwide praise and recognition. The book belongs in every public and school library, and in the personal library of world leaders. It's a book for all times and all ages, a tremendous accomplishment, and Dale L. Walker more precious than gold to the writings of American history.

I have always been curious about just what exactly happened in California in 1849. I could tell you that gold was discovered and there was a "rush" to travel to the gold fields and that many people ended up very disappointed. That was about the extent of my meager knowledge on the subject.

I was pleased to pick up this excellent book by Dale Walker. The basic facts are about as I surmised but as they say the devil is in the details.

The author devotes many pages relating the time consuming and dangerous journey to the California gold fields north of San Francisco. At the time the vast majority of the county's population resided east of the Mississippi. Therefore you had three unappetizing choices to get there: a mule train across the western desert and mountains; a sea voyage around South America or a slog across Central America and then a journey up through Mexico. The author's inclusion of eyewitness accounts of encounters with jungle fevers, storms at sea and searing desert treks confirms that there was no easy way from the East to the West in 1849.

In another section the author discusses the typical 49er. It is easy today to dismiss these men as naive, gullible, greedy and the dregs of society looking for the "easy money". The fact was that most men in 1849 were being crushed by poverty in the cities or barely surviving as farmers. The possibility of making a fortune far out weighed, for many, their inevitable short and hard lives. Puffed up press accounts telling of "tripping over golden nuggets" also helped motivated many thousands to undertake the treacherous journey to the gold fields.

As the author tells us some few did make a fortune but the vast majority traded in one life of poverty for another. Working the gold fields subjected men to inevitable encounters with the most unhealthy of life styles. If they survived the poor sanitation, inadequate diet and lack of adequate shelter then the total lawlessness of the towns awaited them. Some few with a modest accumulation of gold soon found the allure of liquor, gambling and "sporting ladies" would quickly relieved them of their hard earned mining success.

The author places the gold rush in the historical context of the War with Mexico and California's Independence. He also includes biographical discussion of key players such as John Sutter, John Fremont and others. This is a fine overview of the subject that satisfied my curiosity and greatly contributed to my meager knowledge of the subject.