Customer Reviews

Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of California: A History & Guide

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Most of the book was written 40 years ago and recently revised. Any ghost town or mining buff worth his or her salt has probably read most of this before, either from the author's original articles from which this book is mostly comprised or from other authors rehashing the same material or quoting the content as a source.
Still, this is a great original source and worth the price for the photo reprints and stories of the rough and tumble Gold Rush. The author manages to cover the highlights of the Gold Rush and its classic stories in a very readable way without resorting to quoting monotonous figures for gold and ore production in tons and millions of dollars as a way to add filler.
A good read and worth adding to the library but probably a bit too dated to use as a travel guide, best for reference.

--Book Description--
Using letters, journals, newspapers, reminiscences, and other original papers from various libraries and museums, author Remi Nadeau gives a view of the Gold Rush and the mining towns the way the miners saw them. He includes many rare photos from private collections and maps and directions for finding even the remotest ghost towns.

--My Review--
"Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of California" is an entertaining history of the Gold Rush towns and mining camps in California based on letters, journals, newspapers, and more. The stories were mainly from 1848 to 1856, though he'd briefly tell the rest of the town's history if it lasted beyond that. The author gave a brief history of the gold rush and then shared amusing tales about what life was like in each of the main camps and towns. The stories included Christmas balls, racial clashes, and tales of local robbers. He also described what the towns looked like, how & why that changed, and what's left of them (even the smallest ones) now. He included black and white photographs of the towns, digs, and miners as well as maps and information on what's left of each camp or town today and how to find them.

The book didn't really describe how the mining was done but focused on the towns and social interactions. It's an entertaining read for anyone remotely interested in the subject, but it'd also be a great research resource for authors who want to set their novel during the Gold Rush. This is also a good book for anyone who'd like to track down the old mining camps and towns, though the information given in my 1965 version is probably a bit dated.