Hangtown Creek: A tale of the California gold rush [Paperback]

John Putnam (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 4, 2011

With her rescuer beside her, Maggie fled deeper into the unknown foothills, pursued by her memories, fears, and two ruthless killers who would stop at nothing to get her. In an isolated valley filled with gold she found a refuge. At the end of a long, hot summer she married the man who had saved her and they moved into a comfortable cabin he built for her. When young Tom Marsh showed up she took him in and suddenly felt complete, even happy. After the loneliness, pain and tears of the past she had a family to love again. Then the killers burst through her door.

The majestic landscapes of Brett Harte's California unite with Larry McMurtry's epic old west realism in an explosion of love, lust, murder and betrayal that comes to a powerful climax along a beautiful stream, home to the largest strike in the mines, where a burning barn ignites the passion of a gold rush boomtown and, in one dark night of revenge, earns that stream the name it bears to this day-HANGTOWN CREEK.

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse.com (March 4, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1450289827
• ISBN-13: 978-1450289825
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,470,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John graduated from U.C.-Berkeley with a degree in music, but found a laptop keyboard more his forte than a piano. He has an ardent interest in history and recently completed his first novel, Hangtown Creek; a story of adventure, romance, and coming of age that happens in the early days of the California gold rush.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A classic Western May 5, 2011

By Rome Collier

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

With "Hangtown Creek," author John Putnam produces elements of the classic Western reminiscent of tales such as "Lonesome Dove." Instead of an epic cattle drive, Putnam uses his detailed knowledge of the California Gold Rush to weave a story of intrigue and adventure. He brings alive rich characters like Maggie Magee, whose feminine allure sparkles like a nugget even under a crust of tragedy and hardship when she is thrust into the world of hard-working, hard-drinking miners of the mid-19th century. She has to struggle against villainy embodied by the likes of a half-breed named Cherokee Bill and Smiling Jack, whose moniker stems from a knife scar that stretches almost ear-to-ear. Fortunately for Maggie, she is surrounded by nobler souls such as young Tom Marsh, who leans on her for maternal comfort as he watches his real family wither away under the pressure of conditions that molded a new era in American history. It is the author's keen familiarity with the unfolding of this era that makes "Hangtown Creek" such an absorbing story, and which creates a yearning for more.

5.0 out of 5 stars "old dry diggins" (Placerville) was located on "Hangtown Creek: September 21, 2012

By George A. Wheeldon

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am currently teaching a class on the "Mining History of the Mother lode" at Folsom Lake College. Teaching & working as a professional geologist in the Mother Lode of California for the past 45 years has given me an unusual perspective on "Gold" and the importance of Hangtown Creek to the early development of the Gold Rush. This is a refreshing book that intertwines an engaging story with the actual places that it happened. This exciting story gives the reader a window to the hardships of surviving in the early stages of this massive western migration of rabid miners as gold deposits were being exploited. I highly recommend this entertaining & educational book on the early exploitation of the Mother Lode area in California
Professor George Wheeldon, Folsom Lake College

5.0 out of 5 stars Hangtown Creek November 1, 2011

By Gayle

Format:Paperback

A great read and a must for us western frolicking connoisseurs. This is a must for those who know little really about life in the Gold Rush Times. Enjoy every word as I did.