Up and Down California in 1860-1864: The Journal of William H. Brewer
Author William Brewer
First published 1930
William Brewer was a natural scientist from Yale who participated in a series of geological surveys in California just as the gold rush was winding down. His journals reveal a California so fresh to modern readers, but also the context of the era in which he lived. His musings include the legacy of Mexican land grants and the ongoing civil war. But most profound is his life in the California wilderness, surveying places and landmarks that have since been transformed materially by development but also in our minds by familiarity.