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Book/Printed Material Life on the plains and among the diggings; being scenes and adventures of an overland journey to California: with particular incidents of the route, mistakes and sufferings of the emigrants, the Indian tribes, the present and future of the great West.

About this Item

Title

  • Life on the plains and among the diggings; being scenes and adventures of an overland journey to California: with particular incidents of the route, mistakes and sufferings of the emigrants, the Indian tribes, the present and future of the great West.

Summary

  • Born in Aurora, New York, Alonzo Delano (1806-1874) moved on to the Midwest as a teenager. July 1848 found him a consumptive Ottawa, Illinois, storekeeper, and he joined a local California Company. He remained in the West after the Gold Rush, winning fame as an early California humorist. Life on the plains and among the diggings (1857) is based largely on letters from Delano published in Ottawa and New Orleans newspapers of the day (see Alonzo Delano's California correspondence [1952]). Covering the period April 1849-August 1852, he discusses his voyage to St. Joseph and an overland journey to California; sojourns in Sacramento, Marysville, and San Francisco; and experiences as a storekeeper at Mud Hill, Stingtown, Gold Lake, and Grass Valley. Other topics include quartz mining, crime and vigilantism, and real estate investment.

Names

  • Delano, Alonzo, 1806-1874.

Created / Published

  • New York, Miller, Orton & co., 1857.

Headings

  • -  West (U.S.)--Description and travel
  • -  Indians of North America--West (U.S.)
  • -  Overland journeys to the Pacific
  • -  California--Gold discoveries
  • -  California--Description and travel
  • -  Urbanization--California
  • -  Real estate development--California
  • -  Mines and mineral resources--California
  • -  Business--California

Notes

  • -  Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site.
  • -  Also available in digital form on the Internet Archive Web site.

Medium

  • xi, [13]-384 p. front., plates. 20 cm.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • F593 .D34

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 13005717

Rights Advisory

  • No known restrictions on publication.

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf
  • online text

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

"California as I Saw It:" First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900.

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Credit Line: Library of Congress, [appropriate source division as described in the bibliographic record]. For example: Library of Congress, General Collections; or, Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Delano, Alonzo. Life on the plains and among the diggings; being scenes and adventures of an overland journey to California: with particular incidents of the route, mistakes and sufferings of the emigrants, the Indian tribes, the present and future of the great West. New York, Miller, Orton & co, 1857. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/13005717/.

APA citation style:

Delano, A. (1857) Life on the plains and among the diggings; being scenes and adventures of an overland journey to California: with particular incidents of the route, mistakes and sufferings of the emigrants, the Indian tribes, the present and future of the great West. New York, Miller, Orton & co. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/13005717/.

MLA citation style:

Delano, Alonzo. Life on the plains and among the diggings; being scenes and adventures of an overland journey to California: with particular incidents of the route, mistakes and sufferings of the emigrants, the Indian tribes, the present and future of the great West. New York, Miller, Orton & co, 1857. Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/13005717/>.