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Book/Printed Material Death Valley in '49. Important chapter of California pioneer history. The autobiography of a pioneer, detailing his life from a humble home in the Green Mountains to the gold mines of California

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Title

  • Death Valley in '49. Important chapter of California pioneer history. The autobiography of a pioneer, detailing his life from a humble home in the Green Mountains to the gold mines of California; and particularly reciting the sufferings of the band of men, women and children who gave "Death Valley" its name.

Summary

  • William Lewis Manly (1820-1903) and his family left Vermont in 1828, and he grew to manhood in Michigan and Wisconsin. On hearing the news of gold in California, Manly set off on horseback, joining an emigrant party in Missouri. Death Valley in '49 (1894) contains Manly's account of that overland journey. Setting out too late in the year to risk a northern passage thorugh the Sierras, the group takes the southern route to California, unluckily choosing an untried short cut through the mountains. This fateful decision brings the party through Death Valley, and Manly describes their trek through the desert, as well as the experiences of the Illinois "Jayhawkers" and others who took the Death Valley route. Manly's memoirs continue with his trip north to prospecting near the Mariposa mines, a brief trip back east via the Isthmus, and his return to California and another try at prospecting on the North Fork of the Yuba at Downieville in 1851. He provides lively ancedotes of life in mining camps and of his visits to Stockton, Sacramento, and San Francisco.

Names

  • Manly, William Lewis, 1820-

Created / Published

  • San José, Cal., The Pacific tree and vine co., 1894.

Headings

  • -  Death Valley (Calif. and Nev.)--Description and travel
  • -  California--Gold discoveries
  • -  Overland journeys to the Pacific
  • -  Manly, William Lewis,--1820
  • -  Pioneers--West (U.S.)--Biography
  • -  West (U.S.)--Description and travel
  • -  Ethnic groups--California
  • -  Mines and mineral resources--California

Medium

  • 498 p. incl. front. (port.) plates. 20 cm.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • F868.D2 M27
  • F868.D2 M27 Copy 3 Copy 3. Purchase, Oct. 22, 1991 (DLC #0209040)

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • rc01000580

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:

Manly, William Lewis. Death Valley in '49. Important chapter of California pioneer history. The autobiography of a pioneer, detailing his life from a humble home in the Green Mountains to the gold mines of California; and particularly reciting the sufferings of the band of men, women and children who gave "Death Valley" its name. San José, Cal., The Pacific tree and vine co, 1894. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/rc01000580/.

APA citation style:

Manly, W. L. (1894) Death Valley in '49. Important chapter of California pioneer history. The autobiography of a pioneer, detailing his life from a humble home in the Green Mountains to the gold mines of California; and particularly reciting the sufferings of the band of men, women and children who gave "Death Valley" its name. San José, Cal., The Pacific tree and vine co. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/rc01000580/.

MLA citation style:

Manly, William Lewis. Death Valley in '49. Important chapter of California pioneer history. The autobiography of a pioneer, detailing his life from a humble home in the Green Mountains to the gold mines of California; and particularly reciting the sufferings of the band of men, women and children who gave "Death Valley" its name. San José, Cal., The Pacific tree and vine co, 1894. Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/rc01000580/>.