Jersey Gold

The Newark Overland Company's Trek to California, 1849

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, 19th Century
Cover of the book Jersey Gold by Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles, University of Oklahoma Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles ISBN: 9780806157979
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press Publication: April 20, 2017
Imprint: University of Oklahoma Press Language: English
Author: Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles
ISBN: 9780806157979
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Publication: April 20, 2017
Imprint: University of Oklahoma Press
Language: English

When gold fever struck in 1849, John S. Darcy—prominent physician, general, and president of the New Jersey Railroad—assembled a company to travel overland to California. In Jersey Gold, Margaret Casterline Bowen and Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles tell the story of that colorful company of some thirty stalwarts and adventurers.

Jersey Gold chronicles the experiences of the New Jersey argonauts from their lives before the gold rush to the widely varying fortunes each ultimately found. Animated by the trekkers’ own words and observations and illustrated with maps, photographs, and drawings by one of the company’s own men, Jersey Gold follows the Newark Overland Company’s journey by rail, stage, and riverboat to the Missouri frontier town of Independence, the group’s jumping-off point for the Oregon-California trail. There, the company splintered. Their divergent paths afford views of the westward journey from multiple perspectives as the companies faced the perils of the wilderness and the treachery of human nature. Once in gold country, many booked immediate passage home, but some remained with Darcy to work a successful mining operation before returning east with comfortable fortunes. A few, enchanted by the opportunities of the Golden Coast, took up permanent residence there—and in their stories we witness the emergence of California amid unprecedented lawlessness, the controversy of slavery, and diverse nationalities.

The story of the Newark Overland Company—in many ways a panorama of the nineteenth century—ranges from the wildness of the frontier through the chaos of the Civil War to the throes of early industrialization, and features such notables as John Sutter, Brigham Young, and Henry Clay. In chronicling this journey, Jersey Gold vividly re-creates a defining chapter in American history.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

When gold fever struck in 1849, John S. Darcy—prominent physician, general, and president of the New Jersey Railroad—assembled a company to travel overland to California. In Jersey Gold, Margaret Casterline Bowen and Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles tell the story of that colorful company of some thirty stalwarts and adventurers.

Jersey Gold chronicles the experiences of the New Jersey argonauts from their lives before the gold rush to the widely varying fortunes each ultimately found. Animated by the trekkers’ own words and observations and illustrated with maps, photographs, and drawings by one of the company’s own men, Jersey Gold follows the Newark Overland Company’s journey by rail, stage, and riverboat to the Missouri frontier town of Independence, the group’s jumping-off point for the Oregon-California trail. There, the company splintered. Their divergent paths afford views of the westward journey from multiple perspectives as the companies faced the perils of the wilderness and the treachery of human nature. Once in gold country, many booked immediate passage home, but some remained with Darcy to work a successful mining operation before returning east with comfortable fortunes. A few, enchanted by the opportunities of the Golden Coast, took up permanent residence there—and in their stories we witness the emergence of California amid unprecedented lawlessness, the controversy of slavery, and diverse nationalities.

The story of the Newark Overland Company—in many ways a panorama of the nineteenth century—ranges from the wildness of the frontier through the chaos of the Civil War to the throes of early industrialization, and features such notables as John Sutter, Brigham Young, and Henry Clay. In chronicling this journey, Jersey Gold vividly re-creates a defining chapter in American history.

More books from University of Oklahoma Press

Cover of the book Empire on Display by Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles
Cover of the book Sweet Freedom's Plains by Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles
Cover of the book Mestizos Come Home! by Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles
Cover of the book California's Channel Islands by Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles
Cover of the book Poke a Stick at It by Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles
Cover of the book A Bad Peace and a Good War by Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles
Cover of the book The Wister Trace by Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles
Cover of the book Chutzpah! by Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles
Cover of the book The Forked Juniper by Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles
Cover of the book The Powhatan Indians of Virginia by Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles
Cover of the book Valentine T. McGillycuddy by Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles
Cover of the book Violence and Crime in Latin America by Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles
Cover of the book Californio Portraits by Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles
Cover of the book The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux by Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles
Cover of the book Syntactical Mechanics by Margaret Casterline Bowen, Gwendolyn Joslin Hiles
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy