An edition of What I Saw In California (1848)

What I Saw in California

being the journal of a tour by the emigrant route and south pass of the Rocky Mountains, across the continent of North America, the great desert basin, and through California in the years 1846-1847

4th. ed. with an appendix containing accounts of the gold mines, various routes, outfit, etc., etc.
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Last edited by ImportBot
July 31, 2020 | History
An edition of What I Saw In California (1848)

What I Saw in California

being the journal of a tour by the emigrant route and south pass of the Rocky Mountains, across the continent of North America, the great desert basin, and through California in the years 1846-1847

4th. ed. with an appendix containing accounts of the gold mines, various routes, outfit, etc., etc.
  • 1.00 ·
  • 1 Rating
  • 8 Want to read
  • 0 Currently reading
  • 1 Have read

Edwin Bryant made the journey from Independence, Missouri to California in the years 1846-47, through the southern pass of the Rocky Mountains and across the desert.

As a medical student, he became an unofficial doctor along the way, and witnessed some gruesome scenes, like the amputation of a little boy’s gangrenous leg, which he describes in painful scientific detail. He is equally explicit when portraying the daily life of the wagon trip, and his prose illuminates the trials of the traveler: "During the process of cooking supper, it commenced raining and blowing with great violence. Our fire was nearly extinguished by the deluge of water from the clouds, and our dough was almost turned to batter..."

Bryant intended his work to function as both entertainment to the general reader and instruction for those planning to follow his path, and the book is a repository of useful information, like distances, weather, water source locations, and descriptions of plant life. As such, it is invaluable to enthusiasts of Western history.

It is also a really good story, with entertaining sketches of camp life, Indians, and animals. Bryant’s descriptions of the landscapes are particularly compelling: "The vast prairie itself soon opened before us in all its grandeur and beauty...The view of the illimitable succession of green undulations and flowery slopes, of every gentle and graceful configuration, stretching away and away, until they fade from the sight in the dim distance, creates a wild and scarcely controllable ecstasy of admiration."

The variety of Bryant’s adventures is striking – in one day he is present at a death, a wedding, a funeral, and a birth. He is often nearly overwhelmed by the functions of nature going on around him, and is particularly moved by the continuous presence of death: "One of our party who left the train to hunt through the valley, brought into camp this evening a human skull. He stated that the place where he found it was whitened with human bones. Doubtless this spot was the scene of some Indian massacre, or a battle-field where hostile tribes had met and destroyed each other. I could learn no explanatory tradition; but the tragedy, whatever its occasion, occurred many years ago."

What I Saw in California is the classic yet remarkable adventure of a young man heading west, well-written and full of historically useful information.

Publish Date
Publisher
D. Appleton & Co.
Language
English
Pages
480

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Cover of: What I Saw in California
What I Saw in California
January 30, 2007, BiblioBazaar
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Cover of: What I Saw in California (Large Print Edition)
What I Saw in California (Large Print Edition)
January 30, 2007, BiblioBazaar
Paperback in English
Cover of: What I Saw in California
What I Saw in California
August 9, 2007, IndyPublish
Paperback in English
Cover of: What I Saw in California
What I Saw in California
August 9, 2007, IndyPublish
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Cover of: What I Saw in California
What I Saw in California
November 3, 2006, Hard Press
Paperback in English
Cover of: What I Saw in California
What I Saw in California
May 30, 2006, IndyPublish.com
Paperback in English
Cover of: What I Saw in California
What I Saw in California
May 30, 2006, IndyPublish.com
Hardcover in English
Cover of: What I Saw In California
What I Saw In California
February 28, 2005, IndyPublish.com
Hardcover in English
Cover of: What I Saw In California
What I Saw In California
February 28, 2005, IndyPublish.com
Paperback in English
Cover of: What I Saw in California
What I Saw in California
2001, The Narrative Press
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Cover of: What I Saw in California
What I Saw in California: By Wagon from Missouri to California in 1847-48
July 1, 2001, The Narrative Press
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Cover of: What I saw in California
What I saw in California
1985, University of Nebraska Press
in English
Cover of: What I saw in California
Cover of: What I saw in California
Cover of: What I saw in California.
Cover of: What I saw in California
Cover of: What I saw in California
Cover of: What I saw in California
Cover of: What I Saw in California
Cover of: What I saw in California
Cover of: What I saw in California
Cover of: What I saw in California
Cover of: What I saw in California
Cover of: What I saw in California
Cover of: What I saw in California
Cover of: What I saw in California
Cover of: What I saw in California
Cover of: What I saw in California
What I saw in California: being the journal of a tour
1848, D. Appleton & Company, G.S. Appleton
in English

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER I. Leave Louisville — Independence, Mo — New-Mexican teamsters — Outfitting — Masonic celebration — Improbable rumors — Mormons — Indians — Marvellous stories Page 13 CHAPTER II. Appearance of the country — Vexations difficulties of starting — First camp — Violent thunder-storm — Four-footed tragedian — First view of the prairies — Soil — Flowers — Emigrant camp — Frontier family — Thunder-storm on the prairie — Lodgings on the frontier — More of the Mormons — Rain- bow on the prairies — Indian Creek — Place of organization — Straying of cattle and horses — Election on the prairies — Shawnee Indians Page 19 CHAPTER III. Leave Indian Creek — "Catching up" — A corral — Droves of mules from New Mexico — Santa Fe traders returning — Dismal accounts of the journey — Leave the Santa Fe trail — Wild onions — Difficult crossings — Potawattomie Indian — Ex-governor Boggs and other emigrants come up— Reasons assigned for emigration — Solitude of the prairies — More Indians — First news of war with Mexico — Signs of dissolution of the party — An adventure almost — Extreme heat — Sufferings of cattle — Division — Kansas River — A luxury in the wilderness — New-comers — Rumors of war confirmed Page 32 CHAPTER IV. Methodist Mission on the Kansas — Soldier Creek — Lustration — A ruined Indian town — A rose in the wilderness — Another division — Kansas Indian towns — Ki-he-ga-wa-chuck-ee — Prairie potato — Mountain trappers — Beauty of scenery and fertility of soil — Vermilion Creek — Brilliant meteor — Big Blue River — Prairie-pea — Legislation on the prairies Page 45 CHAPTER V. Terrible storm — More legislation — Alcove spring — Honey — A death and funeral — Boat-launch — Blue River Rover — Soil and scenery along the Blue — Fresh graves — Pawnee country — Quarrels in camp — Withdrawal of the Oregon emigrants — Indian hunters — Indian appetites — More fighting — Antelopes — False buffalo-chase — Blacksmithing on the plains Page 60 CHAPTER VI. Sickness among the emigrants — Effects of travel and exposure upon the appearance and habits of our party — Method of travel — The Little Blue River — Change in the soil — A break-down — Platte River — Soil of the Platte bottom — Human bones — Buffalo bones — Post-offices — Islands of the Platte — Bois de Vache — Mackinaw boats — Prairie-dog town — Rocky Mountain hunters, and boatmen — The bluffs of the Platte — Immense fungi — First buffaloes — Men in search of a doctor — Disposition among emigrants to take large doses of medicine — Effects often fatal — Barbarous surgical operation — Distressing scene — Funeral — Wedding — Birth Page 74 CHAPTER VII. Country becomes more arid and sterile — Return party from Oregon — Herds of buffalo — Dead oxen — Chalybeate spring at the ford of the Platte — Killing buffaloes — Buffalo meat — Resignation of Colonel Russell and other officers — Determination to change our mode of travel — Ash Hollow — General post-office — Grave opened by wolves — Chimney Rock in the distance — Court-House Rock — Foetid water and tainted atmosphere — Quicksands — Near view of Court-House Rock — A man in a fright— Near view of Chimney Rock — Scenery at Chimney Rock — Horse-trading — Furious storm — Scott's Bluff — First view of Rocky Mountains — Horse Creek — Fort Bernard — Fort Laramie — Sioux Indians — Beauty of the Sioux women — Sioux Lodges Page 92 CHAPTER VIII. Procession of the Sioux — Purchase of mules — Extreme high prices for coffee, sugar, tobacco, flour, etc — Shooting-match with the Sioux Indians — A return party from California — Denunciation of the country by them — Resume the journey on pack-mules — Vexations of mule-packing — Canon of the Platte — First appearance of wild sage — View of the Rocky Mountains — Another Oregon return party — Swarms of crickets — An extinct volcano — Green peas — A good supper — Frost in the mountains — Effects of earthquakes — Hunters and trappers : their numbers, habits, etc — Celebration of the 4th of July — Gnats and mosquitoes — Joined by Mr. Buchanan — Alkaline lakes — Impure water, its effects — Sweet-water Mountains Page 111 CHAPTER IX. Independence Rock — Sweetwater River — Devil's Gate — A solitary traveller — Distant view of Wind River Mountains — Chalky Lakes — Deleterious effects of milk — Sickness in emigrating parties — Another return party from California — Buffalo-chase — Mortality among the oxen of the emigrants — Wolves in chase of diseased oxen — South Pass of the Rocky Mountains — Pacific Springs — Last view of the Atlantic slope — Jacob's Tower — Little Sandy River — Troublesome visiters — The Mirage — Big Sandy River — Greenwood's Cutoff — Curious incident — Snake Indian hunting-party Page 125 CHAPTER X. Green River — Terrific storn — Desolate scenery — Black's Fork — Rainbow bluffs — Remarkable butte — Arrival at Fort Bridger — Messrs. Hastings and Hudspeth — Traders and trappers from Taos — Capt. Walker — Californian horses — Snow showers on the mountains — Resume our march by the new route via the Great Salt Lake — Cold weather — Ice in July — Bear River — Difficult passage through the mountains — Elephant statue Page 138 CHAPTER XI. More extreme cold weather — Ogden's Hole — Utah Indians — Weber River — Canons — Indian visiters — Disgusting practice — Great fires in the mountains — First view of the great Salt Lake — Salmon-trout — Great Salt Lake — A sunset on the lake — Broke my thermometer — Indian chase — Warm sulphur springs — More Indian visiters — Indian fruit-cake — Grass-hopper jam — Mode of taking grasshoppers by the Indians Page 150 CHAPTER XII. Utah Outlet and Iake — Enter the desert — Utah language — Col. Russell's nine-shooter — Digger Indians — Utter sterility Page 163 CHAPTER XIII. March over the great Salt Desert — Preparations — Singular illusion — Volcanic debris — Distant view of the great Salt Plain — Utter desolation — The mirage — Gigantic phantoms — Fata Morgana — Spectral army — Tempest on the Salt Plain — Clouds of salt — Instinct of mules — Mule-race — Excessive thirst — Arrival at oasis, and spring — Buchanan's well Page 169 CHAPTER XIV. The oasis — Anxiety respecting our animals — Prodigious tall grass — Deserted Indian huts — Old trail of lost wagons — Desert valley — Extinct volcanoes — Mountain spring — Elevated camp — Vast extent of the Salt Plain — Sublimity of scenery — Moonlight view — Sunrise — Indian picket or game-trap — Another oasis — Altercation — Extreme heat of the sun — Wells in the desert — More desert valleys — Stream of running water — View of Mary's River, and valley — Indian signal-fires Page 182 CHAPTER XV. Mary's river Indians — Their fleetness — Mary's river — Unexpected and singular meeting — Applegate's exploring party from Oregon — Energy of the emigrant population on the Pacific — More Indian visiters — Largo herds of antelopes — Flora of Mary's river — A merry Indian — Indian fish-trap — Extensive boiling springs — Rain in the desert — Large body of Indians — Indian foot-race with our mules Page 194 CHAPTER XVI. Refreshing rain — Dense smoky vapor — Scarcity of provisions — Horses giving out — Dismal journey — Soup of fresh-water shellfish — Agreeable meeting — Obtain a supply of provisions — Merry Digger Indian visiters — An Indian coil — Petrifactions — Sink of Mary's river — Bitter waters — The desert between Mary's and Truckee river — Toilsome march — Unexpected refreshment — Remarkable boiling springs, Page 206 CHAPTER XVII. Mirage — Phantom cataract — Signs of water — Truckee river — Insanity produced by apprehension and excitement — Enter the California mountains — Mountain forests — Mountain valley — Truckee river Indians — Cold nights — Mountain lake — Origin of the name of Truckee river and lake — Scenery of the Sierra Nevada — Log-cabin erected by emigrants in distress — Mountain raspberry — Pass of the Sierra — Uber valley — Spring in August — An attack by hornets — Beautiful encampment — Human skull Page 218 CHAPTER XVIII. Bear Valley — Provisions exhausted — California quail — Manzanita — The pine-nut — Deep hollow — Evergreen oak — First view of the Sacramento valley — A body of California Indians — Live-oak acorns — Arrive at Johnson's— Indian dandy — Cheering and astonishing news from Mexico — Obtain food — A Californian newspaper Page 234 CHAPTER XIX. Soil of Johnson's rancho — His crops — Price of flour — Soil of the Sacramento valley — Sinclair's rancho — A white woman — Sutter's Fort — New Helvetia — Interview with Captain Sutter — Reflections upon our journey — Table of distances from Independence to San Francisco Page 244 CHAPTER XX. Account of the disasters to the emigrating parties of 1846 — The Oregon emigrants — Causes of delay which resulted in fatal consequences — Generosity of the people of San Francisco, and Capt. Sutter — John Sinclair's statement — Dreadful sufferings of the first party who crossed on the snows — George McKinstry's statement — Journal of one of the sufferers — List of those who perished — Particulars of the death of George Donner and wife — Keysburg's cannibalism — Interment of the bones by Gen Kearny's party in June, 1847 Page 249 CHAPTER XXI. California Indians — Captain Sutter — Difficulties in making his first settlement in California — Laboring Indians — Propensity for gambling — Captain Sutter's coin — Account of their games — Food of the Indians — Captain Sutter's wheat crops in 1846 — Scarcity of flouring-mills — Water- power — Hemp — Dine with Captain Sutter ; description of the dinner — Oppressive impost-duties of the Mexican government — Indian rancherias — Indian orgies — Sacramento river — Salmon — New Helvetia — Indian sweat-house — Reported Indian invasion by the Walla- Wallas — Description of the Walla-Wallas Page 265 CHAPTER XXII. Geographical sketch of California — Its political and social institutions — Colorado river — Valley and river of San Joaquin — Former government — Presidios — Missions — Ports and commerce Page 275 CHAPTER XXIII. Leave San Francisco for Sonoma — Sonoma creek — "Bear men" — Islands in the bay — Liberality of Uncle Sam to sailors — Sonoma — Beautiful country — General Vallejo — Senora Vallejo — Thomas O Larkin, U S Consul — Signs of rain — The seasons in California — More warlike rumors from the south — Mission of San Rafael — An Irish ranchero — Sausolito — Return to San Francisco — Meet Lippincott — Discomfort of Californian houses Page 286 CHAPTER XXIV. Resume my travels — Leave New Helvetia for San Francisco — Coscumne river — >MickeIemes river — Ford of the San Joaquin — Extensive plain — Tule marshes — Large droves of wild horses and elk — Arrive at Dr Marsh's — Vineyard — Californian grape — Califoruian wine — Aguardiente — Mormon settlements on the San Joaquin — Californian beef — Cattle — Grasses of California — Horses — Breakfast — Leave Dr. Marsh's — Arrive at Mr. Livermore's — Comforts of his dwelling — Large herds of cattle — Sheep — Swine — Californian senora — Slaughtering of a bullock — Fossil oyster-shells — Skeleton of a whale on a high mountain — Arrive at mission of San Jose — Ruinous and desolate appearance of the mission — Pedlers — Landlady — Filth — Gardens of the mission — Fruit orchards — Empty warehouses and workshops — Foul lodgings Page 299 CHAPTER XXV. Armies of fleas — Leave the mission — Clover — Wild mustard — A carreta — Family travelling — Arrive at Pueblo de San Jose — Capt Fisher — Description of the Pueblo — The embarcadero — Beautiful and fertile valley of the Pueblo — Absence of architectural taste in California — Town squirrels — Fruit garden — Grapes — Tropical fruits — Gaming rooms — Contrast between Californian and American gamesters — Leave San Jose — Beautiful avenue — Mission of Santa Clara — Rich but neglected lands — Effects of a bad government — A senora on the road-side — Kindness of Californian women — Fast riding — Cruel treatment of horses — Arrive at the mission of Sun Francisco — A poor but hospitable family — Arrive at the town of San Francisco — W. A. Leidesdorff, Esq., American vice-cousul — First view of the Bay of San Francisco — Muchachos and Muchacas — Capt Montgomery — U. S. sloop-of-war Portsmouth — Town of San Francisco ; its situation, appearance, population — Commerce of California — Extortion of the government and traders Page 313 CHAPTER XXVI. Climate of San Francisco — Periodical winds — Dine on the Portsmouth — A supper party on shore — Arrival of Commodore Stockton at San Francisco—Rumors of rebellion from the south — Californian court — Trial by jury — Fandango — Californian belles — American pioneers of the Pacific — Reception of Commodore Stockton — Sitga — Captain Fremont leaves San Francisco for the south — Offer our services as volunteers Page 325 CHAPTER XXVII. Sketch of the Bear revolution, and first conquest of California by the American troops — Capture of Lieut. De. Arce — Capture of Sonoma, by Capt. Merritt and party, on the 14th of July — Proclamation of William B. Ide — Barbarous and brutal murder of Cowle and Fowler — Four fingered Jack — Capt. Ford's engagement with the Californians; defeat of the latter — Flight of De la Torre — Proclamatikons of Castro — Capt. Fremont joins the revolutionists at Sonoma, on the 25th of July — Commodore Sloat's arrival in California — Raising of the U. S. flag at Monterey, San Francisco, Sonoma and other places — Proclamation of Com. Sloat — Capt Fremont occupies San Juan — Castro retreats to the South — Los Angeles captured by Com Stockton — Com Stockton's proclamation Page 333 CHAPTER XXVIII. Boat trip up the bay and the Sacramento to New Helvetia — An appeal to the alcalde — Kanackas — Straits of San Pueblo and Pedro — Straits of Carquinez — Town of Francisca — Feather-beds furnished by nature — Mouth of the Sacramento — Islands — Delaware Tom — A man who has forgotten his mother tongue — Salmon of the Sacramento — Indian fishermen — Arrive at New Helvetia Page 340 CHAPTER XXIX. Disastrous news from the south — Return of Colonel Fremont to Monterey — Call for volunteers — Volunteer our services — Leave New Helvetia — Swimming the Sacramento — First fall of rain — Beautiful and romantic valley — Precipitous mountains — Deserted house — Arable land of California — Fattening qualities of the acorn — Lost in the Coast Mountains — Strange Indians — Indian women gathering grass-seed for bread — Indian guide — Laguna — Rough dialogue — Hunters' camp — "Old Greenwood" — Grisly bear meat — Greenwood's account of himself — His opinion of the Indians and Spaniards — Retrace our steps — Severe storm — Nappa valley — Arrive at Sonoma — More rain — Arrive at San Francisco — Return to New Helvetia Page 346 CHAPTER XXX. Leave New Helvetia — Pleasant weather — Meet Indian volunteers — Tule- boats — Engagement between a party of Americans and Californians — Death of Capt. Burroughs and Capt. Foster — Capture of Thomas O. Larkin — Reconnaissance — San Juan Bautista — Neglect of the dead — Large herds of cattle — Join Col Fremont Page 358 CHAPTER XXXI. California battalion — Their appearance, and costume — List of the officers — Commence our march to Los Angeles — Appearance of the country in the vicinity of San Juan — Slaughter of beeves — Astonishing consumption of beef by the men — Beautiful morning — Ice — Salinas river and valley — Californian prisoners — Horses giving out from fatigue — Mission of San Miguel — Sheep — Mutton — March on foot — More prisoners taken — Death of Mr. Stanley — An execution — Dark night — Capture of the mission of San Luis Obispo — Orderly conduct and good deportment of the California battalion Page 365 CHAPTER XXXII. Tremendous rain — Mission of San Luis Obispo — Gardens — Various fruits — Farm — Cactus Tuna — Calinche — Pumpkins — Trial of Tortoria Pico — Procession of women — Pico's pardon — Leave San Luis — Surf of the Pacific — Captain Dana — Tempestuous night — Mission of St. Ynes — Effects of drought — Horses exhausted — St. Ynes mountain — View of the plain of Santa Barbara and the Pacific — A wretched Christmas-day — Descent of St. Ynes mountain — Terrible storm — Frightful destruction of horses- Dark night — What we are fighting for — Arrive at Santa Barbara — Town deserted Page 375 CHAPTER XXXIII. Santa Barbara— Picturesque situation — Fertility of the country — Climate — Population — Society — Leave Sauta Barbara — Rincou — Grampus — Mission of St. Buenaventura — Fine gardens — Meet a party of mounted Californians — They retreat before us — Abundance of maize — Arrival of couriers from Com. Stockton — Ettects of war upon the country — More of the enemy in sight — News of the capture of Los Angeles, by Gen. Kearny and Com. Stockton — Mission of San Fernando — The Maguey — Capitulation of the Californians — Arrive at Los Angeles — General reflections upon the march — Meet with old acquaintances Page 304 CHAPTER XXXIV. Military operations of General Kearny and Commodore Stockton — Their reports to the Secretaries of War and Navy — Battles of San Pasqual and San Gabriel Page 394 CHAPTER XXXV. City of Angels — Gardens — Vineyards — Produce of the vine in California — General products of the country — Reputed personal charms of the females of Los Angeles — San Diego — Gold and quicksilver mines — Lower California — Bituminous springs — Wines — A Kentuckian among the angels — Missions of San Gabriel and San Luis Rey — Gen. Kearny and Com. Stockton leave for San Diego — Col. Fremont appointed Governor of California by Com. Stockton — Com. Shubrick's general order — Insurrection in the northern part of California suppressed — Arrival of Col. Cook at San Diego Page 405 CHAPTER XXXVI. Leave Los Angeles for San Francisco — Don Andres Pico — A Californian returning from the wars — Domestic life at a rancho — Women in favor of peace — Hospitable treatment — Fandango — Singular custom — Arrive at Sauta Barbara — Lost in a fog — Valley of the Salinas — Californians wanting Yankee wives — High waters — Arrive at San Francisco Page 417 CHAPTER XXXVII. Progress of the town of San Francisco — Capt. Dupont — Gen. Kearny — The presidio — Appointed Alcalde — Gen. Kearny's proclamation — Arrival of Col. Stevenson's regiment — Horse-thief Lidians — Administration of justice in California — Sale of lots in San Francisco Page 427 CHAPTER XXXVIII. First settlement of the missionaries — Population — Characteristics of white population — Employments — Pleasures and amusements — Position of women — Soil — Grasses — Vegetable productions — Agriculture — Fruits — Cattle — Horses — Wild animals — Minerals — Climate — Flora — Water-power — Timber — Religion Page 441

Edition Notes

Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site.
Wagner-Camp (4th ed.) 146:5

Classifications

Library of Congress
F864 .B804

The Physical Object

Pagination
480 p. :
Number of pages
480

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL6190207M
Internet Archive
whatisawincalifoin00brya
LCCN
55048851
OCLC/WorldCat
16932339

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