Bask - Shop now
Kindle Unlimited
Unlimited reading. Over 4 million titles. Learn more
Read for Free
OR
$2.99 with 70 percent savings
Print List Price: $9.99

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Sold by Amazon.com Services LLC.
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Journey into Gold Country: Memories of a Forty-Niner Kindle Edition

by Ralph Buckingham (Author), Annie Pearson (Editor), Charles Barker (Foreword) Format: Kindle Edition
3.6 out of 5 stars 9 ratings
In 1849, Ralph Buckingham, a younger son of a youngest son of New England Pilgrim stock, went to California from his small-town Connecticut home. Landless, with no inheritance or trade of his own, Ralph sailed around the Horn, then traveled overland from San Francisco to gold country in the Trinity Mountains. He spent four years in northern California, struggling daily to earn enough to build a future.

Sixty years later, back home in Connecticut, Ralph writes his story at the behest of the Newtown Bee newspaper man. Well-schooled in spite of his relative poverty, Ralph Buckingham quotes Boswell, Shakespeare, Dickens, Byron, and Sir Walter Scott as he describes the agonies and antics of men sluicing for gold amidst rattlesnakes and mosquitoes where Western civilization had not yet asserted itself. Recounting his adventures and the colorful—and later, famous—characters he met, Ralph describes in lively detail the geography and natural history of the lands where he traveled and worked.

The newspaper columns from 1910—originally titled Memories of a Forty-Niner— were preserved by family members for a century, handed down through generations. These Newtown Bee articles, now transcribed and edited, tell the story of a young man who went into the wilds with a sharp eye and a sharp mind, and returned to tell those who stayed safely at home how it was to dig for gold when the West was still untamed.
Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    156 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    November 22, 2013
  4. File size
    454 KB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
Next slide of product details

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00EB5QDRE
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jugum Press (November 22, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 22, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 454 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 156 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.6 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
9 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review

Top reviews from the United States

  • Bill
    4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting account of the Gold Rush
    Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Reading what the old timers have to say is always interesting, but remember this is pre - civil war, it was different times and attitudes. I would have liked to read about the Gold mining more, still a great adventure.
    Helpful
     Report
  • Chip Barker
    5.0 out of 5 stars excellent
    Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    1st person memoir...excellent story
    Helpful
     Report
  • Alice Wakefield
    4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful. Reads like a novel.
    Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2013
    Fascinating account of a young New England man who embarked on the adventure of a lifetime. Traveling by ship clear around Cape Horn - Destination San Francisco, and from there into the gold country. Far from being the jewel of the West Coast it is today, Ralph Buckingham recalls a city-camp of tents, pestilence, criminals and gamblers in such sharp detail you can almost smell the rotting corpses of mules stuck in knee-deep mud along Montgomery Street, which was then beachfront road.

    Edited for today's readability, this is just the ticket for those who enjoy true adventure tales and California history.
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report

Report an issue


Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report