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Review by Ann M. Shayne
It was half the size of a pea, a brass-colored pea that didn't really look like gold at all.
The California gold rush of 1848 marked a watershed for the United States. It was spectacular -- fortunes were gained and lost, families were divided, and thousands upon thousands of immigrants made their way west in search of fortune and a new start. The lure of gold drew people west in a way that nothing before it had.
A new PBS documentary, "Gold Rush," airs on January 20 and provides a perfect sequel to Ken Burns' recent "Lewis and Clark" documentary. Just 45 years later, the wild country found during the Voyage of Discovery remains; but baser and more dreamy motives have replaced Thomas Jefferson's mandate to map the continent.
The companion book to the series makes the finest sort of historical reading. "Gold Rush: A Literary Exploration" pulls together dozens of primary sources and is beautifully edited by Carleton College professor Michael Kowalewski.
John Sutter, the land baron on whose property the first gold was found, shares his woeful tale of squatters, thievery, and deceit that left him a ruined man.
Several miners tell of the difficult passage to California. Whether by land or by sea, there was no easy way to get there, and these readings illustrate the depradations they faced. The description of one Death Valley crossing is especially moving, the writer's plain voice making the agony of dehydration and starvation all the more palpable.
An English-Chinese phrase book reveals the basics that an immigrant had to learn: "He took it from me by violence." "I have made an apology, but still he wants to strike me." "He claimed my mine."
A young wife pines for her husband during his two-year absence, a common situation for women left behind.
Henry David Thoreau weighs in: "The gold of California is a touchstone which has betrayed the rottenness, the baseness, of mankind. Satan, from one of his elevations, showed mankind the kingdom of California, and they entered into a compact with him at once."
Throughout these readings, it is striking to note how different it all was: letters took weeks to arrive, food was either caught wild or bought at a dear price, entertainment was as simple as a dance around a campfire.
And yet, some things remain the same. The human elements that drive all our histories are there: greed, hope, love, hate, despair. This collection brings the gold rush to life in all its squalor and splendor.
Ann M. Shayne is editor of BookPage.
©1997, ProMotion, inc.