03-01-2022, 09:02 AM
Gold Seeker: Adventures of a Belgian Argonaut during the Gold Rush Years by Jean-Nicola Perlot
This book holds one of the few first person accounts written by a foreigner during the Gold Rush years. Particularly important for me was that he worked in the Mariposa area from 1851-1857, the formative years of the birth of Yosemite. He even joined one of the first party of visitors to venture into Yosemite. Unfortunately for me, in a 450 page book, only about five pages concern Yosemite and it's discovery. He did follow the Mariposa Battalion up the mountain during one hunt for gold, but that was about it. He did dig for gold with a bunch of Yosemite Indians on a tributary of the Merced River and helped those Indians fend off an attack of Tuolumne Indians. But that was about it.
The book is a tale in two halves. The first half is Perlot coming to the US from Belgium and searching for Gold in the Mariposa area. It's quite the adventure of sailing around the horn, walking across the state from Monterey and then spending seven years digging. The second half is about relocating to Portland, Oregon when gold was discovered up there and becoming a gardener. He barely manages to survive as a gold digger but does manage to earn a living for seven years hunting for gold. It's a vivid description of that life. Lots of hunting for creeks and waiting for just the right time when there is an appropriate amount of water for digging.
The second half in Portland is kind of monotonous. Lots of buying plots to turn into gardens to grow vegetables which are then sold around town. This goes on for another 13 years before he returns to Belgium.
It was good book, just not what I needed. And the book does give a lot of page space to finding the right creek.
This book holds one of the few first person accounts written by a foreigner during the Gold Rush years. Particularly important for me was that he worked in the Mariposa area from 1851-1857, the formative years of the birth of Yosemite. He even joined one of the first party of visitors to venture into Yosemite. Unfortunately for me, in a 450 page book, only about five pages concern Yosemite and it's discovery. He did follow the Mariposa Battalion up the mountain during one hunt for gold, but that was about it. He did dig for gold with a bunch of Yosemite Indians on a tributary of the Merced River and helped those Indians fend off an attack of Tuolumne Indians. But that was about it.
The book is a tale in two halves. The first half is Perlot coming to the US from Belgium and searching for Gold in the Mariposa area. It's quite the adventure of sailing around the horn, walking across the state from Monterey and then spending seven years digging. The second half is about relocating to Portland, Oregon when gold was discovered up there and becoming a gardener. He barely manages to survive as a gold digger but does manage to earn a living for seven years hunting for gold. It's a vivid description of that life. Lots of hunting for creeks and waiting for just the right time when there is an appropriate amount of water for digging.
The second half in Portland is kind of monotonous. Lots of buying plots to turn into gardens to grow vegetables which are then sold around town. This goes on for another 13 years before he returns to Belgium.
It was good book, just not what I needed. And the book does give a lot of page space to finding the right creek.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm