The Gold Rush of California: A Bibliography of Periodical Articles

by Robert LeRoy Santos
California State University, Stanislaus
Librarian
University Archivist
blsantos@csustan.edu

REVISED EDITION 2002

Alley-Cass Publications
2240 Nordic Way
Turlock, CA 95382

for
California State University, Stanislaus
Library/University Archive
Turlock, CA

Preface

While beginning research on the California Gold Rush for the sesquicentennial, much to my surprise I could not locate a bibliography of any kind that listed periodical articles. Seeing this unfortunate oversight, I set out to compile one of my own and disseminate it to libraries, historical societies, and interested researchers.

I have done very lengthy bibliographies in the past and know the rigors of the effort; thus, I was not anxious to begin yet another one. But I too knew that one learns much about the topic while doing the research, and yes, it does provide a certain degree of enjoyment and satisfaction which most sane people don't understand, besides how can anyone turn away from such article titles as "The Grave of Ephraim Brown" or "Goodbye God: We're Going to Bodie!"; how about settlement names such as Happy Camp, Poverty Hill, or Hangtown?; and yes, characters such as Joaquin Murieta, James Marshall, and Sam Brannan? No, it is not easy to ignore such a defining moment in western American history.

The Gold Rush has really never lost its attraction, its excitement. It was truly a spectacular event where thousands of men, women, and children swarmed California seeking instant wealth. Think of the logistics, the sheer energy, and certainly the insanity of it all where the discovery of a flake of an earthly element caused humanity to lose control for a moment, pack belongings, and trudge thousands of miles into an unknown future. And to extend that thought further, to me,150 years later, who is attracted by the same adventure, but in a milder form, through its literature. So, with this bibliography, I invite you, my dear reader, to join me, and embark on a treasure hunt of the celebrated and notorious California Gold Rush.

This bibliography consists primarily of articles from scholarly journals and local history periodicals. There are no magazine articles per se, except for those written last century and early this century which have been included to give a sense of the historical treatment of the topic. This compiler sifted through every issue of the below listed periodicals looking for articles "surrounding" the California Gold Rush. Included are articles directly on the Gold Rush, and also on relevant California topics of the era, such as law, mail service, politics, law, race relations, transportation, water, and others. The articles cover events from January 1848 through December 1855 which is generally acknowledged as the "Gold Rush moment." After 1855, California gold mining changed and is outside the "rush" era.

These are many of the periodicals that have been indexed:

American Historical Review
American West
Annual Publications of the Historical Society of Southern California
Butte County Historical Society Diggin's
Las Calaveras (Calaveras County)
California Historical Society Quarterly
California History
California History Nugget
The Californians
Chispa (Tuolumne County)
Covered Wagon (Shasta County)
Golden Notes (Sacramento County)
Grizzly Bear
Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly
Journal of American History
Journal of the West
Land of Sunshine
Mariposa Sentinel (Mariposa County)
Mississippi Valley Historical Review
Nevada County Historical Society
Nevada County Historical Society Bulletin
Noticias del Puerto de Monterey
Noticias para los Californianos
Out West
Overland Journal
Overland Monthly
Overland Monthly and the Out West Magazine
Pacific Historian
Pacific Historical Review
Pony Express
Pony Express Courier
Publication of the Society of California Pioneers
Publications of the Historical Society of Southern California
Quarterly of the California Historical Society
Quarterly of the Tuolumne County Historical Society
San Joaquin County Historical Society Bulletin
Siskiyou
Siskiyou County Historical Society Yearbook
Siskiyou Pioneer
Society of California Pioneers Quarterly
Southern California Quarterly
Stanislaus Stepping Stones (Stanislaus County)
Sutter County Historical Society Bulletin
Tehama County Memories
Wagon Wheels (Colusa County)
Western Historical Quarterly
Western Legal History

Because of the closeness of the sesquicentennial, only short parenthetical annotations for some of the articles were possible; however, for many, the words found in the titles reveal the topics. To augment this, there are two indexes at the end of the bibliography to draw the researcher to specific topics and persons.

At the beginning of each chapter, the reader will find short anecdotal pieces from the Autobiography of Charles Peters who was a California Gold Rush miner. I consider Charlie part of my family because he could have been my great grandfather, or close approximation there of. He came from the same Azorean island as my great grandfather who too ended up in the Mother Lode. My great grandfather mined the Comstock later on and part of his legacy were three silver rings he had fashioned for his wife and daughters. One of the rings is currently in the possession of his great-great granddaughter which illustrates the multigenerational connection of the California Gold Rush.

To research this bibliography the compiler used the library collections at California State University, Stanislaus and Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections at the University of the Pacific Library. He is especially thankful for the hospitality and assistance of Daryl Morrison and her staff at Holt-Atherton.

I dedicate this bibliography to the California Indian who was virtually decimated by the onslaught of the gold miners and their subsequent permanent habitation. Greed is indeed ugly and destructive, and the Indian serves as a vivid reminder. In a few short years, very little remained of these basically non-hostile native people whose only fault was living on a spot on earth where gold was glittering.

Bob Santos
December 25, 1997

The revised edition includes periodical articles published 1998-2001.

Bob Santos
May 23, 2002

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