This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Life and hard times in the Mother Lode mining camps
Informal history by John Sandoval traces the rise of California mining life after James Marshall’s discovery. It follows William Perkins on his 1849 journey from Cincinnati to Sonora and then north to the Sacramento and San Joaquin diggings, detailing routes, ships, and diverse groups of miners including Sonorans, Peruvians, and Anglos.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
James Marshall
Coloma
California
Horn
Overland Plains
Mother Lode i
Sierra
Willian Perkins
Sonora
Perkins
Mexico
Cincinnati
Sonorian
William Perkins
Canada
Cincinatti
Ohio
Lancaster
Ohd
Hugh Boyle Ewing
Interior
Thomas Ewing
Sam
Ulysses) Grant
Lancaster Company
Perkins Company
Prese
Reynosa
McNeil
Mazatlan
Monterey
Saltillo
Grena Vista
Zachary ‘Taylor
Barras
Durango
Johanna
Oluffa
Engers
San Francisco
Sacramento River
Marysville
San Joaquin
Stockton
Sullivan's Creek
Senora
Tts
Sullivan’s
Angel's Camp
Wood's Crossing
Jimtown
Jim Savage
James #L Carson
Carson
George Angel
Angel's Can
Charles Weber
Stockton Mining Company