Overland Journey from New York to San Francisco in the Summer Of 1859 : From New York to San Francisco in the Summer of 1859

by Greeley, Horace

• ISBN13: 9780803270794
• ISBN10: 0803270798
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-04-01
• Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr

Summary

In the spring of 1859 Horace Greeley, celebrated editor of theNew-York Tribune, set off to explore the projected central route for a great transcontinental railroad line connecting the Mississippi Valley and the West Coast. Greeley traveled to California, primarily by stagecoach, and sent back a series of letters describing the scenery and human endeavor he encountered. He dismissed the plains as a region of "sterility and thirst." Of the new gold fields near Denver he predicted that they were only a modest representation of the rich veins that ran throughout the Rockies. He understood too that it would be those who mined the miners, rather than those who dug for gold, who would reap financial rewards. An inveterate reporter, Greeley commented on everything he saw, from prairie dogs to Mormons to the scenic wonders of the Yosemite valley. He was tireless in recounting economic possibilities for farmers, miners, ranchers, and merchants, ultimately concluding that much of the West was a vast, untapped resource waiting for courageous pioneers and innovative settlers.

Author Biography

Introducing this Bison Books edition is Jo Ann Manfra, a professor of American history at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Table of Contents

Preface	xvii
AN OVERLAND JOURNEY
From New York to Kansas	7	(13)
Notes on Kansas	20	(15)
More Notes on Kansas	35	(13)
More of Kansas	48	(13)
Summing up on Kansas	61	(10)
On the Plains	71	(9)
The Home of the Buffalo	80	(6)
Last of the Buffalo	86	(12)
The American Desert	98	(9)
Good Bye to the Desert	107	(8)
The Kansas Gold Diggings	115	(13)
The Plains--The Mountains	128	(11)
The Gold in the Rocky Mountains	139	(10)
"Lo, the Poor Indian"	149	(8)
Western Characters	157	(9)
From Denver to Laramie	166	(16)
Laramie to South Pass	182	(8)
South Pass to Bridger	190	(8)
From Bridger to Salt Lake	198	(11)
Two Hours with Brigham Young	209	(10)
The Mormons and Mormonism	219	(11)
Salt Lake and its Environs	230	(15)
The Army in Utah	245	(13)
From Salt Lake to Carson Valley	258	(17)
Carson Valley--The Sierra Nevada	275	(8)
California Mines and Mining	283	(12)
California--The Yosemite	295	(15)
California--The Big Trees	310	(12)
California Physically Considered	322	(12)
California--Its Resources	334	(10)
California--Summing Up	344	(17)
California--Final Gleanings	361	(7)
Railroad to the Pacific	368