Excerpt from Overland Journey to California: Journal of James Bennett Whose Party Left New Harmony in 1850 and Crossed the Plains and Mountains Until the Golden West Was Reached The ruddy glow shone sparkling up on the bosom oi the river and exposed the course for the canoes loaded with friends who were coming to speak a last farewell The journal says the argonauts and visitors danced upon the grassy bank of the river and passed the last night in an attempt to drive away painful reflections. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Herman Scharmann left Germany as head of a company of gold-seekers bound for California in 1849. Scharmann's overland journey to California (1918) describes his family's journey from New York to their wagon train in Independence, Missouri, and the trip across the Plains via Fort Kearny and Fort Laramie. When his wife and daughter die shortly after reaching California, Scharmann and two sons push ahead to the gold fields at Feather River and Middle Fork, and the American River and Negro Bar. He offers a brutal picture of the exploitation of emigrant parties and of the drudgery of prospecting and of towns like Marysville, Sacramento, and San Francisco, 1849-1851.

In this thrilling memoir, Jamesor Bennett recounts his harrowing journey across the United States to California during the gold rush. From bandits to harsh weather conditions, Bennett and his companions faced numerous obstacles and dangers along the way. This book is sure to captivate readers with its tales of adventure and perseverance. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

"Historian Edward Leo Lyman has provided the first history of the complete Southern Route, and of the people who developed and used it. Based on extensive research in primary sources - including many early travelers accounts - and on Lyman's own investigation of the route and its branches, the book discusses the exploration and development of the Old Spanish Trail. Its horse thieves and traders, including Jedediah Smith and Kit Carson, along with government explorer John C. Fremont. Developing the old pack mule trail as a wagon road between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, miners heading for the California gold fields first used the route extensively.

Photographer Greg MacGregor has researched the California Emigrant Trail and traveled it for thousands of miles. He has photographed what has sprung up over the trail: KOA campgrounds, golf courses, housing developments. The images are poignant, sometimes amusing, occasionally downright terrifying, and always fascinating in what they reveal about pioneer overland travel.