Title: Life on the plains and among the diggings
First published: 1854
Description: Born in Aurora, New York, Alonzo Delano (1806-1874) moved on to the Midwest as a teenager. July 1848 found him a consumptive Ottawa, Illinois, storekeeper, and he joined a local California Company. He remained in the West after the Gold Rush, winning fame as an early California humorist. Life on the plains and among the diggings (1857) is based largely on letters from Delano published in Ottawa and New Orleans newspapers of the day (see Alonzo Delano's California correspondence [1952]). Covering the period April 1849-August 1852, he discusses his voyage to St. Joseph and an overland journey to California; sojourns in Sacramento, Marysville, and San Francisco; and experiences as a storekeeper at Mud Hill, Stingtown, Gold Lake, and Grass Valley. Other topics include quartz mining, crime and vigilantism, and real estate investment.
Subjects: Business, Description and travel, Frontier and pioneer life, Gold discoveries, Indians of North America, Mines and mineral resources, Overland journeys to the Pacific, Real estate development, Travel, Urbanization, Pioneers, Biography
Places: California, West (U.S.)
People: Alonzo Delano (1806-1874)