Title: A Year of Mud and Gold
Description: "Here are the letters and diaries of ordinary men and women caught up in the rapid transformation of San Francisco during its gold rush heyday, 1849-50. Together these accounts render a rich mosaic of San Francisco's metamorphosis from a small Mexican outpost into a rough-and-tumble boomtown filled with gamblers and prostitutes, evangelists and entrepreneurs - men, women, and children from all parts of the country, arriving in California with the dream of striking it rich."--BOOK JACKET.

"The correspondents come from a variety of economic and social backgrounds. Some are barely literate, while others craft prose on par with the finest nineteenth-century travel literature. Their writings address a broad range of concerns, from business prospects and consumer prices to social mores and popular amusements."--BOOK JACKET.
Subjects: San francisco (calif.), history, Biography, History, Sources, Social life and customs, Social conditions, Gold discoveries, Pioneers, Diaries, Correspondence