Originally, I just planned to stick this at the bottom of another post and provide a link, but then I started reading the book. It is a quick read, authentic and very entertaining. I have clipped a few excerpts of the text as examples.
This first clip is from the preface; it gives some background information on the material and the forty-niner who wrote it.
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This next excerpt gives a rather humorous description of his jackass:
Next, is the disappearance of two fellow miners, Ristine and Carter, although I am only excerpting two small snippets, so if you want to know more, you will have to read the book:
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Image from http://bancroft.library.ca.gov/diglib
And no gold mining story would be complete without the mention of gambling:
For those who enjoy romance, there is definitely a little of that with the French woman, Marie:
Evidently, there are several editions of this book, the latest one listed as being published in 2007.
Title: The Diary of a Forty-Niner
Author: Chauncey L. Canfield
Publisher: M. Shepard Co., 1906
Length: 231 pages
Here is the link to the edition I used in this post: (Google book LINK.)
