1849-62 California Gold Rush and Western Letters

Western America"...there has been a great many deaths in the mines this winter"

1849-1862, Lot of 11 California Gold Rush and Western Letters, Good to Very Fine.
A very interesting assortment of California Gold Rush letters, describing life in the mines, and in the towns built by the gold fever. Includes a November 9, 1849 autograph letter from Lowell, Mass., from one brother to another, giving details on making wagons for a trip to California: "I am bound to go out there in the spring..." A wonderfully detailed letter from "Hangtown Old Dry Diggins Cal", dated January 18, 1850, describes life in the mining towns: "...there has been a great many deaths in the mines this winter... I suppose nearly one in 20 died since they left home. Drinking and gambling are carried on to a great extent in the mines in this place. I suppose there is not less than 50 gambling & drinking houses here. Sometimes a man will make or lose 1,000 dollars in one hours gambling..." Also, exceptional details about political affairs, the Whig Party in California, and Freesoilers: "...we ...would hate to work along side by side with the darkies, there was some brought here last spring but when the vote on the constitution was taken, they was all stopped damn quick..." Also, a March 19, 1850 letter from a wheat farmer in Illinois describing the "Gold fever" in California: "My brothers... started yesterday for California. They took from here 3 horses & two mules. The gold fever rages very high here at present. Some of our acquaintances came back this winter with a pocket full of rocks & it as set the people wild..." Several other original gold mining letters describe earning $3,000 in gold dust in 1853, an 1851 letter from Sacramento relating the extreme hardships, "Grizzley Bears" and Indians; other touching letters from "Yolo County", San Francisco, and "Woodpecker Ravine in Grass Valley, Nevada County California." All with wear, age-toning, some with dampstaining and soiling, but vintage content! Overall, this is a diverse and interesting group of Gold Rush and Western American letters. (11 letters)