Miners Journal

Bickham, William Dennison (edited by Randall E. Ham): BUCKEYE IN THE LAND OF GOLD: The Letters and Journal of William Dennison Bickham, Spokane, WA Arthur H. Clark Co 1996
ISBN: 0870622633 As New

286 pp. Maps, illustrations, editor's footnotes, bibliography, index. These are the letters and journal of William Bickham (1827-1894), written as a young man in 1851, during one of the most dramatic eras in the history of the American West. More reflective than most diarists, and an avid reader himself, his writings are among the most interesting of those left by participants in the great Gold Rush, providing a window into the life and activities of the miners and pioneers who came to California to seek their fortunes. The editor has abridged the original journal by about one-fifth. First Edition No Jacket (as issued) Hardcover 17 x 24 cm

[SW: william dennison bickham gold rush mining miners mines history california san francisco pioneers discovery exploration journal letters correspondence america american west united states]

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Farquhar, Francis P., With a Preface By Russel H. Chittenden: Up and Down California in 1860-1864, The Journal of William H. Brewer, Professor of Agriculture in the Sheffield Scientific School from 1864 to 1903, CA University of California Press, Berkeley & Los Angeles 1930
Very Good+

Later Printing, Tight/Bright copy, green cloth bindings, gilt spinal titles, shelf worn corners, a blank white sticker is affixed to the first front freepage. William Henry Brewer, who served as Josiah D. Whitney's principal assistant and field leader of the California Geological Survey in the early 1860s, wrote a series of journal style letters that form one of the best travel accounts describing the totality of California. Brewer wrote these letters to his brother in order to provide himself with a permanent record for later reference. Assembled and edited by historian and bibliographer of the High Sierra, Francis P. Farquhar, Brewer's detailed letters cover his Steamer travel to the Golden Stare, geography, culturs, customs, commerce, agriculture, climate, natural resources, and settlements from Los Angeles, Inland Southern California, Valley Mountain Ranges, San Francisco, San Francisco to Crecent City and provide an excellent narrative to his travels and observations. With miners, mines, mines of the Comstock Lode, flora, fauna, waterways, ranching, and more. Illustrated in b&w.. 583 pages. Second Edition No Dust Jacket Hard Cover 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall

[SW: California, Heritage, Travel, Field Studies, Journey, Expedition, Los Angeles, Southern California, Central Valley, Northern California, Commerce, Geography, Mining, San Fernando Valley, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Settlement, Sociology, Agriculture, History, Observations, Commentary, Ranches, Mountains, Valleys, San Francisco, Flora, Fauna, Narratives, Napa Valley, Sacramento River, Mount Shasta, Customs, Tehachapi, Yosemite, Mono Lake, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Native American Tribal Life, Chinese Miners ,]

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H.W. Brands. Lone Star Nation: How a Ragged Army of Volunteers Won the Battle for Texas Independence - and Changed America. Doubleday, 2004
0385507372 Editorial Reviews Amazon.com H.W. Brands's Lone Star Nation: How a Ragged Army of Volunteers Won the Battle for Texas Independence--and Changed America is not a complete history, but offers a compelling portrait of the key personalities in the war for Texas's independence from Mexico. Brands frames his narrative with two events: Moses Austin's 1820 proposal for an American colony in Texas and Sam Houston's removal in 1861 as governor. Along the way, Lone Star Nation is punctuated by textbook moments, from the battle of the Alamo to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The strength of Brands's account lies in his tendency towards biography and his talent for rendering dramatic anecdotes. Professor of American History at Texas A&M and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Brands has an attraction to powerful American personalities, as demonstrated by his biographies of Theodore Roosevelt and Benjamin Franklin (T.R. and The First American, respectively). The history of Texas is rife with legendary frontiersmen, and David Crockett, Sam Houston, and James Bowie add color to the narrative built around Stephen Austin, Santa Anna, and a succession of American presidents with expansionist ambitions. When he arrives at the pivotal moments in Texas lore, Brands is apt to follow a singular individual rather than give a broad, battlefield account. "For better or for worse, Texas was very much like America," Brands declares near the end of his study, reflecting on the abuse of indigenous peoples and the greed of those declaring "Manifest Destiny." He continues: "sooner or later ... democracy corrected its worst mistakes." Despite this sanguine conclusion, Brands omits a balancing account of Indian claims to Texas. The Comanches, "natural anarchists" according to Brands, are sketched in a few short pages, and no Native American shares a voice in the text (partially to be excused for a lack of primary sources). Brands argues, "If the Texans were guilty of theft, the people from whom they sprang were much guiltier." Perhaps true, but Brands's highly readable tale of Texas heroes would be even stronger with a tempering account of the victims of the thievery. --Patrick O?Kelley From Publishers Weekly Nicely told as it is, this story could have been written 50 years ago. What's frustrating in this telling is that none of the advances in perspective that would make the work attractive to a general and mixed audience today are to be found in it. Brands's book is macho, tub-thumping, narrative Texas history at its old-fashioned best. But that's no longer good enough. Published at the same time, William C. Davis's Lone Star Rising has ideas, argument and a point of view. It keeps Mexicans, Mexican-Texans and Anglo-Texans front and center. Brands (The First American, The Age of Gold), on the other hand, lets chronicle substitute for history and breathlessness for style. The tale of the hard-won struggle for Texan independence from Mexico has inherent dramatic power. In addition to Stephen Austin and Sam Houston, other actors, like William Travis, Jim Bowie and Noah Smithwick, some little known, could excite any movie producer. It's hard to think that the story could be better told-but what's lacking is a theme or perspective, some new way, like Davis's, to relate the story. And was "the victory of Texans the victory for America" when the spread of slavery was one of its consequences? This anachronistic work may prove popular in the Lone Star State. Davis's better work, however, is where the larger, more pertinent history lies. Copyright ? Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From AudioFile Professor, biographer, and longtime Texas resident H.W. Brands captures the colorful, brutal story of Texas's evolution from colonization to statehood, with a brash and daring cast of characters taking center stage. Brands's attention to detail recreates the mood and tone of the rough-and-tumble territory. In spite of a major abridgment, Chuck Montgomery seems to stumble on the detail, somewhat bogging down the lively history. For die-hard history buffs, his lackluster reading should not deter giving this Texas-sized book a listen, but those who count on a strong and engaging reading should steer clear. H.L.S. ? AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright ? AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition. From Booklist Brands' impressive integrative account of the fabled Texas revolution of the 1830s relates key incidents and displays trenchant psychological insights, engraving both with the fundamental forces involved: the flood of American settlers and the anxiety this created within Texas, newly independent from Mexico. Brands' attention to the latter will be particularly enlightening to his audience, likely accustomed to valorization of the defenders of the Alamo, or of figures such as Stephen Austin and Sam Houston. In giving the Mexican viewpoint an equal hearing, however, Brands is not historically consecrating it; he underscores the political instability of Mexico and the resulting caprices of policy that plausibly stoked American shouts of oppression. However dubious the settlers' grievances struck American leaders, such as John Quincy Adams, who observed their introduction of slavery under the banner of liberty, these perceived slights fired the fighters against Mexican generalissimo Santa Anna. Expect big demand for Brands' excellent, fair-minded chronicle. Gilbert Taylor Copyright ? American Library Association. All rights reserved Review Critical Acclaim for The First American, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize "Enchanting."--The New Yorker "A Franklin to savor."--James Grant, Wall Street Journal "In his clear and sprightly biography, H. W. Brands . . . recovers the actual Franklin who lived--before his memory became a bourgeois icon and was later, like all icons, trivialized."--Alan Taylor, The New Republic "Benjamin Franklin's life is one every American should know well, and it has not been told better than by Mr. Brands."--Bob Trimble, Dallas Morning News "H. W. Brands is a master storyteller"--Richard Norton Smith, author of the Pulitzer-Prize finalist Thomas E. Dewey and His Times and Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation Critical Acclaim for the celebrated The Age of Gold "An engrossing, multifaceted history. . . . Its author, like the miners of the gold rush themselves, leaves no stone unturned."--Janet Maslin, New York Times "Dazzling. . . . Even California reviewers have gritted their teeth and handed Brands, an acclaimed popular biographer of Benjamin Franklin, some Texas-size praise."--Los Angeles Times ?There's only one thing to say about a book that brings the twin touchstones of T.R.'s vigor and Franklin's humor to bear on the Golden State, and that's 'Eureka!'"--San Francisco Chronicle "A fine, robust telling of one of the greatest adventure stories in history."--David McCullough, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of John Adams Review Critical Acclaim for The First American, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize "Enchanting."--The New Yorker "A Franklin to savor."--James Grant, Wall Street Journal "In his clear and sprightly biography, H. W. Brands . . . recovers the actual Franklin who lived--before his memory became a bourgeois icon and was later, like all icons, trivialized."--Alan Taylor, The New Republic "Benjamin Franklin's life is one every American should know well, and it has not been told better than by Mr. Brands."--Bob Trimble, Dallas Morning News "H. W. Brands is a master storyteller"--Richard Norton Smith, author of the Pulitzer-Prize finalist Thomas E. Dewey and His Times and Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation Critical Acclaim for the celebrated The Age of Gold "An engrossing, multifaceted history. . . . Its author, like the miners of the gold rush themselves, leaves no stone unturned."--Janet Maslin, New York Times "Dazzling. . . . Even California r...

First Edition, Cloth, New

[SW: TEXAS HISTORY REPUBLIC 1836 1846,]

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[Frisch, Michael; Watts, Dorothy L.; Peukert, Detlev]: International Journal of Oral History, Volume 1, Number 2 (June 1980) Westport, Connecticut, U.S.A. Alan M. Meckler 1980
ISBN: B000CQ6416 Very Good

Square, tight binding, clean and bright pages, no evidence of reading wear. Wraps have slight edge rubbing and light foxing. 70 pp. Articles: Michael Frish and Dorothy L. Watts, "Oral History and the Presentation of Class Consciousness: The New York Times versus the Buffalo Unemployed"; Detlev Peukert, "Ruhr Miners Under Nazi Repression, 1933-1945." Book and equipment reviews, other regular features. No Jacket Soft Cover 9.0" (23 cm) Tall

[SW: JOURNAL JOURNALS SCHOLARLY ACADEMIC ORAL HISTORY PERSONAL NARRATIVE NARRATIVES AUTOBIOGRAPHY AUTOBIOGRAPHIES MEMOIR MEMOIRS HISTORIOGRAPHY HISTORIOGRAPHICAL SOURCE SOURCES METHODOLOGY METHOD HISTORIC HISTORICAL LABOR WORKING CLASS UNEMPLOYMENT BUFFALO NEW YORK TIMES RUHR MINERS MINING NAZI NAZIS WORLD WAR II TWO SECOND History::United States History::British and European]

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