Scenery of the Plains, Mountains and Mines: or, a Diary Kept upon the Overland Route to California, by Way of the Great Salt Lake: Travels in the Cities, Mines and Agricultural Districts-Embracing the Return by the Pacific Ocean and Central America, in the Years 1850, '51, '52 and '53.

Ogdensburgh: J.C. Sprague, 1855. First edition. Octavo. 324 pp. Publisher's dark brown cloth, blocked in blind on front and back, black-stamped spine lettering. Some wear to spine extremities and tips. Usual scattered foxing (but predominantly to the edges of the text block). Overall, a very good copy "Franklin Langworthy started for California on April 1, 1850, from near galena, Illinois, followed the California Trail, and arrived at the Humboldt Sink on October 2. He crossed over the Sierra Nevada by way of Carson Pass and arrived at Sacramento on October 27. While in the vicinity of Placerville, he noted that 'cooking seems to be one of the most lucrative employments.' Langworthy spent two years traveling throughout California and the mining regions and presented his readers with a compact, but vividly written description of the mines, mining methods and mining society. His accounts of thievery and gambling halls painted a sordid picture of the land of gold. He also wrote of the November 1852 fire in Sacramento; Dr. Bourne's hydropathy; bull and bear fights; San Francisco; and the burning of the S.S. Lewis. These observations are balanced with positive statements about California's flora, fauna, and agricultural wealth" (Kurutz). Wheat, Gold Rush, 122. Graff 2392. Kurutz, Gold Rush, 392. Sabin 38904.