El Dorado

by Bayard Taylor

El Dorado by Bayard Taylor is a first-hand account of early California written by as a correspondent of the New York Tribune who traveled to California as part of the gold rush of 1849.  An experience world traveler, Mr. Taylor sailed from New York to Panama; crossed the isthmus of Panama and then sailed to San Francisco.  After arriving in San Francisco, he headed to the gold mining region of the Sierra Nevada.  Having spent time among the miners, he traveled throughout California and Mexico.

In his travels through California, he encountered a state in transition from the days of the Mexican ranchos to the settlements of Americans who had migrated there from the other thirty states.  The Mexicans were simply overwhelmed by the immigrants to California who came to pursue their dreams of riches promised by the discovery of gold.  There was a quick realization that miners were not getting rich, but those who supplied the miners did flourish.  This calls to mind William Workman who also made his fortune running cattle north and supplying the miners with beef.

This book is an important eye-witness account described by the journalist’s trained eye for detail.  Docents at the Homestead Museum will find this book interesting and will be provided with a glimpse of California and its early settlers during a time of gold-induced exuberance.  These settlers were tasked with creating a state and a civilized society.