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The Shirley Letters: From the Calfornia Mines, 1851-1852
The Shirley Letters From the Calfornia Mines 18511852 Author:Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe _The Shirley Letters_, written from the mining camps in 1851 and 1852, are something valuable and rarea portrait by a woman of an era dominated by men. They offer a vivid picture of gold rush life, from accounts of "murders, fearful accidents, bloody deaths, a mob, whippings, a hanging, an attempt at suicide, and a fatal duel" to bars line... more »d with "that eternal crimson calico which flushes the whole social life of the Golden State," and the rare and welcome luxury of oyster feasts. The sights, smells, and even the sounds of the mining camps come alivethe echoes of swearing men, the flume with its "dismal moaning and shrieking all the live-long night," the barking of mongrel dogs. With the "wild grandeur and awful magnificence" of the Sierra as background, this classic account presents a picture of the gold rush that is at times humorous, at times empathetic, and always trustworthy.« less