John Richard Stephens began writing books in 1987. Prior to becoming an author, he held a wide variety of occupations ranging from work as a psychiatric counselor in two hospitals to being an intelligence officer and squadron commander in the U.S. Air Force. John has had nineteen books published so far, including Commanding the Storm (Lyons Press), Weird History 101, and Wyatt Earp Speaks.

ContentsAcknowledgments
A Note on the Text
Introduction: The World’s Most Humongous Treasure Hunt
Part One: Nonfiction
1 Discovering Gold: James Marshall
2 My Great Plans Were Destroyed: John A. Sutter
3 “Gold! Gold!!!”: General William Tecumseh Sherman
4 The Californian Ceases Publication: The Californian
5 Official Report to the US Government: Colonel Richard Mason
6 Trading for Dust: Franklin Buck
7 The Rush Begins: Elisha Oscar Crosby
8 A Flood of Pioneers: Alonzo Delano
9 Rich Diggings: James Ayers
10 Of Miners and Gold: Carl Meyer
11 Living Dead in Califor-nee: Alonzo Delano
12 Seeking Richer Diggings: John S. Hittell
13 California’s Strange Society: Henry Coke
14 The Fast Life in San Francisco: J. D. Borthwick
15 To Live by Luck: Henry David Thoreau
16 A Woman at the Mines: Dame Shirley
17 Gold Made Misery My Companion: Alonzo Delano
18 Christmas and New Years’ in Mud Springs: Andrew Gilmore
19 San Francisco and Its Corrupt Government: Mifflin Wistar Gibbs
20 Flush Times in California: Ulysses S. Grant
21 Lost in Snow: Anonymous
22 The Strangest Population: Mark Twain
Part Two: Fiction
23 All Gold Cañon: Jack London
24 The Banks of the Sacramento: Jack London
25 Contents
Acknowledgments
A Note on the Text
Introduction: The World’s Most Humongous Treasure Hunt
Part One: Nonfiction
1 Discovering Gold: James Marshall
2 My Great Plans Were Destroyed: John A. Sutter
3 “Gold! Gold!!!”: General William Tecumseh Sherman
4 The Californian Ceases Publication: The Californian
5 Official Report to the US Government: Colonel Richard Mason
6 Trading for Dust: Franklin Buck
7 The Rush Begins: Elisha Oscar Crosby
8 A Flood of Pioneers: Alonzo Delano
9 Rich Diggings: James Ayers
10 Of Miners and Gold: Carl Meyer
11 Living Dead in Califor-nee: Alonzo Delano
12 Seeking Richer Diggings: John S. Hittell
13 California’s Strange Society: Henry Coke
14 The Fast Life in San Francisco: J. D. Borthwick
15 To Live by Luck: Henry David Thoreau
16 A Woman at the Mines: Dame Shirley
17 Gold Made Misery My Companion: Alonzo Delano
18 Christmas and New Years’ in Mud Springs: Andrew Gilmore
19 San Francisco and Its Corrupt Government: Mifflin Wistar Gibbs
20 Flush Times in California: Ulysses S. Grant
21 Lost in Snow: Anonymous
22 The Strangest Population: Mark Twain
Part Two: Fiction
23 All Gold Cañon: Jack London
24 The Banks of the Sacramento: Jack London
25 Scorpion Gulch: Nathan Urner
26 The Luck of Roaring Camp: Bret Harte
27 How I Went to the Mines: Bret HarteScorpion Gulch: Nathan Urner
26 The Luck of Roaring Camp: Bret Harte
27 How I Went to the Mines: Bret Harte