Colton, Walter — Three Years in California

New York, S. A. Rollo & Co., 1859. Later Printing. Hardcover. Size: 12mo 7" - 7. A perfectly serviceable reference copy; nothing fancy, but complete and sturdy. Bound simply in publisher's brown cloth in octavo hardcover format, decorative blind-stamped title, etc., to spine, illustrated wheel-spokes to front and rear covers. Heavy foxing throughout, not intruding on readability. Moderately toned interior, bumping to, some scuffing of extremities, light wear and tear to covers and spine, tide-lining here and there, and a short range of what might be insect damage up front along fore-edges. Later printing (1859) of the 1850 original, true First Edition. Fine account of Gold Rush California and Native Americans, early San Francisco and Sacramento, with a racy narrative pace. The author, Walter Colton, was a Chaplain in the U.S. Navy but also something of a gentleman historian. He here describes living in California at the end of the 1840s, just prior to the first Gold Rushes. It's got it all--or if not all, at least it's got mountain fires, encounters with Native Americans, bear hunts, the Gold Rush, and urban development and its according sins. Frontispiece in black-and-white of John A. Sutter and a dozen fine engraved plates, some being full-page. 456 pp. plus an extensive range of publisher's back inventory, itself worth reading and including numerous black-and-white illustrations. Walter Colton writes of his role in California’s history prior to statehood including as a prison warder in Monterey. This journal begins on July 10, 1846, when the U.S. flag was raised over Monterey and San Francisco. A few weeks later, on July 28, Colton was appointed alcalde. Colton found time also to publish the area’s first newspaper, The Californian, which announced the declaration of war with Mexico.Member, I.O.B.A., C.B.A., and adherent to the highest ethical standards. . . . Fair