In April, 1849, a little over six months before he was twenty-one, Kimball Webster caught the gold fever. Characteristic of his methodical ways, he kept a journal of his journey across the country and of his experiences as a miner in California and land surveyor in Oregon. His experiences in the Land of Gold is told in his own vivid language in these pages, and forms one of the most interesting narratives of the days of the gold-seekers of the Pacific...