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Two volumes. ix,[1], [13]-393; 379 + [12] ad pp. Illustrated with 12 wood-engraved plates; folding lithographed map. (8vo) 19.5x12.5 cm (7¾x5"), original blindstamped brown cloth, spines lettered in gilt. First Edition.

Important early work on the California gold fields, also containing the first fairly lengthy account of the Donner tragedy, although the disaster was mentioned previously in Edwin Bryant's What I Saw in California. "Thornton was one of the real pioneers of Oregon and California, arriving in Oregon in 1846. He has always been considered a good authority and his work is among the best of the times" - Zamorano. The information on the gold mines is based on accounts by Thomas O. Larkin, R.B. Mason, and others. The folding map is by J.H. Colton, "Map of California, Oregon, Texas, and the Territories adjoining with Routes &c." The central valley of California and the gold producing regions are colored yellow. Cowan p.638; Howes T224; Kurutz 632a; Streeter 3155; Wagner-Camp 174:1; Wheat Books 208; Wheat Maps of Gold Region 73; Wheat Transmississippi 593; Zamorano Eighty 74. Previous owner's bookplates.