Buy this book
Edwin Bryant made the journey from Independence, Missouri to California in the years 1846-47, through the southern pass of the Rocky Mountains and across the desert.
As a medical student, he became an unofficial doctor along the way, and witnessed some gruesome scenes, like the amputation of a little boy’s gangrenous leg, which he describes in painful scientific detail. He is equally explicit when portraying the daily life of the wagon trip, and his prose illuminates the trials of the traveler: "During the process of cooking supper, it commenced raining and blowing with great violence. Our fire was nearly extinguished by the deluge of water from the clouds, and our dough was almost turned to batter..."
Bryant intended his work to function as both entertainment to the general reader and instruction for those planning to follow his path, and the book is a repository of useful information, like distances, weather, water source locations, and descriptions of plant life. As such, it is invaluable to enthusiasts of Western history.
It is also a really good story, with entertaining sketches of camp life, Indians, and animals. Bryant’s descriptions of the landscapes are particularly compelling: "The vast prairie itself soon opened before us in all its grandeur and beauty...The view of the illimitable succession of green undulations and flowery slopes, of every gentle and graceful configuration, stretching away and away, until they fade from the sight in the dim distance, creates a wild and scarcely controllable ecstasy of admiration."
The variety of Bryant’s adventures is striking – in one day he is present at a death, a wedding, a funeral, and a birth. He is often nearly overwhelmed by the functions of nature going on around him, and is particularly moved by the continuous presence of death: "One of our party who left the train to hunt through the valley, brought into camp this evening a human skull. He stated that the place where he found it was whitened with human bones. Doubtless this spot was the scene of some Indian massacre, or a battle-field where hostile tribes had met and destroyed each other. I could learn no explanatory tradition; but the tragedy, whatever its occasion, occurred many years ago."
What I Saw in California is the classic yet remarkable adventure of a young man heading west, well-written and full of historically useful information.
Buy this book
Previews available in: English
Book Details
Edition Notes
WSU MASC copy is: 002-103510152.
WSU MASC copy has had a red cloth binding lettered in gold with a red leather spine placed over the original one. It bears the label: "Bound by V.J. Languille, Spokane, WN."
WSU MASC copy lacks original front paper cover and map.
WSU MASC copy came with clippings from dealers' catalogues describing the book.
WSU MASC copy has annotations and markings in the text.
The Physical Object
ID Numbers
Community Reviews (0)
Feedback?History
- Created October 1, 2008
- 2 revisions
Wikipedia citation
×CloseCopy and paste this code into your Wikipedia page. Need help?
December 8, 2009 | Edited by ImportBot | link works |
October 1, 2008 | Created by ImportBot | Imported from Oregon Libraries MARC record |