Description The excerpt was written by Phineas U. Blunt, a member of the Knickerbocker Exploring Company en route to the gold fields in California. The author spends a great deal of time discussing the trials and obstacles faced on the trail—including quicksand, lack of clean drinking water, sand flees, hail, and loss of livestock. The author details the different people groups he encountered during his travels; a variety of individuals from various states such as Arkansas, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, and...