Collection Overview

The Gold Rush Diary is a typed 18 page diary from Phineas U. Blunt traveling to California for gold. The journey transcribed accounts for his travels from Fort Smith to Sante Fe. The final part of the journey to California is not recorded here. The travels recorded in this diary occur March 26-May 29, 1849.

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...