Golden Dreams and Waking Realities

• Author(s): William Shaw,
• Publisher: Arno Press
• Pages: 316
• ISBN_10: 0405049951
  ISBN_13: 9780405049958
  
• Language: en
• Categories: History / United States / State & Local / West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY) , Travel / United States / West / Pacific (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) ,

Description:... "'This rather uppity Britisher produced one of the finest narratives of the Gold Rush' - Kurutz. Shaw, an Englishman, travelled to California from Australia on board the Mazeppa, the first ship to leave South Australia for the gold diggings. Shaw's descriptions of life in the mines are quite vivid, as per Kurutz: 'He witnessed a bloody battle between mining companies, discrimination against foreign miners, the horrible death of a fellow miner by an insect bite, and poor medical practice. He described in graphic detail the miners' horrendous living conditions, mining methods, and the day-to-day struggle for survival.' As Shaw writes in his preface, his work gives 'fresh evidences of the demoralizing effects of the California gold mania.' After his experiences in the mines he returned to San Francisco and worked for a time at Mission Dolores, and provides an excellent description of the venerable mission. Smith left San Francisco to return to Australia, and stopped at Hawaii, describing its business district, markets, and social life. He attended a performance of Shakespeare's RICHARD III at which Kamehameha III was present and where several Sydney emigrants behaved in a rowdy manner"--