Scenery of the Plains, Mountains, and Mines: or A Diary Kept Upon the Overland Route to California, by Way of the Great Salt Lake: Travels in the Cities, Mines, and Agricultural Districts- Embracing the Return by the Pacific Ocean and Central America, in the Years 1850, '51, '52, and '53 by Franklin Langworthy. Published by J.C. Sprague in 1855. Langworthy started for California on April 1, 1850, from near Galena, Illinois, followed the California Trail, and arrived at the Humboldt Sink on October 2. He crossed over the Sierra Nevada by way of Carson Pass and arrived at Sacramento on October 27. Langworthy spent two years traveling throughout California and the mining regions and presented his readers with a compact, but vividly written description of the mines, mining methods, and mining society. His accounts of thievery and gambling halls painted a sordid picture of the land of gold. Langworthy also wrote of the November 1852 fire in Sacramento; Dr. Bourne's hydropathy; bull and bear fights; San Francisco; and the burning of the S. S. Lewis. These observations were balanced with positive statements about California's flora, fauna, and agricultural wealth. Concerning his own livelihood, he explained: "I supported myself in traveling, by giving popular lectures on scientific subjects. At times, I attempted to labor at mining, but was obliged to desist on account of my health." On April 16, 1852, Langworthy boarded the steamship Brother Jonathan, bound for San Juan del Sud. The remainder of the book detailed his return home via Nicaragua. This book is bound in the publisher's original blind stamped brown cloth; spine stamped in black. Minor shelf wear, hinges weak, occasional foxing to text (more pronounced at front), overall, a very good copy. 324 pages. 5 x 8.25 inches.Date: Country (if not USA): State: CaliforniaCity: Provenance: