《书目》(Booklist)书评

The decisive events that shaped the destiny of California are known to have been recorded in the personal diaries of only two of the actual participants. Published here for the first time, complete with explanatory notes, is one of the two--written by Azariah Smith. Smith was a Mormon who arrived in California in the winter of 1846-47 with the American occupation force of Steven Watts Kearny's Army of the West, after completing one of the longest infantry marches in recorded history. He was an eyewitness to the gold discovery of 1848 while working as an employee of James Marshall at Sutter's Mill. He also played a part in opening one of the major wagon roads over the High Sierra for the ensuing gold rush. This volume makes available to the general public journals that until now were available only to qualified researchers. It is significant history brought to life with the vividness found only in primary-source material. To be indexed. --Fred Egloff