Letters from a '49er: John Robertson Maben and the Search for California Gold! by VMHC

In 1849, John Robertson Maben traveled to California in search of gold. In a series of thirteen letters, Maben describes his travels to his wife, Sarah. These letters are especially vivid as Maben was witness to events both momentous and mundane. He wrote of the cholera epidemic of 1849, the great St. Louis fire that same year, and the excitement and brutality of the California gold fields. In this program, students will join Maben on his journey, interpreting his letters, tracing his travels on a nineteenth-century map, and examining the landscape.