A Gold Rush Childhood Comes Alive

"Becoming California, a series that brings the California Gold Rush
alive with the people who lived it."

by Don Baumgart

“Shady Flat gave every appearance of being the center of the universe these days, for there was lots of traffic and bustle along the Yuba Gap Wagon Road.” Young Deborah Whitney’s life in the summer of 1874 is the subject of Katie Willmarth Green’s book, “Sierra Summer.” The narrative moves as quickly as Deborah Whitney’s summer adventures in and around Sierra County mining country. “The big mines were geared up for a peak season and had hired their crews. Even so, prospectors continued trickling into the mountains looking for gold in the streambeds and crevices, hoping against hope to find what thousands of others had overlooked yearly since 1849.” The summer finds Deborah separated from her best friend, Selena, who had been sent to live with relatives after her mother’s death from consumption. The summer’s bleak outlook is brightened somewhat by the arrival at the family home of her brother Sam, a newspaper writer visiting from far away Carson City. In this rare look at everyday life toward the end of the Gold Rush, a miner tells Deborah’s father, “Very soon restrictive new laws ...will make it too expensive to operate a mine. Yes, suh, in my opinion mining’s just going to the dogs.” Deborah, the bold, alert, question-asking girl, unexpectedly makes friends with an exotic gentleman who greatly expands her understanding of human nature, forges deep bonds with a burro and two neighbour boys, and suffers a near-fatal accident while alone in the woods. The plucky young girl’s summer adventures are described as being for “lovers of history and adventure, ages 12 and up.” The pages are rich with photos and drawings from the era and the book has an extensive list identifying them.

“Sierra Summer, 1874" is the third book in the trilogy presenting the life of a young girl in post-Gold Rush times in the north Yuba country. “Like a Leaf on the Current Cast” and “Deborah Whitney of Shady Flat” are the first two books in the series. The accounts of daily life in those times, filled with true and almost-true characters, are created from stories told to Green by families whose ancestors lived them. 

For more information, or to order books, visit www.sierragoldrushhistory.com.

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Copyright Don Baumgart, 2010