Gold Rush Saints: California Mormons and the Great Rush for Riches

by Kenneth N. Owens, Will Bagley (Foreword)

From 1846 to 1857 Mormons played a crucial role in shaping events in California and the West. They were the first American settlers of San Francisco, and without them, John Sutter might not have built his sawmill and thus discovered gold in 1848. In Gold Rush Saints , Kenneth N. Owens combines narrative history and documentary accounts to reveal a hidden wealth of California and Mormon history. The first-person accounts of pioneer Mormons, both men and women, offer new perspectives on myths and realities of gold rush California.

Genres: History

400 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2004

Reviews

[Kenneth Lund · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well-researched, well-documented, and comprehensive history of the Latter-day Saint presence in northern California from the arrival of the Brooklyn and the Mormon Battalion through the 1857 return to Utah. Although written by a non-LDS author, the book is reasonably fair and balanced. I read it as part of a research project on the California Mormon Emigrant Trail, and the book offers rich detail.

[Gina Watson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a fairly good reference for some students. However, it is more of a niche read. The gold rush reference is mostly in the first chapter and a half. Beyond that it is a journaling of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in El Dorado County (and counties around) up to the end of the 1900’s. Cool thing, I’ve met some of these great people! That was a real kick.