Sacramento's Gold Rush Saloons: El Dorado in a Shot Glass

by Friends Of The Sacramento Public Library

As early as 1839, Sacramento, California, was home to one of the most enduring symbols of the American West: the saloon. From the portability of the Stinking Tent to the Gold Rush favorite El Dorado Gambling Saloon to the venerable Sutter's Fort, Sacramento saloons offered not simply a nip of whiskey and a round of monte but also operated as polling place, museum, political hothouse, vigilante court and site of some of the nineteenth century's worst violence. From librarian James Scott and the Special Collections of the Sacramento Public Library comes a fascinating history of Sacramento saloons featuring the advent of all types of gaming, the rise of local alcohol production and the color and guile of some of the region's most compelling personalities..

Genres: Nonfiction, History

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 21, 2014

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my attempts to read as much as I can about Sacramento history before departing from this lovely city in several months, I added this book to my to-read list. I love reading; I love history; I love drinking.. All of these should naturally fit with this book. However, I think that this book was a well-intentioned sharing of historical, and important, information that didn't play out as intended. First of all, the era covered was only from about 1849, with the closing of Sutter's Fort, thru 1861 and the beginnings of the Civil War. I'm not 100% sure why all the rest (meaning post 1861) was not also included. Also, I think that the way in which this book was constructed took away from the ability for it to be as enjoyable as it could have been. The authorship is not assigned to one person nor one singular editor, as is usual for works of non-fiction. Instead, it is assigned as a collection of works from the Sacramento Public Library, which feels like someone simply threw articles, newspapers, reports, and other historical documents together, organized them by year, and put them in a book. I was reeling from trying to keep things straight as to what happened where and with whom as a result of this organizational process. Despite this somewhat dense read (for a pretty short book in and of itself), I'm still giving it 3 stars because I did enjoy learning the few tokens of information that I was able to take away from it and imbibe in visiting these relics in my current hometown. I think future review of such topics should be handled by one or two editors or authors in order to create a clearer narrative, and a more expansive context, for the reader.

[Shane Gower · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having just been in Sacramento studying the Gold Rush, I found this book interesting. Had I never been there, however, I'm. It sure I'd be able to really get into the book. It helps to have some knowledge of the city and the Gold Rush. Having said that, I found the various anecdotes connected to gambling and prostitution compelling. It's a quick read that gives good insight into the history of Sacramento.

[Truitti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because it dove tails into one of my hobbies. I am doing some family history research for my step dad. His family came to northern California around 1853. This book gave me the flavor of the rough and tumble Sacramento world between the time of Sutter' s Fort and the dwindling influx of gold seekers. There is an excellent bibliography and notes. It's an easy read, and it describes the area so much that I can pin point where some of the establishments were located.