A World Transformed: Firsthand Accounts of California Before the Gold Rush

by Joshua Paddison (editor)

A World Transformed gathers together the writings of early European explorers, missionaries, sea captains and other visitors, from the first Spaniards to glimpse San Francisco Bay in 1769 to the eve of the gold rush. In 15 literate and accessible accounts by Father Juan Crespi, George Vancouver, Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Edwin Bryant and others, the transformation of San Francisco (and by extension, all of California) unfolds before us. A land of bountiful and open meadows, oak woodlands, plentiful game, and countless distinct groups of native people becomes dominated by a Spanish mission and presidio. A Mexican town grows up and eventually becomes a small city inhabited largely by Bostonians and other Anglo merchants, engaged in trade with the Clipper ships of the East Coast. Modern California emerges, not suddenly but perhaps inevitably.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

344 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1998

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A much better book than I expected. I initially checked this out from the library to skim the actual firsthand accounts and instead to just read what the editor had to say about the authors and this fascinating time. Without meaning to, I got totally wrapped up in the accounts and ended up reading the book from cover to cover. The editor did a great job of picking the most interesting sections from these accounts, the parts that provide us with the most detail about early California. I was so intrigued by what I read that I'm going to go buy myself a copy of this book and read a few of these accounts in their entirety. I never realized primary sources could be so much fun! Highly recommend.

[Virginia Arthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

The power of this book is that it is a collection of actual excerpts from the journals of Crespi, Vancouver, Rezanov and Langsdorff,Chamisso, Beechey, Dana, Byrant, to Kemble. Editor, Joshua Paddison more or less lets you make up your own mind. The time period of the book spans almost 100 years and in that 100 years, chronicles the loss of a magnificent pristine place with intact Native American cultures to the de-evolution of California to it's current state--boom and bust--by callous, narcissistic, mostly European settlers and new Americans out to make a killing in the new land. (Is this any different than the scramble to exploit the "new" fisheries now opening up at the poles 'courtesy' of the global catastrophe of climate change?). Human primate behavior is overwhelmingly motivated by one thing--its life span. Human primates are the only organisms on earth that are aware of their own deaths and they act accordingly, future generations be damned, quite literally (as we are seeing).

This book lays it all out for you, verbatim, over the century, to investigate and ponder. I only wish it included even more explorers, and excerpts from the Native Americans being displaced, subjugated, exterminated at that time. The book is solely from the explorer, "conqueror's" point of view. Still, it is a fascinating if not sobering account of how we got where we are today. The question becomes if the human species is really capable of considering the long-term effects of its behavior. Owing that we are trapped within the confines of our geologically insignificant life spans, and we all want what we want within this tiny bit of time on this precious earth (secondary of course to what we want), my answer is a resounding no.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been reading this in bits throughout the past few months, it’s a collection of primary documents (journals, records, reports) written by European visitors to the California coast before and during the mission period. Some excerpts include the padre's impressions of the CA landscape and natives, as well as Langsdorff and other visitors/travelers coming through over land and sea to explore the coast and find opportunities for trade. Each excerpt is preceded by a few pages of interpretation, which give a background context for the writer, and this is helpful because many of these writing styles are a bit difficult to get through – it really depends on who the person was writing for –whether a military expedition, a travel journal or a private entry in a diary. It is really interesting to see the records of early CA from the European settler/visitor perspective, but it also shows how misrepresented and/or invisible the CA natives were to the Euro-centric eye at the time. They are rarely ever mentioned, never by tribal name, and when they are it is often derogatory assertions that justify their containment in mission spheres. This is definitely a good resource for future research & study, but I don’t think I’d ever read it all the way through like a novel again.

[Karla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am re-reading this book after several years and I am astounded at the significance of these first hand accounts of visits to California before the Gold Rush. Within are samples from all the books you'll want to read after you've finished this one.

I recommend this book to everyone I know who is interested in California history. There is something about first hand accounts that is truly gripping....

You can't do better for a comprehensive overview of early California history.

If you're in town, please order it from Reader's Books, Sonoma http://readers.indiebound.com/

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe I'm overrating this, but it really was a good book. It's been a while since I read it, so I'm not entirely sure what I thought or would think today. Still, I just love historical accounts, and this book had a nice variety of perspectives on (Alta) California in this time period. Great reading. Very enlightening.

[Jared Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Social Science Teacher having first hand accounts that are compiled in one book is of great value. Paddison has created a collection that can used for the classroom or for personal edification.

[Hubert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of original writings by settlers who reached California prior to the Gold Rush (and annexation by the United States). The conversion of the Native American population via missions, the transformation of the countryside into pastures for cattle raising and agriculture, and the interest in science / maps by European interests comes through in the writings. The book is divided into about 10 sections, each containing a set of prefatory contextualizing remarks (aptly written by Joshua Paddison) coupled with the original document. Most of the authors are persons who were linked to the seafarers, business people, or missionaries who make up the primary cast of characters in California.

At times the book read too much like an AP history source reader. But I am grateful that this work has been done, and it deserves another look. Paddison, commentary author and editor, deserves particular praise for the expertise with which each entry is presented.

Well-illustrated with many of the images sourced from the Bancroft Library at UC-Berkeley.