CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH – WHITE, Wolcott B. (fl. 1849). Manuscript ledger book, "Dry Creek" [Sierra foothills], dated from 13 July 1849 to April 1853, with the most fulsome entries in 1849 and 1850.

In English, approximately 90 pages, 190 x 154mm, written in ink (expected soiling). Bound lined notebook, original sheep-backed marbled boards (binding well-worn, stain to inside cover, a leaf near end partially torn out).

A Forty-Niner's working accounts, documenting the lived economy of the California Gold Country, from beans and whiskey to quicksilver and gold dust. Wolcott B. White hailed from Oneida County in upstate New York. His 49'er journey seems to have been underwritten by investors back home and they soon agreed that there was more money to be made in California by supplying the miners than by mining itself. White arrived in San Francisco on July 5th of 1849, but spent only a day there before sailing upriver to Sacramento. He was unimpressed by California, noting the lack of timber in the Bay Area and the muddy and impractical roads during the rainy season. In a letter back home he recorded the price of hauling goods to the gold mines from Sacramento as 50 cents to a dollar per pound, an exorbitant rate. He also notes that prospectors rarely worked through the rainy season and that board in Sacramento ran as high as $35 per week. He prospected for some weeks but soon got a fever and despite being in a good district and earning well, his earnings were soon depleted in high expenses. See his letter to H.M. and G. Braytons, dated 7 January 1850 from California Fork, California (Bancroft Library, UCB MSS C-B 547).

White's ledger contains fascinating detail on the huge expenses and credits of his fellow forty-niners. He has gone into business with others including Arnold Beebee and Orson White and records line items typical for adventurers of the time: beans, pork, hard bread, shot, Monongahela (whiskey), licorice, tobacco, paint brushes, tin plates, coffee, tea, pants, shovels, rope, shoes, sugar, and matches. There are also more unusual entries like opium, peppermint, and sperm oil candles, cream of tartar, peach brandy, handkerchiefs, bracelets, beads, three French hats, playing cards, jaw harps, and a keg of pickled onions. There is even an entry for "1 Lot of I dont know what." It cost $4.50. Transportation is a major feature with entries for mules, teams of oxen, pack saddles, "help up Dry Creek hill," "hauling up hill," "expenses to the big bar," harnesses, ferriage, etc. Lastly are the entries very particular to the Gold Rush such as quicksilver, a cradle, a "gold washer," gold scales, two quicksilver machines, and multiple credits for gold dust and gold.

Wolcott B. White (ownership inscription including Westernville, Oneida Co. NY address)
Eldon Grupp, d.2021, San Francisco, California