He Chased Golden Dreams in ’49
Carte de visite by J.D. Vickery of Bath, N.Y. Anson James McCall (1816-1898) spent the majority of his life in Bath, N.Y. He received an education at Hamilton and Union colleges and graduated from the later institution in 1838. He went on to study law and become an attorney.
McCall had a deep interest in history and a literary turn of mind. He became the go-to guy in town for local history, as evidenced by a multi-part address he gave in 1893 about the first half-century of Bath.
He is also known for another unique moment in time: the California Gold Rush. According to his obituary, “He spent a year in Europe in 1848 and the following year he joined the argonauts of ’49 marching for the Golden Fleece in California. He returned by way of the Isthmus in 1851 and resumed his law practice.”
He documented his California adventures in a series of reports in the Steuben Courier. His writings from this period were published in 1882 in book form as The Great California Trail in 1849: Wayside Notes of an Argonaut.
McCall’s words paint a stirring picture of the massive movement of settlers across the Great Plains. He left Bath on March 14, 1849 and arrived in St. Joseph, Mo., on April 25.
He described the scene created by the arrival of caravans of one to 20 teams: “Western Missouri seemed one vast encampment. “There were representatives of every nationality and country, but the ‘Buckeyes’ and ‘Hoosiers,’ the ’Suckers’ and ‘Pikes,’ the ‘Wolverines’ and ‘Gophers,’ were largely in the ascendant. Perhaps so motley a gathering was never seen before. Men of every race and color, black and white, red and brown, fiery spirits from the Sunny South, calculating codgers from the rugged North, the gay and dashing blade of fashion, the coarse, unkempt dweller of the woods, black coats and black legs, lawyers and doctors, farmers and mechanics, old and young, wives and mothers, maids and magdalena, the wise and foolish, all lured by golden dreams or wild adventure, were making ready to try their mettle in a scamper of nearly a thousand leagues over the great plains.”
McCall mapped the journey: “Starting from St. Joseph, Mo., we pursued a north-westerly course to Fort Kearney, on the Platt; thence up that river, following the north fork to the Sweet Water, and up that stream to the South Pass; thence westerly by way of Fort Bridger to Salt Lake, passing around the head thereof; thence westerly to the source of the Humboldt, down to the Sink; thence west to the Trucke river, and up the same to the summit of the Nevadas, and thence to Bear river, a tributary of the Sacramento.”
McCall’s journey from St. Joseph began on May 5, 1849. His regular entries describe trail life in vivid detail. On May 13, he observed, “We were not alone on tis morning march, wherever we looked, as far as we could see, before us and behind us, similar trains were moving, and the way was crowded with out-riders and foot-men. Long lines of gaily dressed cavaliers, belonging to some crack city company, with b burnished brands and glittering sabres, in all the pride and pomp of military display, went dashing by. Loaded wagons, as flashy and paint and lettering could make them, drawn by countless yoke of fat oxen, decorated with flags and streamers, rolled over the swells and dipped into the hollows. The loud cry of the drivers ‘Roll up!’ ‘Roll up!’ ‘Wo haw!’ And the ear-splitting crack of their mammoth goads, formed a sort of interlude to the merry songs of the idlers and supernumeraries.”
The ups and downs of the trip continue through his arrival in Sacramento on Sept. 17, 1849. You can read it for yourself: books.google.com/books?id=ImIvAQAAMAAJ&printsec=front...
McCall returned to Bath and the practice of law. His story is silent during the Civil War, perhaps because he was a staunch Democrat.
I encourage you to use this image for educational purposes only. However, please ask for permission.
He Chased Golden Dreams in ’49
Carte de visite by J.D. Vickery of Bath, N.Y. Anson James McCall (1816-1898) spent the majority of his life in Bath, N.Y. He received an education at Hamilton and Union colleges and graduated from the later institution in 1838. He went on to study law and become an attorney.
McCall had a deep interest in history and a literary turn of mind. He became the go-to guy in town for local history, as evidenced by a multi-part address he gave in 1893 about the first half-century of Bath.
He is also known for another unique moment in time: the California Gold Rush. According to his obituary, “He spent a year in Europe in 1848 and the following year he joined the argonauts of ’49 marching for the Golden Fleece in California. He returned by way of the Isthmus in 1851 and resumed his law practice.”
He documented his California adventures in a series of reports in the Steuben Courier. His writings from this period were published in 1882 in book form as The Great California Trail in 1849: Wayside Notes of an Argonaut.
McCall’s words paint a stirring picture of the massive movement of settlers across the Great Plains. He left Bath on March 14, 1849 and arrived in St. Joseph, Mo., on April 25.
He described the scene created by the arrival of caravans of one to 20 teams: “Western Missouri seemed one vast encampment. “There were representatives of every nationality and country, but the ‘Buckeyes’ and ‘Hoosiers,’ the ’Suckers’ and ‘Pikes,’ the ‘Wolverines’ and ‘Gophers,’ were largely in the ascendant. Perhaps so motley a gathering was never seen before. Men of every race and color, black and white, red and brown, fiery spirits from the Sunny South, calculating codgers from the rugged North, the gay and dashing blade of fashion, the coarse, unkempt dweller of the woods, black coats and black legs, lawyers and doctors, farmers and mechanics, old and young, wives and mothers, maids and magdalena, the wise and foolish, all lured by golden dreams or wild adventure, were making ready to try their mettle in a scamper of nearly a thousand leagues over the great plains.”
McCall mapped the journey: “Starting from St. Joseph, Mo., we pursued a north-westerly course to Fort Kearney, on the Platt; thence up that river, following the north fork to the Sweet Water, and up that stream to the South Pass; thence westerly by way of Fort Bridger to Salt Lake, passing around the head thereof; thence westerly to the source of the Humboldt, down to the Sink; thence west to the Trucke river, and up the same to the summit of the Nevadas, and thence to Bear river, a tributary of the Sacramento.”
McCall’s journey from St. Joseph began on May 5, 1849. His regular entries describe trail life in vivid detail. On May 13, he observed, “We were not alone on tis morning march, wherever we looked, as far as we could see, before us and behind us, similar trains were moving, and the way was crowded with out-riders and foot-men. Long lines of gaily dressed cavaliers, belonging to some crack city company, with b burnished brands and glittering sabres, in all the pride and pomp of military display, went dashing by. Loaded wagons, as flashy and paint and lettering could make them, drawn by countless yoke of fat oxen, decorated with flags and streamers, rolled over the swells and dipped into the hollows. The loud cry of the drivers ‘Roll up!’ ‘Roll up!’ ‘Wo haw!’ And the ear-splitting crack of their mammoth goads, formed a sort of interlude to the merry songs of the idlers and supernumeraries.”
The ups and downs of the trip continue through his arrival in Sacramento on Sept. 17, 1849. You can read it for yourself: books.google.com/books?id=ImIvAQAAMAAJ&printsec=front...
McCall returned to Bath and the practice of law. His story is silent during the Civil War, perhaps because he was a staunch Democrat.
I encourage you to use this image for educational purposes only. However, please ask for permission.