This book surveys the life of John Sutter, on whose land gold was discovered, spurring the California gold rush and westward expansion.

Explores the phenomenon of the California Gold Rush, including information about the routes to California taken by hopeful miners and the fate of John Sutter, owner of the land on which gold was first discovered.

By and about the most famous names in America, these are the stories of their exploits told in their own words through excerpts from autobiographies, articles they wrote, newspaper interviews, and private journals. The accounts span Daniel Boone's exploration of the Appalachian wilderness in the 1700s to the bloody massacre at Wounded Knee near the dawn of the twentieth century.