Step back into history to the vibrant era of the 1849 Gold Rush! A single Eureka! event changed history forever in early January of 1848. Sutter's Mill on the American River would become California's first gold discovery site. Make a journey along circuitous Gold Country backroads and visit museum-quality mining towns, and regions covering one-fifth of the Golden State's most scenic geography. Whether exploring the first gold strike on the American River South Fork or visiting State Highway 49's Golden Chain of mining towns, explore the 300-mile adventure to legendary gold mines, surrounding lakes, rivers, and streams. It's a path of history bringing the miners to the goldfields with their frantic lust for gold on a quest for the precious mineral generating the single largest mass migration ever recorded. It's a story of pioneers and historical spots that brings forward the history of California's growth after the 1849 Gold Rush period to the present day. The book highlights 14 Gold Country Tours, and travelers take an insider's view from a 'Golden State Triangle' starting in Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, or Yosemite National Park.
During a 50-year career in the Sierra Nevada foothills after dozens of twists and turns over the rigorous curves into the steep river canyons of State Highway 49, the first impressions of Sutter's Mill encouraged California Gold Country Explorer and new touring book. Once covered with tent camps, ghost towns, and gold mines spread the Golden Chain includes recreational areas over one-fifth of the entire Golden State, easily accessed from Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, and Yosemite. The highlights in the book's 14 Gold Country Tours take the insider's view of traveling to Sierra Nevada foothill and mountain destinations. Whether exploring James W. Marshall's first gold strike on the American River South Fork or visiting antique mining towns, lasting memories remain of Mark Twain's wit, Lola Montez's Spider Dance, and the countless efforts of 49er argonauts on the path of history into the legendary centers of wealth. Notable personalities are quoted living in California during the Gold Rush. Today's legendary mining towns' ineffable charm and treasures are pursued by visitors for historical lodging, handcrafted goods, delicious farm to fork foods, local craft beer, wine, and spirits complemented by 49er hospitality and a sense of deep commitment.
California's Golden Age inspired a long list of important innovations and new technologies from the 19th Century, whether it was inimitable pieces of massive mining equipment, long line electrical transmission, water, and steam power generation, long-distance telephones, clothing style, expansive agriculture, or by 1869, the crowning achievement of the transcontinental railroad. Gold seekers traveled from distant corners of the globe making journeys overland on a horse, mule, oxen, or by foot, following the frenzied rush for gold. Constant gold strikes reported nuggets...for the taking. Our Golden State's history is a reminder of how we stand miles above the hidden treasures and veins of those precious minerals, just beneath our feet.
Robert A. Bellezza has worked with California tourism, graphic design, and marketing publications, establishing the Gold Country Guide in 1994 and California Tour & Travel Magazine in 1999. Authoring a series of five touring books on California's Spanish missions featuring 1000 vintage and current photographs, the California Mission Collection was published as part of Arcadia's "Images of America Series" in 2012. San Diego Untapped!, a tour book emerged on the craft beer industry and small brewing businesses in 2017, and the author's seventh travel book in 2022, the California Gold Country Explorer, focuses on the 1849 Gold Rush, its towns, and historical sites in the Sierra Nevada Foothills.