William G. Johnston

Young William G. Johnston was lucky to be a member of a select group of gold seekers who joined a wagon train bound for California in early 1849. Led by experienced guide Jim Stewart, the heavily laden expedition averaged an incredible twenty-two and a half miles per day through often poorly known wilderness, and some days covered as much as thirtyfive to forty miles.

Eventually completing its two-thousand-mile trek in just under ninety days, Johnston's expedition became the first wagon train to make it to the gold country of California. In the following excerpt from his memoirOverland to California, Johnston describes the arduous final leg of the journey over the rugged Sierra Nevada mountain range.

Tuesday, July 17th.—The trail continued over a sandy plain, following the river, but seldom in sight of it. Our camp at...