Death and the Devil laying a snare to catch subjects. The Devil encircles California with his tail, and from his magic pipe sends forth his emissaries to fill the place with bait.
Outline History Of An Expedition To California is a curious nineteenth century graphic novel depicting the dark and tragic tale related to the pursuit for the glittering yellow metal from the days of the California Gold Rush of the 1848. This is the story of about 300,000 prospectors, who flocked to California from all corners of the United States, and even from abroad, in pursuit of their dreams, seeking their fortune, told in grim looking black and white cartoon panels.
The opening panel of this book sets the tone aptly for the topic it handles; Devil and Death setting a trap in California with the shimmering shower of gold and the temptation for treasures depicted in stark, bold black strokes. The cartoon panels are dark yet funny and stays factual while presenting the reader with the multiple shocking tragic faces related to the madness for gold, which happened in California during the mid-nineteenth century.
“Gold! Gold on the American River!”
From as early as the sixteenth century A.D, there were rumors and tales about gold and gold mines in California bought to Europe by travelers. In 1842, flecks of this glittering metal was found in San Fernando Valley, which made a minor ripple of excitement among the prospector community, but the first definitive Gold Rush, which made California the gold miner’s dream destination began on January 24, 1848.
It was on that day, James W. Marshall, an American carpenter and sawmill operator, discovered shiny flecks of gold in the channel bed of American River at Coloma, California; a discovery, which changed the course of history by setting off one of the most fervent mineral rush and mass migration in America.
Walter was employed at that time by John Augustus Sutter Sr. – the man who established the agricultural and trading colony named Sutter’s Fort – for constructing a sawmill – later known as Sutter’s Mill – at Coloma.
Sutter tried to keep the discovery a secret, for the fear of prospectors upsetting the operations of his timber mill, but soon rumors about the discovery of gold started spreading. It was the American businessman and journalist, Samuel Brannan, who had a supply store at Sutter’s Fort, who confirmed the news about the discovery of gold to the outside world. When the workers from the mining camp came to his store for buying provisions with the gold dust, Brannan being a superb entrepreneur, stocked his store with loads of mining equipment and went around the streets of California, with a bottle carrying the gold dust and proclaiming to the world “Gold! Gold on the American River!”
The California Gold Rush began and Brannan made huge profits from the sales of mining goods to the crowds of prospectors who flowed to California in search of gold. California, despite the sudden boost in economy, suffered much from the influx of the gold seekers as the native Californians had to go through large scale instances of starvation, violence, genocide, diseases and relocation as part of the Gold Rush.
Even though limited in number of pages, this graphic novel cleverly presents the reader with short glimpses of almost all the calamities that prospectors faced during their expedition to California over the three possible routes that were then available; the Cape Horn route, The Panamanian Route and the Overland trail. Packs so much history in such a small book.
The Devil having drawn the tail to a close, Death fills up the cavity made by the extraction of gold, with the bones of those who perished in pursuit.
Written By : Pramod S Nair
