El Dorado Trail: The Story of the Gold Rush Routes Across Mexico

by Ferol Egan

This book is the story of the gold rush routes across Mexico. It covers the old Mexican land routes traveled by goldseekers who were "infected" with gold fever and who believed in the existence of a land called "El Dorado". The author, Ferol Egan narrates in detail the agonizing adventures of those men who set out to seek their fortune against all odds. Journals of such gold seekers as John Woodhouse Audubon and John Durivage are used in rendering a day-by-day account of what the men of the trail encountered, how they were able to survive, and how their journey was cut short by their deaths.

313 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Michael McCue]

The El Dorado Trail tells the story of the 49ers who got to California by going across Mexico. This book was one of The American Trials Series. Unlike many of the other trails in the series that followed an exact route the El Dorado Trail was really a number of routes across Mexico some that started in Vera Cruz and others right on the US-Mexico border. I thought I knew a lot about the California Gold Rush but this part was new to me. I knew about the overland trails from the Missouri River to California and the ways by sea but this was new to me. If I have a complaint it would be that there were no maps provided in the book. I had to stop reading several times and look elsewhere to see where some of the places mentioned were.

[ch]

Vivacious prose captures the experience of these migrations across Mexico. A better overview would have been helpful, especially at the beginning of the book. A topographical map and illustrations would have boosted my rating to four stars.