Golden Dreams

by Gwen Bristow

The great California gold rush of 1849 is recreated by focusing on the experiences of individual Americans who headed westward, filled with dreams of overnight wealth in the form of gold.

Genres: Nonfiction

238 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1980

About the author

Gwen Bristow (September 16, 1903 - August 17, 1980) was an American author and journalist. She studied at Columbia University and afterwards wrote for a number of literary magazines and journals. Eventually she moved to New Orleans, and worked at the Times-Picayune. She became interested in longer forms of writing—novels and short stories—through her husband, screenwriter Bruce Manning, and published her first novel in 1929.

Bristow reached the pinnacle of her career with the western romance Jubilee Trail, which became a bestseller in 1950, and was adapted to a moderately successful film in 1954.

Reviews

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gwen Bristow is one of my favorite authors. As a teen, I devoured her American historical fiction and loved it and re-read those books many times. I saw this book on ABE Books, which I didn't know existed, so ordered it. I didn't realize it was a real history of the California Gold Rush and California being granted statehood. I found it very interesting. I did enjoy it and learned a lot.

[Denise Barney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Bristow usually writes historical fiction, but this is an account of the California Golf Rush and some of the early Yanquis who settled here. Not all of them were prospectors--some realized there was money to be made selling merchandise or ranching. Some came for the adventure,leaving wives and children behind, then returning for them later. The book was written in 1980 and for a general audience and focuses mostly on the years 1848-1850.

There were three ways to get to California in the 1840's: around Cape Horn, across the Isthmus of Panama or across the continent. Ms. Bristow uses actual people to tell the stories, including those of the women who made the journey, in particular those who were truly the first, who came with no clear idea of what they were facing.

Ms. Bristow also writes the problems California had after the Mexican War. No longer part of Mexico, California was not yet a territory because of the debate in Congress about whether the Territory should allow slavery or not. (One suggested compromise was to split California, following the latitude of the Missouri & Kansas Compromises, just south of Monterey.) California was effectively left with no government. So the residents decided to make their own.

The style is very easy to read, almost chatty. Ms. Bristow quotes from letters and diaries, usually people not as well known. My one quibble is she doesn't use footnotes or list her sources, although she doesn't get a list of books about some of the individuals mentioned.

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book a little disjointed. It went back and forth with no real central story or characters except the middle of the 19th century during the California gold rush. Some interesting episodes but too much name dropping. I also had some doubts about some of the facts. Very American centric with little mention of those that came before. Hardly anything on the Hudson's Bay, the early mountain men and those early explorers. Doubt very much that the first white woman to cross the continent was in the late 1840s.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A non-fiction account of the California Gold Rush years, Golden Dreams has the flow of a novel. Fascinating, well written and full of interesting facts previously unknown to me. Not the expected angle on the subject; no panning, digging and fighting over claims. Focused on how Easterners actually got to California in the 1840s (3 torturous ways!), how communication happened between the coasts, how California became a state. A very good read.

[Kaye Sivori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got a little monotonous at times, but fascinating read about how California got settled!!

[Kitty Tomlinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This details the history of the California gold rush. Interesting read.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so rich in detail about San Francisco's beginning and the effect on it when the gold fields were discovered in California, I hated it to end. It's the last of the Gwen Bristow books about the history of California, and an nonfiction book for a change. So many of the stories in the book are about landmarks still there today, and many named for the people who lived there during its early days.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting non fiction about California History. There were quite a few stories I was not familiar with, one of my favorites being the first white woman (and her toddler) who crossed the Sierra Nevada's into California with John Bidwell's party. The political unrest surrounding slavery that kept California from receiving statehood was interesting.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't give many five stars. Golden Dreams earns it by incorporating California history with a page turning plot and endearing and complex characters. Bristow is such a master at storytelling and making history fascinating and real.