African American records of the Gold Rush are rare, as are underground railroad accounts from those fleeing to freedom; yet here is the account of a self-taught escaped slave and underground railroad worker who also succumbed to the lure of the California Gold Rush. James Williams was all of these things and more, a fascinating individual who in this memoir manages to cram more life into fewer pages than almost anyone has before or since – a habit of traveling light that served him well. We learn about Williams's birth and escape from the South and his travels and exciting experiences on the West Coast in the mid-nineteenth century. We become privy to his views on the many people he met, including Chinese immigrants, and his observations on notable events of his time, such as the Modoc War in California.

Malcolm J. Rohrbough is a professor of history at the University of Iowa. His books include Days of Gold: The California Gold Rush and The American Nation.

"The most remarkable of all Gold Rush chronicles, being the adventures of an escaped slave in the mines of California, and his later experiences. This is one to get!"—Council Fires: The Publication for Western Americana Enthusiasts

"From the beginning of the Gold Rush, among the pioneers seeking greater wealth, security, and freedom were African Americans free and slave alike. . . . Taking up residence in mining districts, farm regions, and especially towns and cities. . . . [suffering] all manner of job and civil rights discrimination and personal indignities, black people nevertheless established families, businesses, churches, newspapers, and social and mutual protective organizations."—California History

"This first person account by a runaway slave will be of interest to a variety of readers—those interested in nineteenth-century sea voyages and travel, the California Gold Rush, the development of Nevada's Comstock Lode silver mines, the experience of African-Americans in the West, and American slavery. First published in 1893 more than half a century after Williams escaped from Maryland into Pennsylvania via the Underground Railroad, the book demonstrates the author's considerable writing and story-telling skills."—Utah Historical Society