McNeil's travels in 1849, to, through and from the gold regions, in California

Samuel McNeil left his shoemaking business in Lancaster, Ohio, in January 1849 for a trip to the California gold fields via Panama. Unlike many 49ers, he had sense enough to return home when he had accumulated enough gold to meet his needs. McNeil's travels in 1849 (1850) recounts the shipwreck that forced McNeil and his compatriots to travel overland from Texas to Mazatlán, where they obtained passage to San Francisco. He then describes prospecting at Smiths Bar on the North Fork of the American River, Bear River, Weaver's Creek, and other Feather and Trinity Rivers camps until August, when he took his stake of 2,000 and booked passage east.