Chauncey L Canfield "The Diary of a Forty-Niner ."
A miner or other person that took part in the 1849 California Gold Rush.
Excerpt from The "Diary of a Forty-Niner":
Now and again there comes out of the dim past something which Opens up an hitherto unknown or forgotten page in history. A copper implement from a lake midden, a chipped arrow head from a cave, a deciphered hieroglyphic from the face of a granite rock, a ruined temple in an overgrown jungle by means of which we rescue a chapter that tells of men's works and men's lives, former generations, who cumbered the earth for a brief time and passed away and of Whose existence even tradition is silent. There are fascinating revealments that excite a momentary interest only, for, barring the scientist, we live in the present, and how our remote ancestors throve or what they did gives us but little concern.
The long ago is vague, the cave dwellers and the temple builders existed in fable land, and, while we concede the importance of the discoveries, we leave the study to the specialists and magazine writers and do not burden our mind with ancient history. This indifference not only obtains with reference to the tribes and peoples who have disappeared off of the earth; it is equally true of comparatively recent events.
Hardcover without DJ. 1920.
Used book. Book has only minor reading wear. Inscription on the first page, typically just a name. Otherwise, very good, nice and clean inside.