A short anonymous letter from a former soldier gives a glimpse into life in California in 1850. I came across this letter in the Gold Rush Materials digital collection at the Bancroft Library, and was intrigued by its mystery.

Who wrote the letter and who it was written to is unknown. It is addressed to “Dear Sister” and unsigned. There is no envelope. Did the sister receive the letter from the brother that she hadn’t seen for four years? Did they reunite? Did she take his advice and come to California? We will never know.

Dear Sister it is with deep respect I write to you to let you know that I am in the land of the living. I am in the land of gold California. I have fought for California in the New York regiment of volunteers under Col. Stephenson as a soldier. Now I am once more a free man. I live where I shall always live.

The 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers was raised in New York state in 1846 by Jonathan D. Stevenson for service in the Mexican-American War. They sailed for California in September 1846, took the route around Cape Horn, and arrived in San Francisco on March 19, 1847. They fought in the Battle of La Paz and the Skirmish of Los Todos Santos (not even a battle), the last engagement of the war. You can read all about the regiment and see a list of the officers and soldiers at this Wikipedia article.

Col. Stevenson remained in California, as did many of the rest of the regiment, so that they were on the ground when gold was discovered in January 1848. The writer of this letter undoubtedly tried his hand at gold mining, but he doesn’t mention that at all. Instead he tells his sister that he is “married to a little Spanish girl that owns six hundred acres of land plenty of cattle and horses and about fifteen years old.” An advantageous match for this young man.

He tells her that she can make her fortune in California “at your trade,” whatever that may have been. Perhaps she was a seamstress or a tailor. Not only that, she has “all the chances of marrying rich,” since California is full of young men who have made their fortunes in the goldfields.

There is very few American women in California. I would be very glad to see you in California. I want you to come to California also my brothers and come right away. You can make from twenty to twenty-five dollars per day at your trade and have all the chances of marrying rich. Plenty of young men very rich. You can make your fortune in one year in California and then return home if you should like.

“I never mean to leave myself,” he writes. He is thoroughly taken with his new home and has no intention of ever returning to New York.

No more at present but don’t fail to come to California. Write to me as soon as you receive this. Give my respects to all enquiring friends.

I hope his sister came and found California just as satisfying as her brother did. My thanks to UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library (where I had a job as a student) for making these fascinating letters available to all.