f California was three (two men and a woman), but by 1852 an article in the Daily Alta California estimated the Chinese population to be at around 12,000. The Chinese weren’t welcomed in a land where the gold fields weren’t producing the riches expected and where the industrious Chinese were seen as a threat.
For more on the journey westward, there are many great websites, some with narratives by those who made the trek. Here are a few I found:
- Oregon Trail Diaries
- 1852 Oregon Trail Emigrants
- Gold Rush Chronology 1852-54
- Gold Rush Links
- Chinese in California
- California Gold Rush (Sacramento Bee website)
1852 also marked the publication of Harriet Beecher Stoweâ€™s famous book, Uncle Tomâ€™s Cabin. The book was an anti-slavery statement which she later revealed was largely based on the memoirs of Rev. Josiah Henson.Â Originally produced in serial format, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a sensation and by 1857 had sold half a million copies in the United States–breaking book sales records for that time and stirring anti-slavery sentiment.
Image: The Oregon Trail in South Pass, 1852. From the Library of Congress Photo Collection at Ancestry. Click on the image to enlarge it.