William Reese Company - Americana Archives

TWICE ACROSS THE PLAINS 1849.1856

160pp., including twelve plates and frontispiece. Original pictorial green cloth. Very light wear at corners and spine ends. Previous owner's name on front free endpaper. Very clean internally. Near fine. A rare "modern overland," with most copies destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. It is one of the very few narratives of 1849 Gold Rush travel that mentions African American travellers, one of whom became a victim of Joaquin Murrieta. William Pleasants made his first trip across the Great Plains as a boy with his family in 1849, striking out for California from Missouri during the Gold Rush. In 1856 he returned to Missouri by way of Panama to fetch the rest of his family to California, to which he travelled overland a second time. His tale includes stories of mining the California gold fields and the struggle of early settlers. On the 1849 overland journey the party began along the old Santa Fe Trail before crossing to the Platte River Road. They were beset by cholera, which thrived in the wet weather, and took the life of "master of transportation" John Lane, among others. In 1856 Pleasants was sent by his father to Missouri to bring the rest of his family to California, a trip funded by $1500 in gold dust. On the latter journey west his group was confronted by hostile Indians, and Pleasants implies that the Mormons encouraged native tribes in hostilities against non- Mormon travellers. The text concludes with a roster of the members of the 1849 and 1856 wagon trains, and Pleasants notes that five of the 1849 travellers were African American, including Amos and Sam Kusick (or Kusic), "Old Uncle Dick" Sloan, John Arnett, and a man only identified as "Emanuel." Pleasants records that one of those African-American miners, Amos Kusick, and a mining partner were travelling eastward in September, 1850, with some three thousand dollars in gold, when they were attacked by the notorious bandit, Joaquin Murrieta, and his gang. "One of the men was lassoed and dragged to death, while the other was killed with a knife. When the bodies were discovered there was found a trail of blood leading away from the scene of the crime. It would seem the negro had in some manner during the encounter come into possession of a knife belonging to one of the robbers, and had used it with deadly effect." This copy bears the early ownership signature of Daisy Kingham of Hemet, California, formerly Daisy Pleasants and apparently a relative of the author. As with many such "modern overlands," they were often printed in small numbers for distribution among family and friends. The rarity of Pleasants' narrative is enhanced due to many copies being destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. "An interesting narrative" - Streeter. "Privately-printed and excessively rare" - Norris Catalogue. This book has become quite rare in the market in recent years. The Norris copy was offered in 1948 for $125, bought by Henry Plath. W.J. Holliday's copy sold at his auction in 1954 for $85, followed by the Norris-Plath copy in 1959. The Norris- Plath copy was bought by Thomas W. Streeter for $170, and it sold at the Streeter sale in 1968 for $300. A Newberry Library duplicate sold at auction in 1966 for $375. The Norris- Plath-T.W. Streeter copy is the only recent auction record, selling in 2007 at the Frank Streeter sale for $8400. EBERSTADT, MODERN OVERLANDS 386. COWAN, p.494. HOWES P421, "b." KURUTZ 510. MATTES 593,1569. MINTZ 372. RADER 2684. STREETER SALE 3212. GRAFF 3305. HOWELL 50:716. HOLLIDAY SALE 881. PLATH SALE 890. NORRIS CATALOGUE 3069. DECKER 36:327.