African American records of the Gold Rush are rare, as are underground railroad accounts from those fleeing to freedom; yet here is the account of a self-taught escaped slave and underground railroad worker who also succumbed to the lure of the California Gold Rush. James Williams was all of these things and more, a fascinating individual who in this memoir manages to cram more life into fewer pages than almost anyone has before or since a habit of traveling light that served him well. We learn about Williams's birth and escape from the South and his travels and exciting experiences on the...
African American records of the Gold Rush are rare, as are underground railroad accounts from those fleeing to freedom; yet here is the account of a s...
