California Gold Rush era journal diary account of a man traveling to the San Francisco Bay area from the East Coast by ship via the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, crossing Nicaragua, and continuing by ship to San Francisco and eventually working as a gold miner in Tuolumne County, California. Dated entries describe the trip in great detail including rampant sickness on board the ship to Central America and identifies deceased travelers whose bodies are cast overboard. Other details include names and descriptions of traveling companions, crew members, purposes of stops made along the way, the names of towns, rivers, islands passed, other ships encountered, observations and descriptions of churches and religious activities in Central America and sailing weather. The diary also include descriptions and results of his gold mining activities and mining life in and around Stockton and Sonora, particularly on the Stanislaus River. The travel and gold mining portion of the diary is dated March 5 to November 4, 1850. The rest of the diary consists of ledger entries dated from October 20,1851 to February 14, 1852 listing the costs and expenses for labor, supplies, food, and services. Also includes a brown paper wrapper for the diary and a note on The Players stationery signed by [Joe?] addressed to "Harmon" dated Oct. 14, 1969 describing the writing on the wrapper as that of his grandfather Harmon Bell and the 1850 diary as "your great-grandfather Wilson's."