Handwritten diary of a man traveling with a small group of men from El Paso, Texas, through Mexico, to the gold fields in California. Entries are mostly in ink (92 p.) with some in very faded pencil (34 p.). The journal begins with a list of names and home states in the party titled, "Roll of Recklass Fellows [sic]", followed by dated entries containing details of a long, difficult and ardous trip by horsback through the southwestern United States and Mexico border to California, and by ship to San Francisco and the gold fields. Details include descriptions of towns and terrain traveled through, dim prospects for gold in the Gila River, assaults, betrayals, robberies, deprivation, exhaustion, being lost, Indian attacks, and Indian rescues. Includes his eyewitness account of men being attacked and robbed by their former leader of the first part of the expedition, Parker E. French, who was badly wounded in the conflict. Four men were killed in the assault and Salter writes that he thinks it is likely that French will also die from his wounds. Threatened by hostile Indians, Salter's party decides to team up for a short period of time with another company led by William Miles, who was also part of the original expedition led by French. In other entries, Salter describes being lost and rescued by friendly Indians who give them food rations and guide them to the correct trail. In another incident he writes of the company being attacked at night by 50 Indians who they fight off in hand to hand combat. Also includes details of his arrival in San Diego, his boat trip to San Francisco aboard the brig Victorine and his friendship with Captain Joseph Lamson, descriptions of San Francisco and its harbor, and gold mining in Sonora, California. Throughout the diary, Salter comments on the nature of men and the foolishness of anyone leaving the comforts of home for a harsher journey than they can ever imagine in return for so little reward.