Travels through Mexico and California:

£2,250 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

A wonderful copy of this overland narrative. Rarely encountered in cloth, this issue was probably reserved for the author. A. B. Clarke lived in Independence, Iowa until his death in 1882. This copy is inscribed “Robert F. Clarke, Independence Iowa.” The only other copy we’ve seen had a similar family connection. “Clarke, a native of Conway, Massachusetts, sailed from New York on January 29, 1849, as a member of the Hampden Mining Company. After arriving in central Mexico [via Brazos Pass in Texas], he proceeded westward via Arizona and the Gila River. He arrived in Los Angeles on July 9. In the Gila area, he met Dr. Field, one of the two survivors of the infamous Fanning massacre. By August 2, the New Englander labored in the Tuolumne Diggings. He spent the winter of 1849 and 1850 in San Francisco and, in the summer of 1850, worked on the Yuba River” (Kurutz). Thomas Streeter called Clarke’s overland narrative “one of the most interesting, as the route was from Camargo, Mexico, on the south side of the Rio Grande through Chihuahua and Sonora to the Gila River of Arizona, then the Mexican-United States boundary. This route had not been previously described. The party reached Los Angeles July 9, 1849.” The dangers of mid-century overland travel are well-represented here as Clarke travelled across northern Mexico. “The Apaches, and Camanches [sic], two wandering tribes, are scattered over the extensive country … The Apaches are better warriors than the Camanches. They generally

• Binding: Hardcover

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