The discovery of gold in California was hailed as an occasion for getting rich quick; but its purpose proved to be the development of character. It seems a long, long way back to Forty-nine, when across the Isthmus and across the plains thousands of men--yes, and not a few women and children--pluckily forged ahead, bound for the Land of Gold. Some made their fortunes, but the best that any of them achieved lay in the towns that they founded, the laws that they enacted, the homes that they established, and the realization that these things were of more importance than the mere frenzy for quick wealth. In not many years the completion of the Canal will also seem a long, long way back. We Americans will have turned to some other marvelous accomplishment, but the Canal will continue to exist as a monument to American energy and democracy. So we who share in that California which our elders made, by railroad and canal hurried so comfortably over the trails that they toilsomely opened in years agone, have a great deal to think about and a great deal of which to be proud. EDWIN L. SABIN CALIFORNIA, June 1, 1915. CONTENTS CHAPTER THE STORY OF CALIFORNIA THE PANAMA CANAL I. THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER II. HURRAH FOR THE GOLDEN WEST III. AN UNWELCOME COMPANION IV. A FRIEND IN NEED V. AN ATTACK BY THE ENEMY VI. THE LANDING AT THE ISTHMUS VII. A RACE UP THE RIVER VIII. A TRICK--AND ITS CONSEQUENCES IX. TIT FOR TAT X. ALMOST LEFT BEHIND XI. CHARLEY LOSES OUT XII. CALIFORNIA HO! XIII. INTO THE GOLDEN GATE XIV. ALL ASHORE XV. THE SIGHTS OF SAN FRANCISCO XVI. CHARLEY HEARS A CONVERSATION XVII. ON TO THE DIGGIN'S XVIII. THE TRAIL OF THE ENEMY XIX. A GREAT DISCOVERY XX. ANOTHER GREAT DISCOVERY XXI. MINERS' JUSTICE XXII. THE BEST OF ALL ILLUSTRATIONS "YOU STOLE THOSE PAPERS" . . . . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ "OVER THEY GO!" DOWN SLIPPED CHARLEY'S HORSE FROM THE TRAIL "I'VE LOST THE PAPERS" BILLY STEPPED ON HIS LEAD ROPE AND LEVELED HIS GUN LIKE LIGHTNING MAPS THE MAP FROM THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER FROM NEW ORLEANS TO SAN FRANCISCO, 1849 THE ROUTE ACROSS THE ISTHMUS IN 1849 THE VOYAGE OF THE SCHOONER "MARY ANN" FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO THE GOLD FIELDS, 1849 FROM SACRAMENTO TO "THE DIGGIN'S," 1849 THE STORY OF CALIFORNIA 1542--On September 28, 1542, Captain Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese navigator in the service of Spain, on a voyage of exploration along the coast northward from Mexico casts anchor of his two small ships, the _San Salvador_ and the _Victoria_, in San Diego Bay. He christens it the Puerta de San Miguel (Port of Saint Michael). Thence his ships explore north clear to the line of present Oregon. Mid-voyage he dies from an accident, and is buried on San Miguel Island, opposite present Santa Barbara. The exploration is continued by his lieutenant, Bartolome Ferrelo.