(Publisher's Preface) One hundred years ago, on January 24, 1848, gold was discovered in California.

(Historical Introduction) John Augustus Sutter had an astonishing career,

(Introductory) At the earnest request of relatives and some of my most intimate friends I contributed to the Farmland Enterprise, in 1895, a series of articles under the caption of "Across the Plains in Forty-Nine."

I have often been solicited by my friends to give a brief account of my travels and adventures while crossing the Plains to California in 1849, through a country where Indians held full sway, and who were known to be very hostile and extremely jealous of all white men who should dare venture within their boundaries; across a region of beautiful prairies, noble rivers, majestic mountains, deep, dark and impassable canyons, dry and barren deserts, vast fields of wild sage, snow-capped peaks, ancient volcanic craters and lava fields, hot and boiling springs, beautiful parks, valleys and lakes, and where seem gathered together the mightiest monuments of the world's great wonders.