'49

Excerpt from '49: The Gold-Seeker of the Sierras
At the great Centennial dinner of the Association of Forty-niners on the Fair Grounds in Philadelphia, I read a portion of my drama, The Danites and won the thanks of the Association for the portrayal of earnest manhood "in the brave old days of '49." But General Sutter, the discoverer of gold, who presided on this occasion, insisted that the old man "'49," whom he knew and loved, was worthy not only of the leading place in a drama, but a whole volume to himself. I then and there promised to do the desired work. General Sutter furnished me subsequently with many additional notes and facts concerning his singular valor, his dreary years in the tunnel - the first in California - and his final good fortune.
I wrote the story and the drama of "'49" as soon as possible after my promise to do so. The drama is placed in the archives of the nation at Washington; so that those who come after us may see the Argonauts as they really were, not as represented in the dime novels and third-class theatres. The story of "'49" was published in Bret Harte's Overland Monthly.
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