456 pp. Illus. with 6 steel-engraved port. plates & 6 duotone woodcut plates; map; folding facsimile of the Declaration of Rights in the California Constitution signed by members of the Constitutional Convention. Original blindstamped blue cloth stamped with seal of California in gilt on front cover, lettered in gilt on spine. First Edition.

Important observations by a participant of the American occupation of California and the first years of the Gold Rush, with a map of the Gold Region. "Colton, the first alcalde of Monterey under American control, wrote a diary largely devoted to interesting details of incidents connected with the author's administration of justice, with frequent remarks on the manners and customs of the people..." - Zamorano. Kurutz calls the book "momentous," and notes that "Colton corrected the final proofs...in March 1850. He then fell ill and died on January 22, 1851." The facsimile of the Declaration of rights, present in this copy, is often lacking; it has a 4" tear and the usual creasing. Cowan p.137; Graff 839; Howes C625; Kurutz 151a; Wheat Gold Region p.74, map 148; Zamorano Eighty 20. Old ink ownership signature of W. Conklin to the front flyleaf.