FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ONE PLACE THE STORY OF THE SOUTHERN OVERLAND ROUTES TO THE PACIFIC.

The earliest European perception of California was of a wonderful land of mystery and plenty, a Terrestrial Paradise. California would become a magnet for generations of people seeking the good life.

For the first time, Road to California brings together the story of the search for a southern overland route to California by Spaniards, Mexicans and Americans and the response of Native Americans to the invasion of their lands. The story ends in 1848 when discovery of gold in California's Sierra Nevada assured that the trails would be worn deep by the argonauts en route to the golden land.

"This new volume in the American Trails series summarizes and condenses into a single work the published, translated diaries and reports of most of the explorers who sought overland routes from the interior to California...a useful general study, enhanced by three fine route maps." - The Western Historical Quarterly