The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 52, July 1948 - April, 1949 Page: 140

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

in many places. For example, shortly after mining started in
Nevada, stock sales and promotions began. It is true that water
control eventually came to be financed by outsiders, and in the
days of maturity in California bankers and investment concerns
gained control.
Labor is given much thought. Mr. Paul shows how tenaciously
the miners resisted the inevitable movement to employment.
Many lived on the margin of subsistence in working over low
grade pickings rather than accept employment at money wages.
The different types of labor, native and foreign, were considered.
There was a tendency for the Sofiorans and Chilefios to congre-
gate. The French and Welsh were more or less accepted among
the native Americans. The Chinese suffered some discrimination.
Greater California, as Mr. Paul describes the vast intermountain
area, was given considerable space. In many instances California
prospectors led the way into Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado,
Idaho, and Montana, taking with them their knowledge and
skills. As the cream was skimmed off an area, restless miners had
their ears cocked for rumors of strikes and frequently stampeded,
hurting local production and resulting in loss to all concerned.
Occasionally they would come straggling back to begin anew in
their old diggings.
Preponderance of men in the camps of the early days, with
disregard for the social amenities, drinking, gambling, fighting,
and revolting amusements, was noted. Approach to maturity and
orderly processes of mining were approximately contemporaneous
with the appearance of women and children, ministers and
churches, and other evidences of stabilized society. California
Institute of Technology has indicated approval of California Gold
by making its author an Associate Professor of History.
J. L. WALLER
Texas College of Mines
Pedro de Valdivia: Conquistador of Chile. By Ida Stevenson Wel-
don Vernon. Austin (The University of Texas Press), 1946.
Pp. 193. Illustrations, bibliography, and appendix. $2.25.
The Institute of Latin-American Studies of The University
of Texas has published as its Latin-American Studies, III, the

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