The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, July 1966 - April, 1967 Page: 677

Book Reviews

cinating story of one of the most important facets of American
history--the cotton trade of a bygone era.
University of Texas L. TUFFLY ELLIS
Green Russell and Gold. By Elma Dill Russell Spencer. Sketches
and Maps by Ben Carlton Mead. Austin (University of
Texas Press), 1966. Pp. xxii+239. Illustrations, maps, ap-
pendix, bibliography, index. $6.oo.
The story of the three Russell brothers, Green, Oliver, and
Levi, begins in Georgia, extends to California, Colorado, and
Texas, and finally ends in Indian 'Territory (the Cherokee Na-
tion) and in Texas. In the meantime the Russells returned to
Georgia on visits, traveling overland on some trips, and at an-
other time on ship by way of the Isthmus of Panama to San
Francisco. The time of the story is from 1820 to 1908, and its
significance ranges around panning and digging gold in Georgia,
Colorado, and California, and raising cattle in Texas. Also it
affords an excellent example of the westward movement inter-
woven in the saga of a remarkable family. Mrs. Spencer, the
author of this book is a granddaughter of one of the Russell
brothers. With rare perception she tells the story of the family,
its triumphs and its misfortunes, set in the larger picture of
gold mining, ranching and methods of travel. With resource-
fulness in her researches, but without bridging gaps by leaps
of imagination, she has made use of family archives and tradi-
tions, as well as all available records such as newspapers, articles,
books, and governmental documents. She has made the develop-
ment of this story one of her lifetime interests, and she has suc-
ceeded well.
In northeast Georgia, where the Russells were born, they
first came in touch with the gold fever which produced the
towns of Auraria and Dahlonega. When gold was discovered in
California in 1848, the three brothers began their westward
movement. They made a gold strike in eastern Colorado on
Cherry Creek. This led to the founding of a second Auraria,
which later gave up its name and joined the straggling village
of Denver on the other side of the creek. When the Civil War

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