GOLD RUSH LETTERS OF THE REVEREND JAMES ROGERS Edited by Marie Rogers Vail, his grandniece WHEN MY SISTER and I were little girls, our most coveted privilege was playing "dress up" with clothes from an old trunk in the attic. The clothes had been worn by my grandmother when she was a young woman, and were highly prized by my father. But among all the interesting things in the attic, the most sacred were two small wooden chests of family letters, diaries, and photographs. These we were not allowed to touch—an unnecessary restraint, since we were not in the least interested. Many years and several movings later, all of the attic treasures have disappeared except the two wooden chests. These I inherited from my father while I was still a very busy young mother. I lifted the lids wistfully and then fastened them again. "Some day," I promised myself. When "some day" finally came, after my children were grown, I found in the chests the key to two generations of Rogers family history. Among the carefully tied little bundles was one containing letters written by my granduncle, the Rev. James Rogers, during his journey to California in 1849 and his early days there in 1850. James numbered his letters so that his family would know whether all were received. He expected each one to be read by all the "home folks," including the families of two married sisters who lived near by, no matter to which member of the family it might be addressed. There were at least twenty-three letters, of which ten are now missing—all numbered in one sequence as parts of a single chronological report of his experiences. The surviving letters were addressed to, and affectionately preserved by, his parents or, in a lone exception, his younger brother William Orendo. These have been transcribed below just as they were written, 259