Peter Hardeman Burnett (1807-1895) spent his early years in Tennessee and Missouri, serving as a district attorney in the latter state. In 1843 he joined an emigrant party bound for Oregon, where he became a prominent and controversial lawyer, judge, and politician in the new territory. In 1848, he went to California in search of gold and soon became a business and political leader of that territory. Recollections and opinions of an old pioneer (1880) contains Burnett's recollections of his early life in Missouri, his career in Oregon, and his decision to join a wagon train to California in the summer of 1848. There he seeks gold for six months before resuming the practice of law and the pursuit of politics. Elected a judge in August and governor in December 1849, Burnett turned to the practice of law in the 1850s and the business of banking in the 1860s. He touches on his various professional pursuits and his home life in Sacramento.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1880 edition. Excerpt: ... ORATION BY SIDNEY RIGDON.--SERMON BY JOSEPH SMITH, JR. BATTLE BETWEEN THE DANITES AND CAPTAIN BOGARD. If I remember correctly, it was in the spring of 1838 that Smith and Rigdon came from Kirtland, Ohio, to Far West, the county seat of Caldwell County, Missouri. Rigdon delivered an oration on the Fourth of July, 1838, at Far West, in which he assumed some extraordinary positions in reference to the relation the Mormons sustained to the State Government. This discourse gave great offense to the people of the adjoining counties, particularly to those of Ray and Davis. Serious difficulties were evidently brewing. I well remember the first time I ever saw Joseph Smith, Jr. I arrived at Far West one Saturday evening in June or July, 1838, and found there John McDaniel, a young merchant of Liberty. John was wild, imprudent, and fond of frolics. On Saturday he had openly ridiculed Smith's pretensions to the gift of prophecy, and his remarks had been reported to the prophet. On Sunday John and myself went to hear Smith preach. The church was a large frame building, with seats well arranged and a good pulpit. We were treated with great politeness, and kindly shown to seats that commanded a full view of the whole proceedings. The congregation was large, very orderly, and attentive. There were officers to show people to their seats, who were most polite and efficient in the discharge of their duties. Two sermons were delivered by other preachers, which were simply plain, practical discourses, and created no emotion. But, when Joseph Smith, Jr., rose to speak, he was full of the most intense excitement. He ORATION BY SIDNEY RIGDON. 57 boldly denounced McDaniel in the most severe terms, saying, in substance, that no man should come to Far West and...

The established reference work Guide to Reprints has been radically reworked for this edition. Bibliographical data was substantially increased where information was obtainable. In addition, the user-friendliness of Guide to Reprints was raised to the high level of other K.G. Saur directories through author-title cross-references, a subject volume, a person index and a publisher index. In this edition, the directory lists more than 60,000 titles from more than 350 publishers.