History of the gold mining camp at Nevada City from 1849 to 1859. Map (fold.) at rear endpaper.

A Stanford University Press classic.

Newbery Medalist Avi brings us mud-caked, tent-filled San Francisco in 1848 with a willful heroine who goes on an unintended — and perilous — adventure to save her brother. Victoria Blaisdell longs for independence and adventure, and she yearns to accompany her father as he sails west in search of real gold! But it is 1848, and Tory isn’t even allowed to go to school, much less travel all the way from Rhode Island to California. Determined to take control of her own destiny, Tory stows away on the ship. Though San Francisco is frenzied and full of wild and dangerous men, Tory finds freedom and friendship there. Until one day, when Father is in the gold fields, her younger brother, Jacob, is kidnapped. And so Tory is spurred on a treacherous search for him in Rotten Row, a part of San Francisco Bay crowded with hundreds of abandoned ships. Beloved storyteller Avi is at the top of his form as he ushers us back to an extraordinary time of hope and risk, brought to life by a heroine readers will cheer for. Spot-on details and high suspense make this a vivid, absorbing historical adventure.

Witness to History, by Virginia City Curator Emeritus John D. Ellingsen, is a delightful and often moving book, unusual among writings on the Gold Rush era of Montana and the West. It is part history, part memoir, and part passionate essay about the importance of historic preservation. The book details the origins of Virginia City and Nevada City their rough beginnings and their glory days. It also offers a unique perspective on the restoration and saving of Virginia and Nevada Cities by a man who has dedicated his entire life to that cause. More than two dozen historical photographs help to tell one of the most significant stories of historic preservation in the western United States.

ElkhornBasin; Butte; Georgetown and Southern Cross; Granite; Gold Creek; Beartown; Garnet; 6. IDAHO: FROM BOISE BASIN TO THE COEUR D'ALENES; Spalding; Pierce (City) and Oro Fino; Elk City; Florence; Leesburg; Pioneerville; Idaho City; Centerville; Placerville; Boonville and Ruby City; Silver City; De Lamar; Dewey; Wallace; Gem; Burke; Eagle City; Murray; Kellogg and Wardner; 7. WASHINGTON: CHIEF MOSES HELD THE KEY; Fort Colvile; Colville; Kettle Falls, Daisy, and Marcus; Bossburg; Northport; Orient and Laurier; Republic; Okanogan City, Chopaka City; Oroville; Ruby; Conconully.

At Missouri House, a stagecoach stop in the goldfields of the Sierra Nevada, Ida Hatfield and her mother Molly are surrounded by danger as Yankees, Rebels, and outlaws vie to possess the glittering treasure of the Northern Mines. In nearby Nevada City, Will Stafford, a young Virginian attorney, finds California becoming as dear to his heart as his Southern homeland. As the War of Rebellion rages on, his loves and loyalties are put to the ultimate test. Nevada City, the Queen of the Northern Mines, was a vibrant community in the 1860's. The story's characters, real and fictional, come from all over the globe. In addition to the central theme of warring Americans, the book tells of Ah Tie, a Chinese mine owner who is denied justice for his two murdered guards; of Peter Kessel, an Austrian musician and absconded revolutionary, who finds an improbable bride in the American wilderness; and of Nutim, a Maidu orphan, who plots revenge against the white "ghost people" who are destroying his tribe. FOR MORE GREAT WESTERNS, VISIT WWW.DUSTYTRAILBOOKS.COM