Samuel Bowles, editor of the Springfield Republican newspaper, accompanied Speaker of the House of Representatives Schuyler Colfax on this trans-continental trip in 1865. They travel by train from Springfield to Atchison, then by stagecoach through Oregon and Washington to Placerville, California, the easternmost reach of the new Pacific railroad, and then by train on to San Francisco. They returned via ship to Panama, across the Isthmus by rail, and home by sea. With a journalist's eye for details, this is a rich source of contemporary information on the West. This book includes fascinating information on the western territories, mining, agriculture, and the Mormon's lifestyle. This second issue adds supplementary material on Yosemite and 'The Gold Mines of California and the Silver Mines of Nevada', giving a mining engineer's view of specific Comstock mines. 452 pp with 6 pp of printed ads and folding, hand colored, map: "Map of the Territories & Pacific States…" [18.8 x 15.5"] with an inset of Central California by G.W. & C.B. Colton. Large 12mo, original brown cloth covers.

References: Wagner Camp #410.

Condition: B

Map has 2 tears and a fold split repaired on verso with cello tape. Book spine sunned and chipped at top and bottom.