1860 · [Missouri
by [Slavery]. [California Gold Rush]. Cram, Charles H.
[Missouri: April 1, 1860. Very good.. [4]pp., on a single folded sheet. Original mailing folds, minor toning. An informative letter written by Charles H. Cram in Missouri to a friend in New England, dated "April Fools Day 1860" in red pencil at the top of the first page. Cram mentions hoop skirts, Pike's Peak, and slavery while trying to decide whether to continue westward during the latter years of the California Gold Rush. Cram's letter reads, in part: "Everybody is going to Pikes Peak but me. I think some of them will wish they were back again but they have got the gold fever and nothing else will cure them. I have learned better than to follow the (truncated)