An 1850 Voyage: San Francisco to Baltimore by Sea and by Land

Palo Alto: Lewis Osborne, 1967 Book. Fine. Hardcover. First book edition (first published serially in the Overland Monthly). Limited to 2350 copies. Foreword by John Barr Tompkins. 109pp. Illustrations from early prints, endpaper maps. Turquoise cloth, gilt anchor device stamped on front cover. A very fine copy. Stillman's narrative of his extraordinary trip back home to Baltimore from San Francisco in 1850. He traveled on the ship Plymouth from San Francisco to Realejo port in Nicaragua, followed by a canoe trip up-river to the town of Realejo. Then came a long overland trek by horse to the shark infested waters of Lake Nicaragua, two abortive attempts to run the length of Lake Nicaragua by native canoe, a successful crossing of the lake in a small, overloaded schooner, another canoe trip down to the sea, a trip on the brig, Mechanic and finally home on the Polly Hinds. Stillman returned to California in 1856 to live the rest of his life because "There is more intelligence and generous good feeling than in any country I ever saw." [Kurutz: 605-c]..