For the first time in a single volume, this is the true adventure of John Fisk (1829-1905), who set out for San Francisco in 1849 at the start of the gold rush. A lost chronicle that hasn't been published in more than 125 years, Fisk's accounts present an honest and insightful portrait of the opening of the American West. His travels took him around Cape Horn and across the Great Plains. Along the way, he found gold, fought Indians, and made two great friends in Jim, who swung a mean frying pan, and Old Burr, their trusty hound. This is a must read that has been brought to publication by Bruce Adam, Fisk's great-great grandson and author of Dreams of a Lifetime.