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Some years since my deeply lamented friend, the late Albert D. Richardson, who keenly appreciated Western character, called my attention to the fact that the first chapter in the history of California, following the American occupation of the country, and the discovery of gold, was drawing rapidly to a close; and, under the influence of railroads and the telegraph, and the influx of a different class of immigrants from the older Atlantic States, society would soon lose its distinctive character. He suggested that I should collect and prepare for publication a portion of the fund of anecdotes illustrative of the reckless, adventurous, stirring life of the generation now passing away, which he knew I had accumulated from personal observation, believing that the material was worth preserving, and that the reading public would appreciate the labor and enjoy the perusal of the book. The suggestion struck me favorably; and I commenced the work immediately, following it until the volume was more than half completed, when I was called away to the tropics, and the project was for the time abandoned. It is only recently that I have been able to resume the work and push it to completion. I have not endeavored to produce a statistical work upon California, and do not think it would have paid me if I had, but to give a vivid and truthful picture of scenes for the most part unfamiliar to the residents of the older States of the Union, avoiding, so far as might be, traveling in the beaten track of tourists, and the discussion of subjects already grown hackneyed and tiresome to the general reader.

The book, I think, will repay perusal, and if it does not, the reader will at least have the consolation of knowing that the author is after all the greatest loser in the operation.