Notes on a trip to California, and life in the mines 1849-1853Stuart, Joseph Alonzo, b. 1825engThe diary describes an 1849 overland journey to St. Joseph by rail and boat, and then by mule to California. The diary describes two years in the mines and Stuart's return to Lowell, Massachusetts, by way of Nicaragua. In 1851 he set out for Nicaragua and California where he remained until 1853. The manuscript is part diary and part memoir, and is illustrated with pen and ink sketches and pictures clipped from other sourcesIn 1849 Stuart joined the Granite State and California Mining and Trading Company of Boston, which combined with the Mt. Washington Company of Boston.