George Q. Cannon was one of the original Mormon pioneers who came
west after the assassination of Mormon founder Joseph Smith. After
arriving in the valley of the Great Salt Lake in October 1847, he
pursued the normal pioneer activities of farming, brickmaking, and
building construction. In October 1849, in the middle of the California
Gold Rush, Cannon was one of a small group of men picked by Brigham
Young to go to California and mine for gold. While preparing for the
journey, Cannon began keeping a daily journal which, with small breaks,
he continued until 1901, the year he died. This volume contains the
record of Cannon's sojourn in California. The entire multi-volume set of
George Q. Cannon's journals was diligently transcribed (with some
significant omissions for editorial reasons) by his grandson Adrian W.
Cannon, as part of the latter's preparation of a biography of his
revered ancestor. The LDS Church Historical Department has begun
publication of the entire set, of which this was Volume 1.