Life of a Pioneer: Being the Autobiography of James S. Brown

Salt Lake City, UT: Geo. Q. Cannon & Sons Co., Printers, 1900. First edition. Hardcover. Very good. Octavo [22 cm] xix, [i], 9-520pp. Publisher's embossed brown cloth with title in gilt on front cover and spine. Floral endpapers. Photogravure frontispiece of the author plus 6 plates and figures. The extremities are a bit bumped and rubbed, the spine is slightly rolled back, and there are a couple of small stains along the fore-edge of the front board. There is an ownership inscription of George J. Taylor, dated "Oct 1st 1900," on the front flyleaf. Excellent interior. Flake, 900. Howes, B489. Graff, 426. Mattes, 1663. A first edition of the rare autobiography of the Mormon pioneer and world traveler James S. Brown. After joining the Mormon Battalion in 1847, Brown worked with John Sutter and James Marshall while they were discovering gold in California. After Marshall supposedly found pieces of gold, Brown ran some tests and boldly announced "gold, boys, gold!" He went back to California during the Gold Rush, before undertaking a number of missionary voyages, serving in the South Seas, England, and in Navajo communities in America. The plates include illustrations of "A Typical Tahitian" and the "Fire Prepared to Roast the Missionary- Sentenced to Death," as well as dramatic representations of Brown's travels throughout the American west.

Brown (1828-1902) converted to Mormonism at the age of twelve, taking part in the Mormon exodus in 1846. After settling in Utah, he became a prominent speaker and continued to be celebrated for his discovery of gold.