The Gold Rush Mail Agents to California and Their Postal Markings, 1849-1852

This book contains over 250 pages of letters to and from the Postmaster General, along with charts and tables. It documents the work of mail agents who carried mail from the eastern states to California by steamship until the completion of the transcontinental railroad in the late 1860s. Professor Theron Wierenga wrote this book for his students, after his son was born. What is interesting to note in these letters is the number of times the Postmaster General called himself “your obedient servant.” Postal workers considered themselves public servants, satisfying the needs of those who wished to write and receive letters to and from California during the gold rush.