Even among this epic's shocking rogues and filles de joie, actress Lola Montez

took dumfounding the world to astounding heights. After bewitching King Lud-

wig of Bavaria into elevating her from mistress to Countess, she incited a revolt.

Her affairs with Russia's Czar, composer Franz Liszt, Alexander Dumas & other

celeb's scorched Europe's newspapers. Arrested for Bigamy in Britain, Lola fled

to California's Gold Rush, arriving in San Francisco Bay amid 300 deserted ships.

After bad reviews, she challenged an editor to a duel, demanding he don a petti-

coat, and horsewhipped a Grass Valley editor in a saloon, stating, "I was forced

to use a whip that has never touched the back of a horse, to whip an Ass."

What stripped crews from 300 ships in San Francisco Bay? What stampeded the

world's hungry men into icy creeks and untamed women to the Barbary Coast' s

gin mills and bordellos? How could a ditch digger make $3,000 in a day? What

made California into a state in the time it took to ready a hog for market? Gold!

"Stolen, borrowed, squandered, doled - the price of many a crime untold!"

"Wiles and Brown bring together the notable, infamous and newsworthy of the

California Gold Rush and the nation's Capitol prior to the dark days that were

on our country's horizon. Extensive research and the rich material presented

have produced a real page-turner. Their Reference Notes are quick and easy to

use to view sources or read further." Maria E. Brower, Doris Foley Library

"This book is a treasure for the educator and the individual interested in the for-

mation of California and the loves, struggles and sacrifices of its founders. The

pages of our past fly by in a pleasurable read that will satisfy the appetite of the

most ardent reader for the rugged essence of those who lived and died for gold.

Gary and Delores [Brown] Wiles were raised in the ageless shadows of the

Colorado Gold Fields' pines. Now they live within a cougar's call of California's

Gold Rush Country. Two of their recent books on America's early West were

considered for the Pulitzer Prize. While graveyarding as a cop in an urban slum,

Gary got a college BA. He wore a Marshal's star until earning a Juris Doctorate,

then tried civil cases nationwide until succumbing to writing. Delores has always

enjoyed a passion for historical research, though she worked as a model, then a

photographer and writer. Somehow she slipped into the front cover of this book.

Watch for this thriller's sequel, Femmes Fatales, Gamblers, Yankees And

Rebels In The Gold Fields [1859 - 1869], Book Two of a rousing, epic trilogy.

CLICK To Order OR

CLICK FOR Our Home Page