“It must first be noted that travel to the gold regions should not be taken lightly. Anyone setting out for California will be leaving the luxuries of civilized life behind. Feather beds, hansom carriages, and fine china are not to be expected in the wild lands of the West. But then, the road to riches is rarely an easy one…”
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“The day may come when I stand on solid ground, but I do not know when. We were a week on the road to St. Louis in a coach that still contains three of my teeth, rattled by turns out of my head. We now sway and lurch aboard a steamboat so large it suggests they have discovered how to make a city float. Have not yet seen an Indian, but it is said that they are set to trade places with us and move east. They have seen so many people going the other way that they wonder how there can be any white people left in the States….”
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• Best Children’s Books, 2011, Bank Street College of Education
“I lit out when I was knee-high to a prairie dog. That’s merely a way of saying I was still a boy—just shy of 16 years—because I never been knee-high to anything. Long as I can remember I been tall as a stalk of corn, which is why they call me Little John. And if that seems like a sensible thing to you, you are probably made right for the life of a cowhand.”
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