Autograph letter signed by Fred Snyder. Coloma, Alta California, 10 March 1850. 3 pages, 4to. 

This letter, written by Fred Snyder to his brother John, highlights the intricacies of the mid-19th-century California Gold Rush. Fred writes: “The mineral wealth of California has not been exaggerated. There is a great deal of gold here, but flesh and blood suffer to obtain it. Nine-tenths of the people of California do not make more than from $6 to $10 a day while you occasionally hear of some one making a fortune in a few weeks. My advice to every one who can make a living at home is to stay there. If you make a living here, you are forced to work harder than the negroes in the South, and far worse than the deck-hands of a steam boat.” 

Fred Snyder left his home in Belleville, Illinois, in 1849, and despite heeding his brother to stay there, John Snyder moved to California in 1851. John stayed until 1853, then obtained a medical degree and practiced law in Missouri. He later joined the Confederate forces, becoming the Ordinance Officer of the Second Missouri Division. John left the service in 1863 to continue practicing law. 

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