author

Daniel Knower

A physician from Albany who joined the California Gold Rush, he later turned his experiences into a vivid firsthand memoir of early San Francisco and mining-camp life. His writing offers a close-up look at the risks, schemes, and excitement of 1849 California.

1 Audiobook

The Adventures of a Forty-niner An Historic Description of California, with Events and Ideas of San Francisco and Its People in Those Early Days

The Adventures of a Forty-niner An Historic Description of California, with Events and Ideas of San Francisco and Its People in Those Early Days

by Daniel Knower

About the author

Daniel Knower is best known for The Adventures of a Forty-niner (1894), a memoir of the California Gold Rush. Library of Congress records describe him as an Albany, New York, physician, born around 1818, who sailed to California in 1849 carrying twelve prefabricated frame houses to sell in San Francisco.

His book recounts both business and real-estate speculation in the fast-growing city and an extended stay near the goldfields around Coloma. That mix of practical detail and personal adventure helps make his work a useful firsthand account of life in early California.

Records gathered by The Online Books Page also show another Knower publication connected with a monument ceremony for David Williams, one of Major Andre's captors. Beyond those surviving listings, readily available biographical details appear to be limited.