author

R. Byron (Richard Byron) Johnson

An English adventurer turned memoirist, he wrote one of the liveliest firsthand accounts of British Columbia’s gold-rush era after traveling to the region around 1862. His best-known book blends travel writing, hardship, and frontier drama in a voice that helped it reach a wide readership.

1 Audiobook

Dans l'extrême Far West: Aventures d'un émigrant dans la Colombie anglaise

Dans l'extrême Far West: Aventures d'un émigrant dans la Colombie anglaise

by R. Byron (Richard Byron) Johnson

About the author

Richard Byron Johnson was an English adventurer and travel writer remembered for Very Far West Indeed: A Few Rough Experiences on the North-West Pacific Coast, published in London in 1872.

According to reference material from ABC BookWorld, he reached British Columbia around 1862 by way of San Francisco. There, he and a friend tried gold mining near Williams Creek and spent a winter in Victoria before he eventually returned to England.

His book drew on those experiences and became his lasting legacy. ABC BookWorld notes that it became a bestseller, was translated into Dutch and French, and was reprinted in 1985. Project Gutenberg also lists a French edition under his name, which helps confirm that his work circulated beyond English-speaking readers.