Life on Board Gold Rush Ships

This paper contains a description of how passengers lived during their five to eight months voyages from the East Coast around Cape Horn to the California gold fields in 1849. Topics discussed include food and drink, observance of Sunday and holidays, sleeping and eating arrangements, amusement and entertainment, effect of the weather upon passengers, duties of the passengers, and initial reactions to San Francisco. Living conditions varied depending upon the season of the year during which the voyage commenced, the character and ability of the captain and crew of the ship, the leadership of the joint stock company which organized the venture, and the character of the passengers themselves. Sufficient similarities in the voyages existed to make general conclusions possible.