Overland traveller and California pioneer.
On April 5, 1852, Holmes D. Van Schaick, a native of North Manlius, Onondaga County, N.Y., began his journey to California with the Oneida California Company. Van Schaick travelled by rail to Erie, Pa., south by canal boat to the Ohio River, and then by steamboats on the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers to St. Joseph, Mo. On May 11, the company started over the plains, traversing the Platte River road and arriving at South Pass, July 2. On Aug. 23, the group reached their destination, having travelled the Humboldt-Carson route across the desert and Sierra Nevada, and disbanded four days later. Van Schaick prospected for gold in Yankee Pines, Devil's Canyon, Cleveland Hill, and near Auburn. In December he abandoned mining and commenced work as a farm laborer near San Jose, continuing until October, 1853, when he began logging in the redwoods approximately thirty miles from San Jose and seven miles from Gilroy.
From the description of Journal March 13, 1852, 1852 Mar. 13-1854 Aug. 5. (Newberry Library). WorldCat record id: 40533604
