Very valuable . . . the highest possible level of research, scholarly analysis, and . . . vivid and effective writing. Spreading the Word is a pioneering discussion of communications culture in the mid-nineteenth century.-Kevin Starr, Professor of History at the University of Southern California and author of
California: A History and Coast of DreamsThis is truly an important addition to the scholarship of the California Gold Rush. Unlike other accounts, Richard Stillson examines the Gold Rush from the beginning, analyzing the information systems utilized by the 49ers to make decisions as they moved west.
Spreading the Word is a case study of information and communications mechanisms in the United States during the mid-nineteenth century, and as such is a new and vital contribution in American social, cultural, and even technological history.-Robert Phelps, Associate Professor of History, California State University, East Bay
This unique analysis of information providers and users during the California Gold Rush is a smart read. Much of what Stillson discusses relates to concerns of the media in the present day, especially in terms of prospectors trying to determine if the established media is credible or if they should be relying on 'local' reports, referred to today as citizen journalism. Stillson's book also includes useful appendixes to back up his intelligent, well-thought-out arguments. This book is a boon to the study of communications culture.-Meghan Saar, True West
Richard Stillson has opened up a new vein in the historical excavation of the California gold rush. . . .
Spreading the Word marshals its evidence with skill and provides a well-crafted account that contributes both to North American social history and to our historical understanding of changing forms of information and communication. It is equally valuable on both counts.-
European Journal of CommunicationSpreading the Word is an interesting and important study for the gold rush, California, and media historians. It is a significant fresh look at what many may consider an over examined subject. Stillson's research and methods are notable; his conclusions valid and logical. Most important are his contributions in showing how communication and technology, with its connection of media, myth, and reality, impacted society during the hazardous and exciting Gold Rush Era.-John D. Barton,
Utah Historical Quarterly[Stillson] provides a fascinating study that opens a new field for investigation and analysis in the history of both the American West and information dissemination. . . . Stillson provides an appreciation, not only of the difficulties of obtaining and using information by the goldrushers but also of the challenges of reconstructing the experience.-William E. Huntzicker,
Journalism HistoryStillson undertook a difficult task to transform knowledge into a 'commodity' and then measure it. He promised a new perspective on the gold rush and provides it.-Robert J. Chandler,
Journal of American HistoryScholars of the California gold rush, overland emigration, and communications history will find
Spreading the Word an informative read. Stillson has found a new way of looking at the gold rush by focusing on 'how Americans from the East who went overland . . . obtained, assessed, and used information.' . . . .
Spreading the Word is a pioneering work and an invitation to explore other facets of gold rush information history.-Benjamin Madley,
Western Historical Quarterly Stillson does an especially impressive job of tracking particular companies of migrants and narrating their movements through the lens of the maps they consulted, the news they consumed, and the experts they encountered. The bibliography is eminently useful, the illustrations are striking, and the volume of materials Stillson has analyzed underscores the importance (if not the authority) of writing and print in the experience of gold seekers, who formed, as the author notes, a distinctively literature large-scale migration.-David M. Henkin,
American Historical Review [
Spreading the Word] provides valuable insight regarding the spread of information and how individuals analyze and use information from various sources.-Patricia A. Etter,
Journal of Arizona History
Fascinating. . . . Stillson has provided both an impressive concept of information flows over time and geography and a new way of looking at the gold rush. . . . A product of extensive research, which shows the author's excellent mining, so to speak, of an enormous swath of primary sources.-
Enterprise and Society Stillson's research is impressive. He covers a wide gamut of newspapers, handbills, guidebooks and government reports in addition to numerous letters and diaries of the people who made the trip. Perhaps the strongest aspect of his work is this thoroughness, discussing, in detail, each of the information sources used.-
American Journalism 