The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters by Robert Lewis Taylor

This is yet another Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner (in 1959) which I had not heard about before, and that's a bit surprising, as I found it to be very interesting and enjoyable. It's the journal account of a young teenager's journey with his dreamer of a father in 1849 from Louisville, Kentucky, to the gold fields of California, many of the reported events purportedly taken by the author from an actual journal housed in the Yale Library.

Young Jaimie experiences one adventure after another, including capture by both murdering outlaws and bloodthirsty Indians. So many events are included, in fact, that the account begins to seem a tall tale, which takes away any suspense, of course. However, the narrative voice, which is lively and engaging, and the character portrayals, which are believable and skillfully accomplished, make up for the lack of narrative tension.

Whether or not the reader appreciates this novel on a literary level, it certainly should appeal on a historical level. Even if it is not believable that one boy experienced all these hardships and dangers, it is certain that some gold seeker or another encountered similar difficulties. The most interesting aspect is the picture it provides of the many differing kinds of people willing to leave the populated East and endure uncertainty, discomfort, and danger to reach the promise of California.

Just a note -- some have compared this novel to Huckleberry Finn. While it is true that both feature young male narrators on a journey, the similarity ends there. Twain's novel is so much more than just an adventure story, while that's basically what this book is. It's fun to read (though a bit too long, I think), but it will never be considered a classic.