In 1849, William R. Goulding and the Knickerbocker Exploring Company struck out for California on the southern route--a road less traveled. This rare first-person diary of the southern Gold Rush trails, introduced and annotated by Patricia A. Etter, highlights an important alternative route to the Pacific Coast. One of the best-educated Gold Rush participants, Goulding kept a remarkably articulate journal that recounts his meetings with the interesting and important people he encountered along the way. He describes the details of the trail itself--the weather and scenery, birds and animals, and a march "amidst heards [sic] of miriads of buffalo in all directions as far as the eyes could reach." Goulding also recorded encounters with Hispanics and American Indians.