Setting Up Camp
John bakes bread for the first time on their trip. On April 15 John locates the Silver Sides… a claim with an anticipated promise of silver.
Arriving at Ivanpah
Ivanpah City was not really a city as we would know it since John described it as consisting of only “one canvas house.”
The Remote Mojave
Owl Hole Spring is one of the most remote locations in Death Valley, and John App passes by here on horseback on his way to Ivanpah.
East Through Walker Pass
We are following the trail of a 49 year old man, his traveling companion, and three horses across the Mojave Desert from Walker Pass to Ivanpah.
California 1870
An extraordinary glimpse into the life of a nineteenth century silver prospector in the Mojave Desert on horseback.
Diary Overview
In March of 1870, a year after he sold his gold mine, John Mathias App went on a journey across the Mojave Desert to prospect for silver.
Back Home in Selinsgrove
CHAPTER 73
As we rounded the Island we saw a great crowd of men, women and children upon the bank of the west side of the river, cheering and anxiously awaiting our coming.
Mustering Out of Service
CHAPTER 72
Today Company G was mustered out of the service of Uncle Sam, whom we had served as best we knew how for almost three long years.
The Troops Are Reviewed
CHAPTER 71
Orders were read today for all 65,000 men to prepare for the grand review of Sherman’s Army to take place on Thursday, the 24th.
Marching to Washington
CHAPTER 70
Today we marched upon the battlefield at Chancellorsville, where just two years and twelve days before Company G was engaged in the first battle of the service.