John Hudson has left us a rich treasure of panoramic views and sparkling descriptions, an inheritance which transcends his unmarked grave. There is a lilt and an elan to his prose, a dash of good humor and an eagerness to discover and report the scenes which lie just over the next ridge.

A Forty-Niner In Utah is a success. Hudson's experiences, personality and style of expression elevate the book to a plane that, in Madsen's words, "leaves one with a feeling of pleasant contemplation and serene satisfaction." Madsen's editorial expertise gives the volume's narrative a smooth-flowing, organized sense of completeness and factual accuracy while a preface by Everett Cooley on the purchase of Hudson's papers by the University of Utah (a fine little story in itself) establishes a tone of scholarly enterprise within the book. And the printing of A Forty- Niner in Utah, 11th in a series of similar works by the Tanner Trust Fund, is commendable for the attention to details such as quality of paper and binding, selection of type and spacing so that each page is aesthetically attractive, and the use of tints to set off Hudson's artistic drawings.

In sum, A Forty-Niner in Utah will fit comfortably on any shelf where there are classic works on the exploration and settlement of the Rocky Mountain West. It is a rich combination of primary source materials, expert editing and high-quality printing. The product is not only good reading, but it is an effective commentary on the value of recording and preserving personal experiences.

Deseret News, Carma Wadley
On June 5, 1850—a balmy, somewhat breezy June day not unlike today—a small party of government surveyors was making its way around the edges of Great Salt Lake.

On that day, John Hudson recorded in his journal:

Mr. C. two men & myself got into the skiff & made for the (Pelican) Island before mentioned as separated from the main land by a few feet of water. This is a mass of rock rising abruptly from the lake & many of them being glazed with salt it was slippery & difficult to chain. The wind being a favorably on Cap.S. (Stansbury) arrived at Pelican I. before the survey was finished.

If, two years earlier, anyone had told John Hudson that he would be standing on that rocky point, making a significant contribution to a chapter of Western United States exploration, young John would probably would have laughed himself into a proper English fit. That was not at all the way his life was to turn out.

In the first place, he should have been in New York. And, if not there, then in the gold fields of California. The infant settlement of Salt Lake City was never even a consideration. But such is the fickleness of fate that makes for good history and interesting reading.

And such was the case for John Hudson. At age 22. with a good English education behind him, he left his native land to take over his uncle's import agency in New York, an adventure he undertook with great enthusiasm. "Dear Uncle," he wrote from the ship Cambridge, "I prefer addressing this letter to you, inasmuch as it is through your instrumentality, that I am in a position to make the communication interesting. . .

His subsequent letters tell of the ocean voyage (undaunted, though troubled, by seasickness), his arrival in the bustling city of New York and his sharp realization that economic conditions were not the best.

However, he struggled along, determined to make the best of it until the course of events turned his thoughts Westward—gold had been discovered in California. And when his uncle again offered to finance the journey West, John took the chance—confident that he would achieve a good return on his uncle's money. "We leave on Thursday next Ma 15 with light hearts & in my case light pockets," he wrote his family. "I have about 30 dollars but as you are aware the Company furnished all that is necessary."

Hudson was traveling to the gold fields with the Colony Guards, one of the better-organized, better-known groups of '49ers. Among the materials obtained with the letters and journals of Hudson was a copy of the constitution of this gold-seeking group. This is included in the book for added interest.

But Hudson never did make it to California. An illness along the way forced a stop at the Mormon settlement in Salt Lake Valley. And the temporary stop lengthened into a stay of 16 months—filled with as much interest and excitement as he could have hoped for in the gold fields. He joined the Mormon Church, taught school in the little settlement of Fort Utah, spent two days as a volunteer militiaman in a battle with the local Utes and served as a draughtsman from Howard Stansbury's expedition to survey Great Salt Lake. (Several of his sketches are also included.)

These events are detailed with interest, feeling and humor through his letters to his family and through his later journal. He tells of his arrival in Salt Lake City: "You will perhaps imagine that this place being so styled resembles our English Citys but it is only so in prospect. The houses are either of logs or built of mud bricks called dobys & are but in few instances larger than one or two rooms."

His first encounter with the Great Salt Lake: "After a sound sleep I awoke at dawn walked to the beach & endeavored to wash in the lake. I say endeavored as the water is so excessively saturated with salt, that soap loses its dissolving property & I could do no more than swish myself which left so considerable a coating of salt upon me, that I was compelled to wash again in fresh water. . ."

An encounter with an Indian: "These Indians belong to the tribe of Diggers described by Fremont as a race whose life is spent in continuous & laborious effort to procure the means of a scanty subsistence, however industrious they may be in this respect, they certainly do not devote any time to preforming abultions for I certainly never witnessed a human being so repulsively dirty as this old semi-brute..."

The letters and journal are arranged chronologically, with brief introductions that put each period in context. Extensive footnotes flesh out the writings, and reflect an amazing amount of research on the part of the editor, who had to probe everything from economic conditions in New York to the life cycle of brine flies at Great Salt Lake. It all comes together in a nice package of great historical and human interest.

The only problem is that it is not long enough—the fault not of the editor but of the pale Horsemen. After the expedition around the salty lake, Hudson was one of the settlers asked to go to Manti in Sanpete Valley. And there, on Dec. 14, 1850, he "finally succumbed to an attack of pneumonia brought on by the illness that had pursued him ever since his trip across the plains."

He died, still talking of going on to California to fulfill his commitment to his uncle. Had he lived, it would have been interesting to see just what turns his unpredictable life did take.

As it was, he left a valuable interesting record of his times. Hudson has left us a rich "treasure of panoramic views and sparkling descriptions," says Madsen; "an inheritance which transcends his unmarked grave. There is a lilt and an elan to his prose, a dash of good humor and an eagerness to discover and report the scenes which lie just over the next ridge. His is a legacy which leaves one with a feeling of pleasant contemplation and serene satisfaction to have been a partner with him in his American adventure."

A Forty-Niner in Utah is the latest offering in the Western series made possible by the Tanner Trust Fund at the University of Utah Library, and it is on a par with the other significant volumes to come out of that series.