3.6 An envelope addressed by Sabrina Swain to her husband, William, while he was one of the thousands hoping to strike it rich during the California Gold Rush of 1849. Having no other address, she directed her letter to Sutter's Fort on the American River (present-day Sacramento); in the close-knit world of "the diggings," that was enough.

(Courtesy Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University [WA MSS 96F Box 2])