California as it is & as it may be

the long version

Felix Paul Wierzbicki (1815-1860) left his native Poland after participating in the doomed revolution of 1830. He made his way to America where he received a medical degree and practiced in Providence, Rhode Island. When the Mexican War broke out, Wierzbicki enlisted in the Army and was sent to California. Wierzbicki left the Army shortly after reaching the West and practiced medicine until the discovery of gold drew him to prospecting on Mokelumne Hill. In 1849, he returned to San Francisco, where he spent the rest of his life. California as it is (1849) was the first English-language book printed in California. It is a valuable guide to California for prospective settlers that includes a survey of agriculture, hints on gold mining, a guide to San Francisco, and a chapter on California's Hispanic residents and Native American tribes.