The Gold Hunters offers a unique look at the life in the gold camps of the nineteenth century American West — the different cultures attracted by the discovery of gold, how they related to one another and their contrasting food, clothes and entertainment.

John David Borthwick (1824-1892), born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to a prominent physician, was a nomadic Scottish journalist and author who received both a gentleman’s and artist’s education. In 1845, an inheritance was settled on him, and when he turned 21, he set out to see the world. It is also speculated that he was one of the sons of Peter Borthwick, a descendant of Baron Borthwick, but there is no evidence to substantiate this claim.