Welcome to California, 1848.  Meet Estrella, who can run so fast she burns up the air, leaving a trail of flames wherever she runs on her father's rancho north of San Francisco.  Her pets -- a Kickle Snifter, a Sidehill Wowser, and a Rubberado puppy -- are as untamed as California in full mayhem at the beginning of the Gold Rush.  They're not like anything you’ve ever seen in a pet shop, and they are the pride and joy of Estrella’s heart.
  

From the author of the Caldecott-winning Swamp Angel, a tall tale hailed as 'an American classic' ( School Library Journal,) comes a tale as tall as a Redwood and as unexpected as a skunk selling perfume.  Pull a chair up to the wood stove and get ready to laugh

How I came to write The Ghosts of Luckless Gulch

To begin, I had to determine the star of the story.  Since I had invented a mold-breaking heroine for Swamp Angel, I wanted to continue defying expectations with my heroes.  For The Ghosts of Luckless Gulch, I chose a young girl of no unusual strength or size.  She relies instead on skills and attributes that are unique to her.  Her gifts are her ability to run like a shooting star, and her ability to heal sick animals, even wild ones.

One of her most important attributes is her Mexican-American identity.  This identity is true to history; for in 1848, at the onset of the Gold Rush, half of California’s residents were Mexican-Americans, known as Californios.  Many Californios lived on vast Mexican land grants (“ranchos”), where they raised cattle and created a rough yet luxurious life on the California frontier.

By good luck, I was living in Petaluma, California while I wrote this book, near the last remaining ‘rancho’ house --- the Petaluma Adobe, former home of General Mariano Vallejo.  Now a state historic park, the Petaluma Adobe provided me with a model home for my heroine.  The Vallejo family became the model for Estrella’s family.  The State Historic Parks District Interpretation library and the UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library provided many historic details regarding Northern California landscape and life during the early years of the Gold Rush.

Questions and answers: Fact and Fiction in Luckless Gulch

Did you invent the mythic animals that become Estrella’s pets – the Rubberado puppy, the Sidehill Wowser, and the Kickle Snifter?

No, these animals are variants on creatures that were mentioned in early 19th century tall tales in America.

Did you make up the names for Gold Rush towns?

Most are real names of gold rush towns that rose overnight and died just as quickly.

Was the Gold Rush underway in 1848, as the story suggests?  If so, why are California prospectors called ‘49ers’?

Gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill on the American River on January 24, 1848.  News of the discovery spread across the United States in a few months and the rush was on in earnest by summer 1848.  But the first prospectors were mainly local residents, and no mining towns were built in 1848, so my story takes a few liberties.  The second ‘rush’ in spring 1849 was a true stampede; and that’s when most prospector towns sprang up.

How accurate is your depiction of starved miners and high prices in Gold Rush towns?

Very accurate.  Most of the people who got rich in the Gold Rush were store owners and businessmen who supplied the miners.  A great example is Levi Strauss, who made their overalls.

Why do you include ‘pourquoi’ stories to explain the origin of natural features such as redwoods or earthquakes?

Pourquoi stories, or origin myths, are found in many tall tales.  I’ve always loved those stories, and have made a point of including some (of my own invention) in every tall tale.  Earthquakes and redwoods are defining andunique features of California, and therefore worthy of a pourquoi tale to explain their origin!

Honors:

• New York Pubilc Library's 100 Best Books of 2008 

Reviews:

"Once again Isaacs creates an indelible tall-tale heroine...As usual, Isaacs embellishes the story with heapin’ helpings of tangents, details and folksiness. . ."
  -Publisher's Weekly

"The laugh-filled distortions on every page keep pace with this feisty heroine's laudable determination.  .  ."
   -School Library Journal

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