Gold Hunter

Book chronicles John Berry Hill’s trip in 1850 across the Plains to the California gold fields, and his life as a gold miner in the many gold camps and mining areas during the great Gold Rush era. He was one of the few who struck it rich, and the story continues with his life after he returned to his home state, Illinois. Mostly first-person accounts from Hill and his family members.

Author Bio:

Kristin Delaplane Conti, author and oral historian, produces and publishes histories and biographies for families, individuals and organizations. Among her private clients have been notable celebrities. Many of the histories have been deposited with archives. Presently, Conti’s classes on life writing and oral history methods are ongoing with the University of California at Davis, Cal Poly University and University of Maine. In addition, she and her husband Charles have consulted with various firms including San Francisco’s famed Buena Vista Cafe and Genentech Corporation.

After more than two decades as a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, Kristin initiated a weekly newspaper feature delving into local California history, “Echoes of Solano’s Past,” that ran in the award-winning Vacaville Reporter for over five years. During this time, Conti became involved in two television documentaries, one of which won a Cablevision Award.

Named the Oral Historian for the highly accredited Vacaville Museum, she initiated and directed a three-year project that comprised of 50 oral histories resulting in the publication of “Solano’s Gold, The People and Their Orchards” written by Conti. This was followed by a museum exhibit based on that project. At the conclusion of that project, she published “A Gold Hunter, Memoirs of John Berry Hill,” based on her ancestor’s California Gold Rush journal and was named an official California Sesquicentennial in 1999.

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