Letter from Mills, San Francisco, California, dated October 12, 1854, to Joshua K. Whitney regarding conditions among the gold miners in California where he was serving as a missionary for the Church. Includes discouraging news from home including the death of his mother, the destruction of the ship "Yankee Blade," and the looting of its baggage. On the inside of the folded letter is a print of an engraving entitled "Sunday in the California Diggings," published by the Wide West Office, San Francisco, depicting the lawlessness and debauchery of the time.

Holograph, signed.