Roughing It in Gold Country covers nearly sixty-five years of traveling from the southernmost boundaries of the Mother Lode to the north near the Yuba Gap.From the age of sixteen William S. Pierson built on a fascination for the bright yellow metal of the Mother Lode. It happened while he attended Sequoia High School during the Great Depression, while providing for himself by harvesting hay in Mountain City, Nevada, delivering groceries around Tahoe City, and working in a gold mine.

He has explored for new treasures from the depths of many mine shafts from Death Valley to the Yuba Gap, from the highest in elevation, the Old Kentucky Mine, to the oldest continuously running gold mine in California, the Sixteen-to-One in Alleghany, California.

Writing in a rich and prosaic style, the author describes the fascination for gold that bestows upon its seekers a lifelong desire for its possession.