Born in England in 1820, Gibson studied at the Royal Academy in London.  He arrived in the U.S. in 1848 and came to California with the Gold Rush of 1849 via Panama.  He sketched in pencil and watercolor the mining activities and several scenes of Auburn and San Francisco until 1851.  He then set up a lithography company in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he produced several prints of his western trip.  He later settled in Richmond, Virginia and remained there until his demise on Feb. 10, 1896.

In: Bancroft Library (UC Berkeley); CHS.