Stories and accounts of the region such as Richard Henry Dana Jr.’s "Two Years Before the Mast" and Alfred Robinson’s "Life in California", seen through the eyes of sailors and voyagers, gave rise to a great fascination and recognition of the California region. Setting an important historical antecedent, the California hide trade contributed to a dream of Western promise and success in the minds of Americans back East which helped inspire droves of immigrants during the Gold Rush, according to the historian John Caughey, who states, “The hide and tallow trade had made California an outpost of New England”. Ultimately, the California hide trade set an important precedent which would impact the way the people looked at the West for decades to come. For those interested in further information, The Peabody Essex Museum located in Salem, Massachusetts provides one of many, unique places where one can learn firsthand about the California hide trade.