Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION

ONE
CALIFORNIA'S GOLDEN REVOLUTION:
Enormous Wealth and Great Confusion

TWO
GOLD FEVER:
The Beginning

THREE
"THIS IS A HARD THING,
THIS BREAKING UP OF FAMILIES"
Gold and Its Personal Costs

FOUR
JOURNEY AND ARRIVAL:
Coming to California, Coming to Terms

FIVE
OLD BONDS AND NEW ALLEGIANCES:
"Me and john Stick Together Like Wood Ticks"

SIX
THE SCARCITY OF WOMEN:
'1 Have Not Spoken to a Lady for Five Months"

SEVEN
"I COULD SELL SOME OF THE FURNITURE"
Adjustments in the East

EIGHT
OCCUPATIONS:
The 49ers Begin Work

NINE
''THE REAL ARGONAUTS OF 49"
Life and Leisure in the Gold Fields

TEN
THE URBAN 49ERS:
'.It Very Good Chance to Make Money in This City"

ELEVEN
WOMEN IN THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH:
Duty, Adventure, and Opportunity

TWELVE
HARSH REALITIES:
Hard Luck and Hard Labor in the Gold Fields

THIRTEEN
'' CAPITALISTS WILL TAKE HOLD '' :
High-Stakes Investments and Deferred Returns

FOURTEEN
THREATS FROM WITHIN, THREATS FROM WITHOUT:
Fear, Hostility, and Violence in the Gold Rush

FIFTEEN
WAITING:
A Permanent Condition

SIXTEEN
LOST LOVE, LOST FAMILIES

SEVENTEEN
THE PERMANENT LURE OF SUCCESS,
THE ENDURING SHAME OF FAILURE:
"When a Person Gits to California It Is Hard to Say
or Tell When He Gets Away"

EIGHTEEN
THE RIPPLES SUBSIDE:
The End of the Gold Rush

NINETEEN
"THE DAYS OF OLD, THE DAYS OF GOLD,
THE DAYS OF FORTY-NINE"
The Gold Rush and Memory

HISTORIANS AND SOURCES

NOTES
 

About the Author

Malcolm J. Rohrbough is Professor of History at the University of Iowa and author of Aspen: The History of a Silver-Mining Town, 1879-1893 (1986) and The Trans-Appalachian Frontier: People, Societies and Institutions, 1775-1850 (1990).

Reviews

"The best single volume on this nation-building event."--"Lingua Franca