The gold
rush and the American Dream.
Marshall
finds gold. Sutter wishes he hadn't. Sam Brannan, the skilled
craftsman of hype.
Word travels
east. Thousands prepare for the journey. Why do we call them
"49ers" anyway?
Four months
on a ship versus four months on foot. Shortcuts that weren't.
The $100 glass of water.
Gold
Country
Plenty
of gold, but not enough food. Raw entrepreneurialism. Famous success
stories. The truth about women in the gold rush.
Despair
The
gold runs out but the miners keep trying. The dream that never
came true.
Chinese,
Native Americans, African Americans, Mexicans, Irish, French,
Germans and pretty much everyone else create the ultimate melting
pot.
Mining
becomes mechanized and the environment suffers horribly.
Sleepy
hamlet to world's greatest metropolis--in just two years.
The gold
rush leads to the "idea" of California, a mindset
which spawns Hollywood, aerospace, and Silicon Valley.
