All language subtitles for Gold Rush s01e03 The 49ers.eng

(drums beating)

(dramatic music)

- [Voiceover] I have left
those that I love as my

own life behind.

And risked everything and
endured many hardships to

get here.

I want to make enough to
live easier and do some

good with before I return.

S. Shoefelt.

- [Voiceover] The desire
to better one's life

and that of those whom
they love and care for

is an inherent trait
in human beings.

Men and women from
all over the globe

traversed mountains,
endless prairies

and navigated immense
expanses of ocean.

In the attempts to do just
that during the gold rush.

Major world events

like the California gold
rush act as catalysts

for dramatic changes in culture.

The world and everyday
people's lives.

This discovery

causes the single largest

mass migration in
American history.

Bringing roughly
300,000 new people

to California.

These events also contain
many universal qualities

that draw people from
all walks of life.

Gold was resting in a river bed

waiting to be found.

It was almost an
unbelievable concept.

Yet it represented
a chance at freedom

for so many across the world.

This was a chance
for men and women

to escape the lives they had

for a chance at a
better, brighter future.

In America at the time,

taking such bold
chances such as a

cross-continental migration

along with the
speculation for wealth

was a rare act.

Quite literally,

overnight,

the discovery of gold
in the American river

changed all that.

However,

the discovery of gold
brought about changes

that did not positively
affect all people.

There were those who
hailed from foreign lands.

As well as the American
Indians and the Californios.

During the course of the rush

many of them would
face harsh racism

and prejudices from
the white miners.

The California gold rush
was a magnet that drew

those eager to
change their lives.

It pulled people in from
every corner of the world.

The 49ers called
themselves Argonauts

after the band of heroes
in Greek mythology

who searched for
the golden fleece.

In addition to the
thousands of Americans

and Native Americans
who sought out gold,

people came from Mexico,
Chile, Australia, China,

Canada, Hawaii, and
from all over Europe.

The Mexican American
War ended a mere

nine days after the first
glimmer of gold was discovered

in the American River.

Word had not yet reached
either country's capital.

If it had,

perhaps the Mexicans would not
have surrendered California.

And history would have been
shaped very differently.

Some of the first people to
reach the newly found gold

were Mexicans.

These men and women now
found themselves returning

to familiar ground but it
was now in a foreign land.

California was no longer theirs

yet it did not stop
them from traveling.

Often with their
entire families to the

gold fields of California.

Many were quite experienced
in the art of gold mining

and this fact would not be
lost on the less capable,

yet more entitled minds of
the newly arriving Americans.

It did not take long before
prejudice and racism took

hold of the fevered souls
who made up the gold rush.

With the influx of so many
new people from distant

countries and so far from
the eyes of the politicians

back in Washington.

At the time California
was ungoverned

and prejudice was let
loose in many parts.

The far east was not exempt
from the alluring pull

of the gold rush.

California sees an influx of
nearly 23,000 people from China

over the duration of its period.

California draws the Chinese
people across the Pacific

and towards her shores for
several important reasons.

The eastern shore of China
was a shorter distance to the

west coast of America than
it was to the eastern portion

of the United States

and for those wishing
to leave China,

this decision was clear cut.

Another factor was
the Taiping Rebellion.

Which left many of the
Chinese in the southeastern

parts of China in poverty

and the chance at discovering
riches in California

was a way out of the despair
that they were facing

in their homeland.

In the early days
of the gold rush,

Chinese immigrants
were treated very well

by the Americans.

Most people were to see
them as an exotic addition

to the rapidly changing
landscape of California.

In addition to this novelty,

the east Asians add to the
melting pot of San Francisco.

The Chinese immigrants
would often take the

most unsavory jobs
that an average

might deem beneath him

and they would work it
for a fair and decent wage

with no complaint.

Many of the Chinese
immigrants chose to open their

own shops and establishments.

They could be found
mending clothing,

tending bars,

cooking meals in
restaurants that they owned.

Cleaning clothes and
housing many a weary miner

along with filling any hole
that needed to be filled

in the burgeoning
gold rush economy.

In the beginning it was
not uncommon to see whites

patronizing the establishments
of Chinese immigrants.

The governor of California
was even counted as saying

that the Chinese were, "One of
the most worthy of our newly

adopted citizens." McDougal.

Those Chinese that did decide
to try their hand at mining,

would often select claims that
had already been abandoned

by whites

and with a more
patient attitude,

they would be able to root
out the gold that the more

impassioned and impetuous
Americans might leave behind.

These men often worked
in groups of 50 or more

to help ward off would
be attackers and those

who would attempt to capture
the claims from them.

These resourceful men
also take added measures

to protect the gold
that they find.

While they're
still in the field,

the men cover the
extracted gold with soot

as to conceal its true
nature from any passerby

and then when they
returned home,

they would melt it into pots
and pans and other household

items to further hide the
gold's true identity from sight.

The Chinese immigrants
enjoy a mostly warm welcome

in the gold rush society of
San Francisco, California.

But their good fortune
does not last for too long.

Once the rivers, streams,
and hillsides are picked

clean of the placer gold,

which is relatively
easy to obtain,

the Americans attitude
towards the once heralded

Chinese workers began to shift.

Fresh miners are constantly
coming into the fields

and since the easy gold
is no longer to be found,

the Americans in their
frustration and disappointment,

begin to take it
out on the Chinese.

The various jobs
and trades such as

launderers, cooks,
and cleaners that the

Chinese immigrants
hold are now becoming

coveted by miners who
have given up the dream

of finding riches.

These necessary yet
undesirable holes that needed

to be filled in the
gold rush society

are the only sources of
income that is consistent.

The Americans accuse the
Chinese of stealing these

jobs from them and
driving down wages.

Discrimination becomes
prevalent as the Americans

see these jobs as a way out
of the hole they've made

and they're not about
to let these immigrants

take this last chance from them.

The Irish potato famine

which begins in 1845
and lasts until 1852

deprives the country of
more than one million lives

and more than a million
more who immigrate

to another nation.

The famine causes Ireland's
population to drop

almost 25 percent.

Many who escaped the famine
immigrated to the east coast

of the United States.

New York was one of
the most prominent

gateways to the nation.

Those who chose to
continue westward

were most likely
to be unmarried men

or men who would marry
later in their lives

once in California.

These later in life
marriages were a common trend

in Irish American
famine survivors.

Both on the east
and west coasts.

The life of an Irish
American on the west coast

was often very different than
the lives of those who chose

to remain back east.

Irish in the east are
quick to set up communities

and neighborhoods
that remained mostly

traditionally Irish.

Even in their
choices of occupation

such as police officers
and fire fighters

they tended to flock
together and would

dominate that profession.

Conversely, in California the
lifestyle was much different.

Many Irish found the standard
of living much better

than back in New York.

The western society
was more open

and occupations and communities
were far less dominated

by one ethnicity.

San Francisco was underdeveloped

though rapidly growing which
created many opportunites

for Irish Americans to
find the economic stability

and commercial opportunities
that had been lacking

in New York.

The Irish take the
knowledge and experience

that they had acquired
in Boston or New York

and carry it with
them to California.

Where there is a demand
for skilled laborers.

In addition to these
new economic horizons

the Irish also experienced
tolerance for their

Catholic religion and their
more rural ways of life.

While bigotry is by no means
extinct in gold rush era

California, attitudes are far
better than those found on the

east coast.

In response to an outcry from
German and Irish Americans

regarding the Chinese and
Mexican miners in California

in 1850.

The state legislature enacts
the Foreign Miners Tax

for all those not
born in America or

who have not gained
proper citizenship via

the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago.

The law imposes a tax
of 20 dollars per month

on any foreign person wishing
to mine in California.

This tax which is far too
high for the majority of

Mexican and Chinese
miners to afford

is motivated by economics
as well as racism

from the Americans
of European descent.

Within a year of the Foreign
Miners Tax 10,000 Mexican

miners leave California.

The law is not meant to
produce revenue for the state

but rather to exclude
non-Americans from reaping the

benefits of gold mining.

Thousands of Mexicans
and Chinese return home,

but many did stay and
continued to be driving forces

in the development
of California.

The Chinese went
on to help build

the Transcontinental Railroad.

The lives the Chinese
immigrants made in America

even with all the
prejudices and setbacks

were a far better option
than returning to China.

Many Chinese persevered and
found new ways to succeed

in the midst of the rush.

Wah Lee was one such individual.

Once he gave up his
attempts at mining for gold,

spending grueling days under
the unforgiving California sun,

running water through
a pan or a rocker,

he turned to the laundry
business and found that

running water over dirty
trousers would be a much more

profitable and stable business.

In 1851 Wah Lee opens the
first Chinese laundry business

in San Francisco.

By 1870 there would be over
2,000 of them in the city.

Levi Strauss was born
in Germany in 1829.

He and his family
came to America

to start a new life and
open a dry goods store

in New York City.

The family sent Levi out
west in early 1853 to open

up a west coast branch
of their company

and to take advantage of
the still booming California

gold rush.

Strauss traveled west and
set up shop in San Francisco.

It did not take long for
his dry goods store to

become a success.

He opened up several
locations and would often

give generously to charities
and religious causes.

In 1872 a customer of Strauss
who had purchased some

cloth from him asked Levi
to help cover the costs of

a patent on a new
kind of durable pants.

That man's name was Jacob Davis.

Strauss agreed and their
venture would lead to the famous

blue jeans that we
still know today.

It is easy to imagine some
of those early pairs of

Levis trousers passing through
the wash of Mr. Wah Lee.

These two men persevered and
found success in those early

days of California.

- [Voiceover] Not all that
tempts your wandering eyes

and heedless hearts
is lawful prize,

nor all that glitters
gold. Thomas Gray.

The fates and fortunes of
Samuel Brannan and James Sutter

could not be more in contrast.

Their individual tales show
us a unique side to the

multifaceted story that is
the California gold rush.

They are unique inasmuch
as that one man became

rich off the gold rush

and the other lost
most everything.

Yet neither of them
fell into the category

of a true miner,
Argonaut, or 49er.

Brannan saw an opportunity
in the sale of goods

to those who wish to take
their chances in the minefields

and he took it.

He did not make his money
by digging in the dirt

but by selling the implements
that others would dig with.

He also helped to fuel the
propaganda machine that would

be a catalyst towards mobilizing
thousands of Americans

and people from all walks of
life throughout the world.

Samuel Brannan had the
California gold rush literally

walk right up to his front door.

Men came in to his shop
who were from Sutter's Mill

and they paid for goods
with gold flakes that

they had found in
the American River.

Brannan foresaw the coming
fever and when that fever

did hit, he adapted
to it very quickly.

He became the first millionaire
in the California gold rush.

Yet spent almost no
time hunting for gold.

His money was made less
by chance and moreso

by calculation.

The commodity he
dealt in was not gold

but hope.

He knew that those who were
hunting would come to him

in need of the necessary
tools and goods and

when they did, he was ready
to sell them all that they

needed and at a
very healthy profit.

His empire would expand
beyond general stores and the

sale of goods.

It would quickly move in to
the construction of hotels

to house the eager Argonauts
that flooded his city

and in to wharves to house
the ever expanding amount

of goods that arrive daily
upon the crowded shores

of San Francisco.

John Sutter was
first on the scene.

In fact the scene was
a piece of his land.

The accidental finding of
gold in the American River

by James W. Marshall at
Sutter's Mill in 1848

would forever alter the fates
of thousands upon thousands

of people around the globe.

What was only a small,
shimmering object in the water

would become a catalyst
for change in the nation.

Change in what it
meant to be an American

and for California rushing
headlong into statehood.

No state had come into the
union before first spending

its fair share of time
as a territory first.

The never before
seen rush of people

and the ensuing boom of
San Francisco and other

neighboring cities would
prove to be an impetus

that would help thrust
California into statehood

as well as pushing it into the
spotlight on the world stage.

John Sutter had plans to
become rich off the land in a

more traditional sense.

In addition to his mill, he
had a sizable agricultural

empire in New
Helvitia also known as

New Switzerland.

And his plans for farming
and raising cattle

were quickly washed away
like the sand and the silt

in the pan of an eager miner.

Word had spread that there
was gold at Sutter's Mill

and nothing could stop the
squatters that would come.

Sutter would spend most of
the rest of his life trying to

regain his land or receive
compensation for its loss

from the U.S. Government.

But he would never
attain such satisfaction.

Antonio Franco Coronel was
born in Mexico City in 1817.

He moved to Los Angeles at
the age of 17 with his father

Ignacio who was a former
officer in the Mexican army.

Antonio would also go on to
serve in the Mexican army

and would fight
the United States

in the Mexican American War.

On the heels of Mexico's defeat,

came the news that gold
had been found in northern

California.

This news sparked
Antonio's imagination

and he would soon become
one of the early miners

to arrive at the scene.

He brought with him about
30 people which included

some Native American servants
to help with the digging.

Within the first three
days of their labor

over 2,000 dollars was
pulled from the earth.

Coronel and his men continued
to have success during the

1848 season and on
into the next year.

In the early days of the rush,

people of all nationalities
worked side by side

without much trouble
or disagreement.

The gold was in abundance and
easy enough for all to find.

Coronel's success in the
gold rush was stunted

when his claim was
invaded by armed Americans

threatening to kill him
and his workers if they did

not surrender it to them.

This was an ever increasing act.

Americans intimidating
and threatening those that

they deemed foreigners
who were mining claims

that they believed by all
rights belonged to them.

Coronel wisely chose
to give up his claim.

Thus ending his tenure
as a gold prospector.

The source of the
antipathy towards Mexicans

was that the majority
of them were Sonorans.

Men of expertise in gold mining

and consequently they quickly
attained the best results.

Although his success in the
California gold rush was

short lived, this was only
the beginning of the success

that Coronel would enjoy
during his lifetime.

He goes on to become the
mayor of Los Angeles,

a city councilman and
the state's treasurer.

His story is atypical of the
Argonaut working on the mines.

Inasmuch as he found success
quickly and he was able

to cease before
the greed and the

harsh lifestyles overtook him.

Many more found no luck in life

and no luck in the
California ground.

Hiram Pierce was one such man.

Hiram and Sarah Pierce were
living in Troy, New York

when word of the riches
being found in California

reached them.

It did not take long for this
blacksmith and father of seven

to fall ill with gold fever,

In March of 1849 Hiram
set off for California

by way of Panama.

His poor health did not
stop him from seeking out

an easier and quicker way to
better his family's situation.

He endured the long
and treacherous walk across the isthmus

of Panama passing dead
mules along the way and by

sheer luck avoided the
diseases such as yellow fever

and malaria that dwelled in
the jungles all around him.

Hiram made his way
finally to San Francisco.

Prices for goods were
exorbitantly high

but Hiram was at a loss and
had no choice but to accept

the cost of doing
business in the mines.

It had not taken long
for the landscape

to dramatically change.

Gone are those early
days of the gold rush

where miners of many
creeds and colors

effortlessly worked side by side

and pulled riches
from the ground.

It had already transformed
into a cold, calculating

business that preyed upon
the hopes and fragile

dreams of those men who
succumbed to a very different

kind of yellow fever.

Sarah Pierce was forced to
become the head of the household

in Hiram's absence.

She had seven mouths to
feed and had to become

quite resourceful
in order to do it.

She rented out their
blacksmith shop,

called in debts that
were owed to Hiram

and borrowed money
from relatives.

Sarah Pierce's experience
was not unique among women

who stayed east
in the gold rush.

In the void that was left
behind when the men of the house

left to try their
chances at riches,

wives and mothers stepped
in to take on all of the

household duties, in
addition to the heavy burdens

that they already carried.

Many women did this not
knowing when their husbands

would return home to them.

Or if the journey and the
heartache would reap any

financial rewards.

Hiram's time in the mines
earned him nothing more

than a homesick heart and
a gaunt face brought on

by malnutrition.

Upon his return to New
York over a year later,

his physical appearance
had changed so much

that friends had
trouble recognizing him.

Hiram Pierce returned
to blacksmithing,

but he never stopped talking
about returning to the mines.

He died before he could ever
renew his dream of returning

to the west.

His stories and his dreams
enchanted some of his children

and after his passing in 1866
they too ventured westward

to make their lives
in California.

Though the majority of the
wives, sisters, and daughters

of the men during the
age of the gold rush

stayed behind on the home front,

not every woman's story
was like Sarah Pierce's.

Women were in fact there in
the mines from the very start.

Many of the first to break
soil and being the hunt

for gold were those who
already lived in California.

And entire families would
go out into the gold fields

to mine together.

The native peoples of
California would be sifting gold

through woven baskets
and women played a major

role in that effort.

As the deluge of people from
all over the world rushed into

San Francisco Bay and beyond,

the ratio of men to women
in San Francisco and the

surrounding mines quickly
becomes at least ten to one.

This ever growing
disparity creates

a male dominated society.

Men would go weeks

even months without
even the sight of the

opposite sex.

This one sided way of
living and the long

exhausting hours of toiling
out in the rivers and the

mountains soon causes
many of the men to

crave the company
of the fairer sex.

Miners would pay top dollars
for almost any good or service

that was made by a woman's hand.

A woman waiting tables
or mending clothing

could be making a better
wage than the average miner.

After all, the majority of the
49ers relied on speculation

and pure luck to make money.

While these simple jobs
that women held were in high

demand and there was an
ever growing number of men

to call upon these services.

As the transportation routes
became more consistent,

more women came west.

Husbands who decided to make
California their new home

sent for their wives.

New relationships were
conceived via letter

and proposals made from
across the continent.

These women would often be
married almost immediately

upon landing in the
San Francisco Bay.

Single women also made
the journey westward

and many did not have
sufficient funds to afford

the cost of the trip.

So they signed on with
brothels, saloons and the like.

Their passage would
be paid for in full

by their new employer.

In exchange for this payment,

these girls agreed to a
contract to work for the

establishment for a
set period of time.

A home cooked meal or a
darned sock was not the only

product or service that saw
a spike in price and demand

in the wide open land of
chance and opportunity

that was California.

Men sought the company of women

and they often sought more
than just casual conversation.

- [Voiceover] Nearly all
these women at home were

street walkers of the
cheapest sort but out here

for only a few minutes they
ask a hundred times as much

as they were used to getting
in Paris. Albert Bernard.

- [Voiceover] The sex trade
was not exempt from the

inflation in prices that
was prevalent in almost all

goods and services during
the period of the gold rush.

The prices that men paid for
tools, meals, rooms to rent,

were high even by
today's standards.

With the same being true of
the world's oldest profession.

Once again we see more
consistent money being made

not in the mines but coming
out of the pocket books

of those who dig.

Some of these women choose
the route of prostitution

out of necessity in order
to pursue their dreams of

a new life out west

and some were part of the
profession before they

ventured from their homes.

In either case, this was
not the path of all women

who found themselves in
California during this

period of time

and it is certainly not
the path of Luzena Wilson.

- [Voiceover] Farewell dear wife

keep up good cheer.

There's glittering
scenes before me.

You soon with me the
wealth shall share

that lays in California.

- [Voiceover] The gold
hunter's farewell to his wife.

Mason Wilson was no
different than the

rest of the masses who
were wooed by the promise

of fortune in California.

Hi mind was made up
to uproot himself

from his home in Missouri

and make the trek.

He would not have to go alone.

His wife Luzena insisted that

wherever he went so could
she and their two children.

Soon after Mason's decision

they would make the
journey together

into the great open plains.

Once the family
arrived in Sacramento

it was not a fact loss on Luzena

that are very few women
to be found in the

surrounding areas.

In a six month
stay in Sacramento

only a few other women were seen

by this new westerner.

One day while she
was cooking dinner

for her family,

a man came up to her and offered

her money for her biscuits

more money than
would be reasonable

in any other place in
the country at that time.

He offered her
upwards of 10 dollars

to which she scoffed.

When the man upped the offer,

she realized that he was
in earnest and thus began

Luzena's journey
into the business of

feeding and housing the masses
who sought out the gold.

After a few days in Sacramento

the family sold their
oxen and purchased a stake

in a small hotel.

The kitchen gained popularity

because the men
craved a meal that was

cooked by a woman

and more importantly

it gave them a small
respite from the

coarseness and
hard labor of their

everyday lives.

A home cooked meal
was worth more

than its weight in gold
to these weary men.

In the winter of 1850

the levees broke in Sacramento

and it was enough to damage
the Wilson's property

along with their barley crop.

Word had spread that miners were

striking it rich in Nevada City

and that information was
enough to set the Wilson's

onto another path to a new city.

They once again became
successful in Nevada City

but fires burned down
their establishment

and once again they
were without a home.

The Wilson's would face
more hard times and fires

that would take their property

but Luzena never gave up

and she used every
penny the family had

to remake it again and again.

Her perseverance keeps
the family afloat

and ensures that they
would not succumb

to the same fates that
so many of the Argonauts

who ventured out
west in the hopes

of quick riches would.

In 1872 Mason Wilson
would abruptly

leave his family.

Abandoning them for Texas.

Luzena persevered and
lived another 30 years

without him.

Her story is a shining example

of the strength of
character in the women

who ventured out to California

during the time
of the gold rush.

- [Voiceover] Really everybody
ought to go to the mines.

Just to see how little
it takes to make people

comfortable in the
world. Louise Clapp.

- [Voiceover] A
meal made by someone

such as Luzena Wilson

is a short respite
for these men.

Who have been
hardened by the coarse

San Francisco culture

and an opportunity to
dine at a proper table

is like a small
island of civility

for many of the
rough and tumble men

who passed through
these many mining towns

and sleep in crudely made tents

or cabins,

in hastily constructed
camps every night.

It was a little bit of home.

A meal such as this most
likely also contained

the much needed
vitamins for the miner.

Since malnutrition is
quite common among the men.

There half also suffered from
sleeping on the damp ground.

Or being in close quarter bunks

with many other men who were
in the same lot as they were.

The constant gnawing impulse
to get back out in the fields.

Especially for those who
have found no luck as of yet,

is only one of the daily
worries that these men face.

Many of the Argonauts are
thousands of miles from

their homes and families.

Loneliness runs rampant
among the miners

as they pine for what
they left behind.

Each day of mining
begins in darkness

and does not end until
the sun goes down.

The mining business is a
repetitive grind that often

yields only a few
dollars worth of gold.

Sometimes a day's labor
does not even cover the cost

of doing business for the day.

These long hours and
the exhausting work

along with the terrible food,

harsh climates and the
dwindling amounts of placer gold

puts the stress levels even
higher on each of these men.

Some of which results in
racial outbursts towards the

aforementioned foreigners.

S. Shoefelt was one such miner
who braved life in the camps.

No one knows what
became of Mr. Shoefelt.

Whether he succeeded
in striking it rich

or if he returned home to
Wyndham, New York in failure.

Even his first name
remains a mystery.

The only piece of his
life story that remains

is in a letter that he wrote
to his cousin in March of 1850.

In this letter he details
what he saw around him.

His keen observations on the
living conditions and the

lives of the men who endured
these less than ideal

conditions leaves little
to the imagination.

- [Voiceover] Many, very many

that come here meet
with bad success and

thousands will leave
their bones here.

Others will lose their health,

contract diseases that
they will carry to their

graves with them.

Some will have to
beg their way home

and probably one
half that come here

will never make enough
to carry them back.

But this does not alter
the fact about the gold

being plenty here,

but shows what a poor,
frail being man is.

How liable to disappointments,

disease and death.

- [Voiceover] The
California gold rush

burst onto the world stage

with the help of Sam
Brannan's prodding.

The gold rush boasted
a fantastical stories

of average men just bending down

and reaching into a river

and picking out their new
life's fortune's overnight.

It seemed too good to be true

but early on it was not.

Now that the word
of the findings

had become widespread

most of the gold
that could be easily

plucked from a
riverbed with little to

no skill or effort
had all been mined.

Making even just a day's
wage was becoming more

difficult for the Argonauts.

Mining was slowly becoming
more of a skilled trade

for those who had the
money to implement the more

advanced mining
techniques such as

hydraulics or dredging
the entire river.

Men were becoming mere employees

of these corporations.

Earning a daily wage
which was no different

than the lives they
left back home.

These men and women
ventured westward

in hopes of finding
freedom and independence

from the limiting jobs
and life's circumstances

that they faced back home

but now they were once
again just another cog

in another machine.

But the bold did remain

those who chose to go it alone

or work with a small group.

These miners faced
an uphill battle.

The average 49er works
a six day work week

with only Sunday as
a day of respite.

Those that did not stay at camp

would often venture into
a town to seek out means

by which they could
ease their minds.

As a source of comfort
in their off time,

the miners often turned
to dancing and singing

and listening to music to
fight off the lonesomeness

and the stresses that
they constantly felt.

While California held the
promise of making a new life,

it was still a
mostly untamed land

and many of the creature
comforts that could be found

back east were a
rarity out west.

Another form of
escape is alcohol.

It was not uncommon for
men to turn to the bottle.

Or to the company
of prostitutes.

Or to games of chance
to keep their minds

off of their situations

and to buoy their
hopes against the fact

that they may never find
that mysterious payload

that they had traveled
so far and exhausted

so much of their
energy to root out.

A biting irony of the gold
rush is that these men

slave away all day in
the hills and the rivers

to pull a few dollars of
precious metal out of the earth.

Only then to carelessly
spend it in one day on liquor

and women and games of chance.

For so many who came out west,

their mission was to find riches

and then to return
home to their families,

their towns, and
their former lives.

Without even knowing it,

with every shovel of
dirt that they dug,

panned, sluiced or dredged,

they were building themselves
a new life in California.

They are wagering their
future for one night

of numb exhilaration and
the chance to forget their

lonesomeness if
only for a while.

California was quickly
filling up with these men

who were so full of
hope and ambition.

Many of these men arrived with
little left to their names

after the long journey westward.

They have no home other than
the ground they sleep on

and they had no family
other than their fellow man

who slept next to them.

But despite all this,

their spirit for the manifest
destiny shines as a kind of

beacon to the world.

While the fates of the Argonauts
are often left to chance,

it's becoming clearer and
clearer that California's fate

will be one of
the highest order.

(dramatic music)

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