While many North Americans are familiar with the term “Gold Rush of 1849”, they likely have a romantic idea of picturesque covered wagons slowly heading west over the prairie, of bearded miners panning for gold (as the cover depicts), and so on. The reality is quite different, as Forty-Niner: The Extraordinary Gold Rush Odyssey of Joseph Goldsborough Bruff by Ken Lizzio (2017, Countryman Press) informs us.
I read this book with great enthusiasm, as I was learning about a portion of North American history I was heretofore unfamiliar with.
I read this book with great enthusiasm, as I was learning about a portion of North American history I was heretofore unfamiliar with. I was startled to learn of the hardships endured by thousands in their quest for riches. Today we have extravagant lotteries that promise the hope of riches and a superior lifestyle. In 1849, it was the “Great California Lottery” (as it has been referred to) that promised the same if one could only get there fast enough. Myriads of people from all walks of life, professional and layman alike, sold everything they had in their blind quest for a better life. Why, one only had to pick the stuff up in riverbeds, streams, and beaches in California, no hard labor required, it was said. The reality was that few made any money.
See also Straggle: Adventures in Walking While Female by Tanis MacDonald
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You can read the rest of my review over at the Books & Benches website: http://ow.ly/CGOd30bMfaM