ome— heartfelt letters of optimism and hope. Anonymous 49er: “The reports of the gold regions are as encouraging here as they were back in Massachusetts. Just imagine yourself seeing me return with $10,000 to $100,000.”As they pushed further west, optimism was replaced by fear of the Native American tribes along the Trail. But after the initial contact, fear often turned to friendliness.JoAnn Levy, author “They Saw the Elephant” “When you read the diaries, you find that the Native Americans were most helpful. They sold food, they sold horses, they helped find lost stock. One account is of a chief who took an orphaned child back to St. Louis when her parents died from cholera.” The real danger of the overland journey wasn’t Native Americans—it was water. That is, the lack of water. The last few hundred miles were especially difficult.Merrill Mattes, author “The Great Platte River Road”“Along the Humboldt and Carson Rivers you reach a point where there is no water at all for long stretches and you would die of thirst. Your tongue would blacken and you woulddrop dead, and there were lots of accounts to that effect. Well, so some smart cookies back in California got wind of this and they came out with their buckets and barrels filled with water and they would sell the water for $1.00 a glass, or whatever—as much as they could get away with.”The price for water could go as high as $100 per drink. Those without money—were sometimes left to die. It was a lesson in supply and demand that would be repeated many times over in frontier California.Gold CountryMost of the world’s gold is locked deep underground—embedded in hard rock. But California gold was different—easily accessible to anyone with a few simple tools and a willingness to work hard. Also unique was the political environment. California became a part of the United States just ...
