gold rush

The Gold Rush One moment the California creek beds glimmered with gold; the next, the same creeks ran red with the blood of men and women defending their claims or ceding their bags of gold dust to bandits. The "West" was a ruthless territory during the nineteenth century. With more than enough gold dust to go around early in the Gold Rush, crime was rare, but as the stakes rose and the easily panned gold …

…and lasting. It was the prototype for all gold and silver rushes to follow. From these rushes brought the booming frontiers in mining, cattle, and land, which, within the space of two generations, would settle the west and eventually close the frontier. And so now, when California is thought of and remembered, let it be remembered as the West. The West in which it truly is, has been, and will always remain, in American history.