TwHistory

Today, it's hard to understand why men left their homes and traveled thousands of miles to look for gold. In 1849, a prosperous farmer might make about two or three hundred dollars a year. A factory worker made about a dollar for working a twelve hour day. A skilled craftsmen made a dollar and a half a day. In California, gold was free to anyone who could find it. A miner could take $25 to $35 of gold a day--or even more--out of a riverbed. Stories of miners becoming rich men in a single day spread like wildfire. Gold Fever had struck!