California's golden revolution : enormous wealth and great confusion
Gold fever : the beginning
"This is a hard thing, this breaking up of families" : gold and its personal costs
Journey and arrival : coming to California, coming to terms
Old bonds and new allegiances : "Me and John stick together like wood ticks"
The scarcity of women : "I have not spoken to a lady for five months"
"I could sell some of the furniture" : adjustments in the East
Occupations : The 49ers begin work
"The real argonauts of '49" : life and leisure in the gold fields
The urban 49ers : "A very good chance to make money in this city"
Women in the California gold rush : duty, adventure, and opportunity
Harsh realities : hard luck and hard labor in the gold fields
"Capitalists will take hold" : high-stakes investments and deferred returns
Threats from within, threats from without : fear, hostility and violence in the gold rush
Waiting : a permanent condition
The permanent lure of success, the enduring shame of failure : "When a person gits [sic] to California it is hard to say or tell when he gets away"
The ripples subside : the end of the gold rush
"The days of old, the days of gold, the days of forty-nine" : the gold rush and memory.
