The California Dream And The Gold Rush

The Gold Rush and The California Dream The California Dream as it was seen during the gold rush and even today is a direct result of the embellished images and stories that flew out of California during the Gold Rush of 1849. In cold harsh weather farmers heard stories of a place where it was always warm. Where you never had to see snow if you didn’t want to. This place that had rivers filled with gold, and a place that gave up its wealth and treasures with barely any effort. They were hooked, tired of working to the bone, tired of hard winters, ready for this promise they were hearing. So they came, they loaded up all of their worldly possessions on a wagon and got ready to make to trek to the land with good weather, golden hills and always
blue skies. But these images weren’t of their own creation, and they would soon find out they were more myth than reality. If you were to come across a mid 1800s postcard of California you would see a golden sun in impossibly blue skies.
Golden hills as far as the eye could see inviting all to come to their rivers which were filled with gold. The Dream “surrounds and envelops you, engages your senses, and permeates your soul”.(James Rawls, 22) These images painted California as a beautiful escape with wealth for all that were able to make it. They showed a hard trip being worth every grueling second, because if you could just here the California dream could be yours. But what exactly was that dream? The American Dream is where you can provide a living for you and your family, escape from persecution for your beliefs, where you work hard and get rewarded for your work. But the California Dream was different, this Dream was of a place “where prosperity and happiness can be had effortlessly, without effort“.(Sonia Maasik,19) They were told rivers were filled with gold, that anybody can make a fortune out here with little more than a pan and some luck. Where you don’t have to work hard to strike it rich. California has a laid back lifestyle that you can have too if you just move out
here. Easy wealth and a laid back living, a draw to anybody who had worked hard their entire life with little to show for it and the “heart of the California Dream”.(Rawls,23).
And as stories got out of people with literally nothing to their names making quick fortunes more and more people thought if they can why can’t I? But as they would soon find out all these stories and pictures may have led to them to a place a lot harder then the one they left. And its not as if these stories of striking it rich weren’t true because those lucky enough to be here first were the basis for these stories. Where it became a myth was when people had found all that there was to find but the stories and pictures kept spreading telling more and more people to come. California was portrayed as place with limitless wealth, where everybody should be if they want the easy life. These romantic portrayals of California coupled with the resurging ideas of Manifest Destiny pulled more and more people to the golden state of California all trying to get a piece of the dream that had put in their head. But the reality of California was a place of “great expectation and disappointment, lauded and damned with equal intensity”. (Rawls,
26) The reality of California was hard to swallow after being fed The California Dream. The golden hills were firetraps waiting to ignite, constantly blue skies and a scorching sun made people wish for a cloud or some rain. And the easy wealth and laid back living were no where in sight. People made long hard treks to work just as hard as they had back home with no guarantee of success. Instead of a dream it was a harsh cruel world where, according to an article by Steve Wiegard, “one in five miners died within six months“.(Martin Kelly, http://americanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa090901a.htm). A place where lawlessness and racism ran rampant. Overpopulation had diluted the wealth so even though that as a state California was richer than ever the individual’s earnings were lower then ever. But the Dream still persisted, cities and towns held populous day celebrating the massive inrush of people that in reality had over populated their towns and fought tooth and nail for every thing they had. Even after the Gold Rush a new generation of people flooded into California with their own version the California Dream. These new arrivals unconcerned with fortune came in order to regain their health and enjoy the scenery. It was believed at the time that dry warm climate such as that in southern California would help those suffering from tuberculosis. This version of the dream differed from the original and was closer to the truth there were still misconceptions between the dream and the reality. When they arrived in southern California much of it was desert as water from the Colorado river had not yet been diverted here. So they had to live in the sweltering heat of the day and freezing cold of the night. But that wasn’t all that drew people back. The idea of laid back living had carried over but was still far from the truth. There was opportunity in California but not in a get rich quick way. Farming in California became a mainstay and as people put their time and effort into it they gained the wealth that so many people had wanted. If you wanted a good life in California it wasn’t going to be easy, all the gold had been plucked out of the river so if you still desired the California Dream you were going to have to work for it. For some reason however, this idea of the California Dream is still in many peoples heads. To this day people flock to California with the hope of striking it rich or hitting the big time. Whenever a new source of wealth is discovered in California people come like moths to the flame and while some do strike gold the majority just crash and burn. What people don’t seem to realize is that even though California is a place of huge opportunity it isn’t an opportunity every body is able to get. The California Dream is a myth built on half truths, yes it was possible to strike it rich then and even now but nowhere in the dream does it mention the hard work and disappointments that it took to get that wealth. And since the formation of this dream California has gotten worse. Too many people all trying to grab at the limited resources they were thought were infinite because a postcard and a story told them so. If anything can be learned from the Gold Rush and the subsequent formation of the California Dream its that not everything that shines is always gold.