Catch the fever! Gold fever swept the nation—and the world—in 1848 when carpenter James Marshall discovered a gold nugget in the American River near John Sutter's mill. As word spread of gold in California, the news set off a westward stampede. Fortune seekers and adventurers poured into California by land and sea, wild with excitement and expectation.

Rosalyn Schanzer's engaging and humorous book tells the story of these prospectors in their own words. Schanzer has gathered her favorite quotes from journals and letters written by the forty-niners to recount the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill. Her irresistible narrative also uses newspaper accounts to trace the various routes the forty-niners took from the East Coast to the West, the adventures they experienced along the way, and the challenges they faced on arrival. The characters recount their stories in their own words, in well-researched and authenticated quote bubbles.

Step into an intensely exciting chapter of American history. Learn about the dreamers who dropped everything to head out west. See who found gold and how. Meet the lucky ones—and the many whose dreams turned to dust. Listen to the intriguing tales...