Describes the adventurous prospectors who traversed the United States in 1848 in response to rumors of gold in the Sacramento Valley, detailing the rough and rowdy cities that popped up, seemingly out of thin air, to accommodate the treasure-seekers.

Hope. A crack in time ; "I believe I have found a gold mine!" ; Headlong into history -- Journey. Swarming from all over ; A day at the circus ; An army on the march ; Let us glory in our magnificence ; A rope of sand ; Gone! ; Marooned -- Reality. First peeks at the Golden Land ; Hard times ; At ease in a barbarous land ; Taking the bread from American miners ; The princess and the mangled hand.