"The brave independence of the 'roaring days', the camaraderie of the gold fields, jolly diggers on a spree - these are the images that have come down to us of

Based in part on real journals, the novel traces an epic overland journey in 1862 by train, steamboat, wagon, river raft, and horseback to the thriving gold fie

As one of the many fortune seekers during the California Gold Rush in the 1850's, the reader makes plot choices based on situations real people faced during thi