Victoria (Tory) Blaisdell longs to live a life as adventurous and independent as that of her heroine, Jane Eyre. When Tory's father loses his job and decides to seek a share of the newly discovered gold in California, Tory stows away on the westbound ship carrying her father and younger brother, Jacob. Though San Francisco is mud-caked, frenzied, and full of wild and dangerous men, Tory quickly finds friends and independence - until her father leaves...

"After her sister's marriage, Michelle Stiles is left hiding at Two Harts Ranch with the handsome but stubborn Zane Hart. She's managed to stay one step ahead of her stepfather and his devious plans, but if he finds her, she will no longer be safe. Zane has problems of his own. Having discovered a gold mine on his property, he must figure out how to harvest it without kicking off a gold rush. Michelle, educated and trained to run her father's business,...

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 this exciting time in history.

"Explore the Gold Rush from the perspective of William Miller and Henry Garrison, two miners in the Sierra Nevada region, and uncover the often unrelenting conditions of the California gold mines. A story of community, determination, and the search for the American Dream, this graphic novel invites readers to immerse themselves into what life was really like during this pivotal period in American history--brought to life by a gripping narrative and...

In 1851 twelve-year-old Sarah is a free Black, happy living with her parents, grandparents, and brother on their own farm in Iowa; but her father has been bitten by the gold bug and wants to take the trail west to California, and after some argument it is decided that the the grandparents will stay on the farm, but the rest of the family will go; the journey will be difficult and dangerous, but if they survive extreme weather, difficult terrain, illness,...

At the end of 1853, San Francisco was a city on the move. It had twelve daily newspapers, nine insurance companies, consulates of twenty-seven foreign governments, and six-story buildings where sand dunes once stood. A few years earlier, San Francisco was just a sleepy little town. But the sight of gold in the rushing waters of the American River sent a ripple around the world and set the stage for an event that would forever change a city, a fledgling...