• The first batch of prospectors who rushed to California were known as 49ers (Forty-Niners) because they arrived in 1849.
• Many of the 49ers arrived by ship and had not purchased return tickets to their homelands.
• Chinese prospectors arrived in California by the thousands. Many were killed by claim jumpers. Others (worried for their safety) opted to open restaurants and laundries, where they were paid with gold nuggets. In a roundabout way, they got the gold they were seeking.
• Many of the ships that carried prospectors to the California Territory were abandoned and then repurposed as inns/hotels or stores. Some were stripped for lumber.
• Prices in the gold rush territories were outrageous. Hotels, food, and supplies could bankrupt a miner in a hurry.
• Get-rich schemes were rampant during the gold rush era.
• Women were in the minority until long after the gold rush era. Only 3% of California’s nonnatives were women. Many of those were saloon girls.
• During the gold rush era, a pound of coffee sold for the equivalent of $1200 in today’s market.
• Saloons were found in abundance and their owners often diluted the whiskey with turpentine, ammonia, or gunpowder. These drinks went by some fascinating names: Tanglefoot, Tarantula Juice, Red Eye, or Rotgut.
• The first American “gold rush” took place in North Carolina, fifty years prior to the discovery in the California Territory.
• The San Francisco 49ers, an American football team, was named after the prospectors who came to California during the 1849 rush for gold.
• Pioneer Steam coffee would eventually become the Folgers brand.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
I’m a fixer. There, I’ve said it. Like Abby, I long to fix both situations and people. I’ve often “crossed the miles” (symbolically speaking) to rescue others. Oh, the lengths I’ve gone to when trying to win a loved one back to the Lord or to reconcile loved ones back to their family members.
Were my efforts always rewarded? No. God has had to remind me on more than one occasion that He’s the only One capable of doing the rescuing/fixing. It is never my role to save; only the Lord can do that. I’ve had to learn the hard way that sometimes all God requires of me is my prayers.
Can you relate, reader? Anyone in need of rescuing in your life? Allow the Lord to use you, but be willing to step back if He asks you to. There’s nothing worse than getting in God’s way or getting ahead of Him with a plan that you have created on your own.
Here’s a good scripture to lean on whenever you’re troubled over a loved one who’s wandered away: “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6 NLT). As you recite this verse, put your loved one’s name in place of the word “you.” Speaking this truth aloud will bolster your faith as you wait on the prodigal to return. And remember, God is faithful. He doesn’t start a work unless He plans to complete it. Did He start a work in your loved one’s life? He’ll carry it through, in His time.
Finding it hard to take your hands off? Does it seem impossible to back away? Always remember, God loves that person even more than you do. Even now, He’s at work, wooing and drawing wanderers to Him. What heights and depths and lengths He will go to, to prove His love to one on the run.
What a gracious and merciful heavenly Father we serve!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Award-winning author Janice Thompson got her start in the industry writing screenplays and musical comedies for the stage. Janice has published over 100 books for the Christian market, crossing genre lines to write cozy mysteries, historicals, romances, nonfiction books, devotionals, children’s books, and more. She particularly enjoys writing lighthearted, comedic tales because she enjoys making readers laugh.
Janice was named the 2008 Mentor of the Year for ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers). She recently served as president of her local ACFW chapter (Writers on the Storm), where she regularly teaches the craft of writing.
Janice is passionate about her faith and does all she can to share the joy of the Lord with others, which is why she particularly enjoys writing. Her tagline, “Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters!” sums up her take on life.
She lives in Spring, Texas, where she leads a rich life with her family, a host of writing friends, and two mischievous dachshunds. When she’s not busy writing or playing with her eight grandchildren, Janice can be found in the kitchen, baking specialty cakes and cookies for friends and loved ones. No matter what she’s cooking up—books, cakes, cookies, or mischief—she does her best to keep the Lord at the center of it all.
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