The Scandalous Boomtown Temptress

In 1847, the western U.S. was a sleepy wilderness populated mostly by American Indians and Mexicans. The region changed virtually overnight when word of frontier gold reached the East. Some 200,000 restless souls, mostly men, but some women and children, traveled to the untamed lands, primarily to California, during the first three years of the Gold Rush. While fortunes were made and lost daily, gold seekers also sought out crude entertainments provided by ragtag bands, bear-wrestling and pri