Notes:

His Hopes and Ambitions

• To make money by finding gold
• To provide for his family back home
• To find a solution to all his problems

Difficulties he encountered on the journey

• Tough terrain – bad roads, dust, desert conditions in the Rockies, rivers to cross

• Problems with horses – going lame, being stolen, starving from lack of grass, sick through lack of water

• Illness – dysentry from tainted water, scurvy from lack of fresh food, headaches from heat and dehydration, stomach problems from poor food and hygeine, mountain fever

• Wildlife – rattlesnakes, wolves, toads, lizards

• Bad weather – extreme heat, frost, snow in the mountains

• Hostile people – bandits stealing horses, Native Americans stealing horses and shooting men/horses

• Accidents – being thrown from horseback e.t.c

• Lonliness and anxiety

What did he have to do to survive?

• Hard physical labour – riding for many hours, doing repairs, ferrying things across rivers, doing laundry, search for lost horses

• Cooperate with others – tend the sick, pool money and resources, work in shifts to keep watch overnight

• Be resourceful – hunt for fresh meat and fish, negociating with Native Americans, keeping spirits up through prayer

What happened when he reached California?

• It was busier than he thought, and hard to get a place to dig.

• He had to spend money to buy mining equipment and didn’t find any gold.

• He was ill with dysentry.

• Joined a mining group and worked hard, facing hunger and cold, but returned home empty handed and disillusioned.

Mood Graph

I plotted every day George Bonniwell wrote in his diary to make this graph. I’ve annotated some of the major highs and lows, and as you can see the major trend was towards unhappiness as the trip was unsuccessful.