In this history of the Gold Rush, the author aims to demonstrates that in its far-reaching repercussions, it was the most significant event in the first half of the 19th century. No other series of events between the Louisiana purchase and the Civil War produced such a vast movement of people and called into question basic values of marriage, family, work and leisure. Through the use of diaries, letters, and other archival sources, the author aims to uncover the personal dilemmas and confusion that the Gold rush brought. His narrative depicts the complexity of human motivation behind the event and reveals the effect of the Gold Rush as it spread to touch the lives of families and communities everywhere in the United States. For those who joined the Gold Rush, the decision to go raised questions about marital obligations and family responsibilities. As this text intends to show, for those who remained at home, the absence of tens of thousands of men over a period of years had a profound impact, reshaping a thousand communities across the whole of America.