Liza Ketchum, Sb,118 pp, Little Brown & Company, 1996.

Before 1848, only a few thousand non-Indian people lived in the West. But a tiny nugget of gold, no bigger than a dime, discovered on January 24, 1848, would change the history of the West, and of America, forever. Drawn by the promise of instant riches, thousands of people from all corners of the world flocked to the goldfields, the largest migration in the country's history. For many, the gold rush would lead only to loss - of money, of health, even of life. But for others, it would prove to be an adventure, a chance to create a whole new world. Drawing on rich source material, 'The Gold Rush' tells the compelling story of those who left everything behind for the chance to strike it rich - and of those whose lives were changed irrevocably by their coming.