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The “forty-niners,” who rushed to California once gold was discovered, were dominated by men. But ten percent of all the new arrivals were women—and Glenda Riley restores part of their history by telling the stories of the journalists, saloon keepers, wives, prostitutes, and others whose Gold Rush accounts have been largely ignored.
“Conventional wisdom tells us that the gold rush was a male undertaking,” writes Riley. But women were there, too—and they didn’t always tag along as wives, cooks, or prostitutes. Sometimes they became incredibly wealthy entrepreneurs; others were left behind as their husbands and male family members went west to explore.
