Jacques Antoine Moerenhout--Counsel to the French Government Moerenhout has traveled to California on a fact finding mission. He is reporting his findings on California, in particular the Gold Rush, in regular letters to the French government. Moerenhout is a tall man, around thirty-five years old, and is always dressed very formally, almost inappropriately so. He pays constant attention to his hair and clothes, which suffer from the heat of the Sierra Nevada mountains in summer. He speaks very little English and is constantly followed by his translator, with whom he contracted when he arrived in San Francisco.

Jacques Antoine Moerenhout.

Solomon Weathersbee Downs--Interpreter to Monsieur Moerenhout Mr. Downs is originally from Boston, Massachusetts. He has been in California for a little over one year, having been lured by the promise of riches in gold. Soon after arriving, however, he quickly realized that the strenuous life of a miner was not for him. He presently lives in San Francisco and makes his living as a tutor for wealthy families. He has left a wife and two children back in Boston, and is trying to save up enough money for the voyage back to the east coast.

Solomon Weathersbee Downs.

John Stone--Miner who has come from upstate New York to stake his claim John has been working for about eight months panning for gold with little luck. At first, he had been able to send a few flakes of gold to his wife, but that was many months ago. He has not heard from his family since he arrived in California, but he has sent many letters to them. His goal now is not to get rich, but rather to make enough money to go home.

John Stone.

Place:

Placerville, California.

As the curtain rises, a banjo can be heard playing a traditional song. On the stairs to the general store, John Stone can be seen sitting at a barrel and staring off into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada with a distant look on his face.

Jacques and Solomon enter from stage right. Jacques is dictating his observations to Solomon who is frantically trying to write them all down in his notebook.

Jacques:  (in French)   As I was saying, the most striking thing about California is the majestic beauty. The coastline is quite spectacular. The natural beauty alone would be enough to draw people to this area, let alone the gold. Why sailing into the Golden Gate was breathtaking! However, upon my arrival in the port of Yerba Buena, I found that almost two thirds of the residents had dropped everything to find gold in the Sierras. Clearly the lust for gold motivates these Americans.

Solomon:  (frantically)  Sir, if you could only talk slower. I can't quite seem to get all this down.

Jacques:  What I really want to find is someone who has struck it rich, who has gone from being penniless to becoming wealthy overnight. I hear a lot of talk about it but have yet to meet one soul who has had it happen to himself.

As they are talking, they approach John Stone on the steps to the general store. He can be heard quietly singing the refrain from a song, over and over.

John:  (singing)
I'm bound to California mines,
For who would work from morn to night
And live on hog and corn,
When one can pick up there at sight
Enough to buy a farm.
O California! that's the land for me...

Jacques:  Mr. Downs, what is that miner singing about?

Solomon:  Well sir, it is a song about coming to California and striking it rich.

Jacques:  Mr. Downs, that man is exactly the type of person I need to talk with. Let us approach him.

The two men approach John.

Solomon:  Sir, may we have a word with you?

John:  Hey, I haven't done anything wrong!

Solomon: No, no, sir, it is nothing like that. This gentleman, Mons. Moerenhout, is a Counsel with the French government. He is collecting information on why people have left their homes in such numbers to head out for California. May he have a word with you?

John:  Why, I guess it's all right. I don't have anything else to do, Lord knows.

The following conversations are translated between Jacques and John by Solomon.

Jacques:  Sir, I have heard much talk about men striking it rich, but have yet to meet one. Have you made your fortune? Are you glad you came?

John:  No, I should have never left. I have a wife and two girls back home. Every week I send a letter promising them that the next one will have some money or gold flakes in it. I don't even have the money to return home. How I miss seeing my little girls. This was a mistake.

Jacques:  (one eyebrow higher than the other, as if he were trying to extract some secret from ole' John)  I was told that the gold in these parts was found in the size and shape of flakes. The discovery of a platinum mine is also spoken of, perhaps in the Sacramento Valley?

John:  (with downcast, sad eyes)   I can only say that there have been several people have come from that place with some quantities of gold. Yes, sir, that is true. I hope to be the next lucky man. I really do.

Jacques:   (thinking out loud and in French)  My deductions tell me that an average of the product of a days work is usually 30-50 francs.
(now in English)   How do these men do it! On my way here, John, everywhere the women have been left alone, even in the most isolated farms. Doesn't that concern you?

John:  Look man, I am scared to hell of what is going on with my wife and children. But, I'm here for them, (voice rising to a high-pitched scream) DON'T YOU GET IT!

Jacques:  I'll come back later. I didn't mean to upset you.

Prospector Panning for Gold.

John:  Why am I wasting my time talking to you two? I should be back up at the creek panning. Today may be my lucky day. (He gets up to leave.) 

Jacques quickly moves to stage right with Solomon .

Jacques:  The desperation witnessed here is astounding. There is so much hopelessness and at the same time so much faith that these hills hold the answers to all of these pathetic people's prayers. Everything is left behind at a moment's notice to pursue a dream. Many of these poor souls only find worthless rocks or if they do find something it is not nearly enough to make up for what has been sacrificed. Yet, they continue to come. Perhaps, John ole' boy was right. I just don't get it!

Sources:

• A letter from a gold miner, Placerville, California, October, 1850, with an introduction by Robert Glass Cleland.
• The inside story of the gold rush, by Jacques Antoine Moerenhout…translated and edited from documents in the French archives.