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Overland Journey Was As Dangerous As The Sea
- Overland migrants faced months of monotony, dust, flooded rivers, disease, and violence from exhausted companions.
- Human selfishness sometimes led travelers to sabotage others to secure grazing and claims ahead.
River Rescues On The Trail
- Travelers sometimes risked their lives to rescue stranded wagons in swollen rivers.
- Teams tied ropes to mules and waded into currents to drag wagons to shore despite near-drowning danger.
Easy Gold Quickly Disappeared
- By late 1849 the easy surface gold was mostly gone and miners had to dig deeper with cradles and lots of manual labor.
- Finding substantial gold became rare and required backbreaking teamwork and specialized tools.