Adventures in North America Based on My Own Experiences: About Gold Digging

Authors

Andreas Hanselmann
Ch. H. im Bundt
Richard Blatter, Translator
Leo Schelbert, Editor

Keywords

Andreas Hanselmann, United States immigrants

Abstract

In the year 1848, 25 men traveled from New York to California. They had heard that gold had been found there, and they wanted to try their luck. When they sailed along the Mexican coast, they stopped at a small town to get drinking water. They saw a brickyard, and one of the group named Gehn was observing curiously how bricks were formed. The owner of the brickyard now asked him, whether he was somehow familiar with the business. Gehn answered that he was a professional brick maker and had worked since his youth in his father's brickmaking business. The owner proposed to him to stay as a manager and offered him a daily wage of 20 dollars and free lodging. But Gehn didn't accept this tempting offer; the greed for gold drove him with the others to the gold country California.

Recommended Citation

Hanselmann, Andreas; im Bundt, Ch. H.; Blatter,, Richard Translator; and Schelbert,, Leo Editor (2011) "Adventures in North America Based on My Own Experiences: About Gold Digging," Swiss American Historical Society Review: Vol. 47: No. 3, Article 6.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol47/iss3/6