I get that the dream of getting rich is a strong driver to people. You hear stories about people who strike gold and become insanely wealthy. Then you hear that there is an untapped region in California or Alaska, and you think that it could happen to you.

But taking part in a gold rush isn't the same thing as going out and buying a lottery ticket. Either you have to have more than a reasonable assumption that you are going to be rich, or your current living situation is poor enough that abandoning it to start a new difficult life on the off chance that you become rich is a worthwhile proposition.

Considering that many minors lost money or just barely made a profit, there must have been some misinformation out there about what the work would entail or what the chances of striking gold actually were. What was the misinformation?

What was life like for gold-rushers before they became gold-rushers? Was their life so bad where they were? Were they married? Kids? Was there a working shortage or a depressed economy? Did they have any experience mining?

Were there popular stories of people getting rich from gold? Were those stories accurate or more like tall-tales?