Not so many years ago the Mississippi River was the far edge of the United States.  以前，但并非遥远的古代，密西西比河是美国的远方边界线。

Beyond the Mississippi it was wild, wilder, wilder-ness. Few people had ever been all the way across our country to the Pacific Ocean. 密西西比河之外是渺无人烟的茫茫荒野。过去没有什么人横穿美国一直到达太平洋。 

There were wild Indians, wild animals, and high, high mountains in the way. 因为路上会遇到野蛮的印第安人、凶猛的野兽和高高的大山。

Why did people want to go across the country anyway, and what sort of people were they?  后来为什么有人要这么做呢？他们是些什么样的人呢？

They were hunters who wanted to hunt wild animals, they were missionaries who wanted to make the Indians Christians, 他们中有想猎捕野生动物的猎人，有希望向印第安人传播基督教的传教士， 

and they were people who were just inquisitive and who wanted to see what the wilderness was like. 还有仅仅出于好奇的、想去荒野看个究竟的人。

Then one day a man told another, that another man had told him, that another man had told him, 后来有一天有个人告诉另一个人，说有人告诉他，他从另一个人那里听到一个传言， 

that still another man had told him that he had found gold in California, a land way off on the edge of the Pacific Ocean—plenty of gold; 这个传言又是那个人听别人说的，说在加利福尼亚州——一个遥远的濒临太平洋的地方，有人发现了大量的金子； 

all you had to do was to dip it up in pans out of the rivers and pick it out of the sand and water. 你要做的就是用淘金盘连沙带水把金子从河里捞出来，再从沙子和水中拣出金子。

Gold! Gold! It was almost as if some one had cried Fire! Fire!  金子！金子！就好像有人大声叫喊：着火了！着火了！

Thousands of people dropped their tools, stopped their farming, shut up their shops, loaded their beds and cooking things on wagons, 成千上万的人放下手中的工具，停下农活，关上店铺，把床铺和炊具装上了马车， 

put a cover over the wagon so that they could live under it as under a tent, took along a gun, and rushed for the Far West to hunt for gold. 又在车上支起一个篷，这样他们就可以住在里面，就像是住在帐篷里一样，他们还带上了枪，然后出发奔向遥远的西部，加入淘金潮中。 

There were no roads, there were no bridges, there were no sign-boards to tell which was the right way—it was just wild, wilder, wilder-ness. 没有路，没有桥，没有道路指示牌告诉他们正确的方向——只有渺无人烟的茫茫荒野。 

For months and months they traveled. Many of them died of sickness, many were killed by the Indians, many were drowned in crossing rivers, 他们走了一月又一月。在路上很多人得病死了，很多人被印第安人杀死了，很多人在过河时淹死了，

many lost their way and died of starvation or of thirst—but many also, at last, reached California, found gold just where they heard it was to be found, 很多人迷路之后饿死了或者渴死了——但是还有很多人，最终到达了加利福尼亚州，在他们听说有金子的地方真的找到了金子， 

and made their fortunes. This was in the year 1849, so these people who went West were called “Forty-niners.”  就此发了大财。当时正好是1849年，所以这些到西部去的人也被叫做“49淘金人”。