Prophets and Paupers: Religion in the California Gold Rush 1848-1869

Within a few years it is estimated that at least 200,000 men and women from the American Midwest, South and East, and also from Australia, China, Europe, North Africa and both Central and South America rushed for the Mother Lode. As part of this process Roman Catholic, Mormon, Jewish and Protestant communities sent vigorous leadership to the California gold mines.Nothing like this vast migration from so many nations and cultures had ever taken place in the history of the world, especially into one small geographical area. And nothing like it has happened since. At the same time the religious world was in the process of sending out missionaries to the ends of the earth. Dr. Hogue shows us that the religious communities at their best left a legacy of integrity and hope in the midst of one of the most disheartening and often crass periods of American Western history. In this thrilling story, Dr. Hogue carefully and interestingly elucidates a story full of surprises, heartaches, and failures, but also full of robust and persistent courage of both men and women of faith.