The California Gold Rush

James worked on a farm in the West
He dreamed of being rich.
One day he found something shiny
Just lying in a ditch.

“It’s gold!” thought James, excited, and
Showed it to farmer Sutter.
But he saw that Sutter was cross,
He saw him frown and mutter.

“Don’t tell anyone” said Sutter
“About what you have found.
If people hear there's gold about
They’ll come from miles around.

They’ll come to search the area
And trample on my farm.
They’ll trample on my vegetables
And do my livestock harm.”

James said for him not to worry
He would button his lip.
But two days later in a bar
He let the secret slip.

He mentioned it to his cousin
Who then told his own brother
And he mentioned it to his friend
And that friend told another.

Soon people started to arrive
To see what could be found.
They’d heard rumours that gold nuggets
Were just lying around.

Lots of people really believed
The hills were filled with gold.
Men and families packed their things and
From the East wagons rolled.

Others came from across the sea
From Mexico and Peru,
From Hawaiii, China, Chile,
From France, and Britain too.

They all left their lives behind them
To become gold miners.
The year was 1849
They were the forty-niners.

Some people did not look for gold
But still got rich enough.
They set up shops for miners and
They sold expensive stuff.

But after a few years has passed
Gold was harder to find.
So many people were looking
All the land had been mined.

And poor old Sutter the farmer
Looked out across his land.
His fields were thoroughly trampled
His rivers, thoroughly panned.

And so California had changed
Not boring old fields, no,
There was an exciting city,
'Twas called "San Francisco"!