III.

Routes to California

There were three routes to the goldfields. A Forty-Niner could go by boat to Panama, cross to the city of Panama, and then catch a boat to San Francisco. An alternative was to make the longer sea voyage around Cape Horn, the southernmost point of South America. The demand for passage was so great that old and undersized ships were pressed into service. A number of them sank in the treacherous waters off Cape Horn.

The cheapest route was using the various overland trails to California. By far the greatest number of Forty-Niners walked or rode across the American continent. Some used the Oregon and Mormon trails over the Great Plains. Others took the Santa Fe, Sonora, and other southern trails. The spring rains made some of the trails almost impassable. The rains were followed by an epidemic of cholera, which killed thousands of the travelers. Nevertheless, by 1852 more than 200,000 gold seekers had managed to reach California.