Most of the people who descended on California during the gold rush shared one ambition: to strike it rich. Many of them imagined the foothills and streams were filled with gold so plentiful that they could pick it up by hand. They dreamed of gold by night and wrote about it in their journals. They valued the companionship of their fellow miners, some of whom were their best friends and relatives from back home. They hoped to work in small groups like a family, find some easy gold, and return home wealthy and world-wise. Most miners were sorely disappointed when none of these dreams came true. The miner who worked in a small group of comrades (certainly possible in 1849) quickly gave way to well-funded mining companies that employed diverse and large groups of laborers.

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