It was 1849, and Americans were dreaming of gold. A lucky man had found chunks of it sparkling in a California stream. Word was spreading fast.
All across the country, people left their homes. Farmers dropped their plows in the fields. Preachers closed up their churches. Seamen deserted their ships.
In just a year, nearly 100,000 people traveled west with a single goal: Get rich quick! The gold rush was on.
But the man who really struck it rich wasn’t a miner looking for gold. He was the man who made the miners’ pants.