Yes, I did think that it might be gold, but Sutter's Mill in California was discovered in 1848. There was another gold rush to Colorado in 1858 and the Klondike in 1897 in the Yukon. So, I rather ruled that out, but I really could be wrong. California became a state in 1850. These alumni were moving at least 23 years later and they went to Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Utah, Oklahoma, and Illinois, as well, as California. Maybe it was land that attracted them? The Great Land Rush in Oklahoma occurred in 1889. Maybe they all took the advice that Horace Greely made popular after 1850 to, "Go west, young man." Well, I don't know. Maybe Americans just like going west! Msybe it was Manifest Destiny. I'm not an historian and I've run out of ideas! :-) Carole ---------- [email protected] wrote: > Did you ever consider the Gold Rush and all the glamour attached to it? > Barbara