The discovery of America is based around the quest for lands unknown, the promise of freedom, and, most importantly, gold. Therefore it is no surprise that the discovery of gold in California came to be known as the new "El Dorado". This finding quickly brought a surge of Americans of all ethnicities, along with Europeans, South Americans, Australians, and Asians, all searching for a land filled with promises of financial profit, freedom and equality. Although …showed first 75 words of 1559 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1559 total…the West. Smithsonian Books: Washington D.C., 1987 Walker, Paul Robert. Trail of the West...Rediscovering the American Frontier. Washington D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1997. Ward, Geoffrey C. The West: An Illustrated History. Canada: The West Book Project, 1996. Wright, Mike. What They Didn't Teach You About the Wild West. California: Presidio Press, 2000. Zeman, Scott C. Chronology of the American West. ABC-CLIO: California, 2002. Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. Harper Collins Publishers: New York, 2003.