Emma and Vivian

Hello Pierre! You have just finished your early-morning trip to town. You bought potatoes and oats (like your wife asked), and you picked up some mail. On your way out of the store, a small wooden solider toy catches your eye. Money is tight, but your only son is turning one next week, and he doesn't have many toys. [[Buy your son the toy]] [[Return home with no toy, you need to save the money]]

You and Jean-Paul have been asking around to see what ships are leaving to California. You hear about a large ship leaving next week by way of Panama, and a cargo ship leaving in a few days by way of Cape Horn. [[Pay your own way on the Panama voyage, a shorter trip]] [[Join a company and travel on the cargo ship for free, a longer trip]]

You stayed in France and had an okay life [[Home]]

This trip will cost you all your savings (1,000 francs). You and your wife have been saving for years to buy a small farm in hopes to escape poverty and provide for your young son. Do you want to use all your money to go to California on this ship? [[You spend all your savings on a trip to California. Hopefully you made the right choice.]] [[No, join a company and work to pay for your voyage]]

If you join a company, they claim to provide transportation, lodging, and resources, so long as you give them 20% of your earnings once you get to California. Do you still want to join a company? [[Yes, I will join and work for a company]] [[No, I will pay my own way to California]]

You and Jean-Paul pool your money and hop on the Panama ship. Months in, you face a two week journey through the jungle. Many men are getting sick, and resources are becoming scarse. [[Trade with the indigenous people of Panama]] [[Search the ship and ask around for extra resources]]

[[Yes, I will join and work for a company]]

Your journey is long and uneventful. Most of the time you are sick, but you do not encounter any serious problems. [[You finally arrive in the port of San Fransisco]]

[[You spend all your savings on a trip to California. Hopefully you made the right choice.]]

You were able to trade for some rice and maize, now you have plenty of food to make the rest of the trip. [[You have arrived in the port of San Fransisco]]

Your search didn't turn up anything, and you and Jean-Paul suffer through the remaining months of the trip. [[You have arrived in the port of San Fransisco]]

You and Jean-Paul are excited to finally be in California! All you have left is an [[87 mile wagon ride to Sacramento]]

Now that you have made it to Hangtown, you have to make a choice. Should you combine your efforts with the men you traveled with, or should you and Jean-Paul go off on your own? [[Join a group]] [[Don't join a group]]

The city has a lot of oppertunities for jobs! Just walking around you find you can choose to [[Work for the Sacramento Valley Railroad Company]] or [[Work at the general store]]

Once you get on land, you and the other men on the ship are shocked to realize the company you signed with does not have transportation like they promised you. You had your heart set on getting to Sacramento, and now you and Jean-Paul are on your own. Luckily, you hear that some men are taking about an [[87 mile wagon ride to Sacramento]]. You and Jean-Paul are able to join them.

After a few weeks, you and Jean-Paul have made a good amount of money and want to celebrate! Jean-Paul wants to go to a [[local saloon]] but you want to [[gamble]].

You finally made a good amount of money to send back to your family in France! Excited about the money you made, you put the money in an envelope with a letter you wrote to your wife Adele. You think about what you have to stock in the store. You look around and see that the store is low on [[water]] and [[snacks]].

You and Jean-paul join a group with six other men. You're secretly glad you decided to go this route, because a group will provide protection to some extent. They are all men you met on the wagon ride to Sacramento. It seems like the group will get along well, hopefully you will be able to find a good amount of gold. You find some unclaimed land, but the sun is setting. You want to [[mine]] but maybe you should [[get some sleep and wake up early in the morning]].

You and Jean-Paul decide to not join the other men. Logically, you decide your first step is to gather supplies. What should you buy first? [[Shovel ($5)]] [[Pan ($8)]] [[Both ($13)]]

Finally, you are in Sacramento. There are a lot of miners here, all talking about the best and worst camps, and who has found the most gold. One camp, Hangtown, seems to be talked about highly. There must be a lot of gold there. But, according to the other miners, there are not many shops to work in. [[I came to find gold, let's head to Hangtown]] [[I really need to make money, let's look for employment in Sacramento]]

Now that you and Jean-Paul have your supplies, you set out to find a mining camp. [[camp]]

As you and Jean-Peal are gathering materials to prepare for mining. Five angry men walk over and tell you to move your things. "Get out of here you French freaks! This is our mining camp. There is barely enough room for the five of us. If you are smart men, I suggest you [[get out of here right now]]!"

You take your pan down to the creek. There are a few other men there, most starting to pack up for the night. The water is very cold and all you find is a very polished stone, the size of a button. You decide to keep it for good luck, and [[head back to the town to sleep for the night]].

You and your group pitch tents in a small clearing. There are other men around talking, cooking, and comparing their findings from the day. You aren't able to sleep much- maybe because of the cold, or maybe because you are too excited for your new life as a miner. Over the next few weeks, you, Jean-Paul, and the other men you are working with spend all your time in the creek that is most popular with miners in Hangtown. [[You are beginning to be successful]]

You aren't able to sleep much- maybe because of the cold, or maybe because you are too excited for your new life as a miner. Over the next few weeks, you, Jean-Paul, and the other men you are working with spend all your time in the creek that is most popular with miners in Hangtown. [[You are beginning to be successful]]

Your wife, Adele, loves the toy, but immediately asks how much it cost. She has been worrying about money for months- trying to save here and there so you can make it through this winter. At night, you dream of taking all your savings and buying the small farm down the road. Sure, it would be expensive at first, but you and your wife could sell your crops and maybe even raise some hens for eggs. You could finally stop worrying about money. It would be a great place for your son to grow up. Before you can lie to Adele about the price of the toy, she takes the mail into the kitchen. "Two letters to you!" she yells. One from your cousin in London, [[Elaine]]. You don't expect to hear from her. The other is from your life-long friend, [[Jean-Paul]]. He is just replying to your last letter while he is on a trip.

When you come home you see your wife, Adele, holding your son in the kitchen. She thanks you for going to town, and immediately asks how much it cost. She has been worrying about money for months- trying to save here and there so you can make it through this winter. At night, you dream of taking all your savings and buying the small farm down the road. Sure, it would be expensive at first, but you and your wife could sell your crops and maybe even raise some hens for eggs. You could finally stop worrying about money. It would be a great place for your son to grow up. Before you can lie to Adele about the cost of the food, she takes the mail into the kitchen. "Two letters to you!" she yells. One from your cousin in London, [[Elaine]]. You don't expect to hear from her. The other is from your life-long friend, [[Jean-Paul]]. He is just replying to your last letter while he is on a trip.

Bonjour Pierre! Cela fait longtemps que je ne t'ai pas vu. Je rentre bientôt à la maison. Comment va votre fils? De plus en plus j'en suis sûr. Et Adele? J'espère que vous allez tous bien. J'ai apprécié mon séjour mais je suis impatient d'être à la maison. Écoutez, j'écris parce que j'ai entendu parler d'une offre intéressante. Je sais que l'argent est serré et j'ai pensé que cela pourrait être votre solution. Certains hommes ici parlent de la Californie. En Amérique. Ils disent qu'il y a de l'or dans les montagnes et dans l'eau. Les hommes trouvent des morceaux de la taille d'un œuf! Ils disent que n'importe quel homme peut venir et devenir riche. Pierre, viens en Californie avec moi. Sera bientôt à la maison pour entendre votre réponse. Tout mon amour à Adele et à ta famille. Jean-Paul [[translate]]

Hello, Pierre. I am writing with sad news. My husband, Ralphio, has passed. He had been ill for two weeks, but it comes as a shock to us all. I must ask for some help. If we do not pay our monthly fee soon, we will be forced to leave our home. We need 100 pounds by the next week. Please help soon, thank you. Elaine. [[Write Elaine a letter, including the money]] even though it would come out of your savings [[Write Elaine a letter saying you are sorry for her loss, but you simply do not have the money at this time]] you have your own family to support.

Hello, Pierre! It has been a long time since i have seen you. I am coming home soon. How is your son? Growing I am sure. And Adele? I hope you are all well. I have enjoyed my time away but am eager to be home. Listen, I am writing because I have heard of an interesting offer. I know money is tight, and thought this could be your fix. Some men here are talking about California. In America. They say there is gold in the mountains and in the water. Men are finding pieces the size of an egg! They say any man can come and get rich. Pierre, come to California with me. Will be home soon to hear your answer. All my love to Adele and your family. Pierre [[next]]

Gold in California. This sounds crazy! But, if Jean-Paul is right (and you trust that he is) this could be a life changer for your family! You can buy the farm. You and Adele will never have to worry about paying for your next meal! You can buy your son any toy he wants from the store. When Jean-Paul comes home, what will you tell him? [[I will leave my family and go with you to Califronia!]] [[I am going to stay in France]]

You send the money. It will be tough to cut back more on your spending, but this is what you do for family. Now, read the letter from [[Jean-Paul]]

You feel bad for Elaine, but you know that sending the money would make getting through this winter difficult for your family. Now, read the letter from [[Jean-Paul]]

You go to the saloon and stay for what feels like forever. The last thing you remember is Jean-Paul buying you 10 rounds of shots. You wake up with all your money stolen, and realize you have nothing to send back to your family in France. Feeling super guilty, you write a letter to your wife Adele apologizing for your irresponsible behavior. Bonjour Adele, Tu me manques tellement mon amour. Cependant, je ne peux pas encore revenir à vous. J'ai commis une horrible erreur. Je n'ai pas d'argent à envoyer à notre famille, c'est pourquoi je dois rester en Californie. Dès que je me rattraperai, vous serez le premier à le savoir. Je t'aime. Amour, Pierre translate this [[letter]]

You and Jean-Paul decide to play poker with some people from the Sacramento Valley Railroad Company. Without realizing how much money you were losing because you were too interested in winning the game, you end up losing all your money. You try to fight for your money back, but end up losing badly. You write a letter apologizing to your wife. Bonjour Adele, Tu me manques tellement mon amour. Cependant, je ne peux pas encore revenir à vous. J'ai commis une horrible erreur. Je n'ai pas d'argent à envoyer à notre famille, c'est pourquoi je dois rester en Californie. Dès que je me rattraperai, vous serez le premier à le savoir. Je t'aime. Amour, Pierre translate this [[letter]]

Hello Adele, I miss you so much my love. I feel horrible saying this, but I cannot come back to you yet. I made a horrible mistake. I have no money to send back to our family, which is why I have to stay in California. As soon as I make up for this you will be the first one to know. I love you. Love, Pierre [[Send the letter to Adele]]

While stocking the store with water, you see a man enter the store with a mysterious look on his face. He looks around then looks back at you with a flustered expression on his face. You don't know if you should [[walk back to the counter to hide the envelope you have laying there]] or [[go outside to avoid the mysterious man]].

As you are stocking the snacks, you see two men walk in with guns in their hands. One man comes up to you directing you to the safe to get him the money. The other man grabs your envelope and puts it in his pocket. You run over to the safe to grab him the money. You [[grab a bat]] to try to defend yourself.

You quickly walk back to the counter to hide the envelope in a safe. As you are locking up the safe the man walks over with a gun pointing right at your face. He yells, "Give me that envelope and all the money in the safe!" Refusing to do so, he shoots you.

You walk outside to wait for the man to leave. You hear footsteps trailing behind you. You turn around and see a gun pointed right at your face. The man says, "Go back into the store and get me some water. While you're in there give me all the money in the safe." You try to run away, but he ends up shooting you multiple times.

As you grab the bat, the two men slap it out of your hands. The last thing you remember is hearing a loud gunshot and blood running down your legs. R.I.P. Pierre!

Distraught, you and Jean-Paul hear some men talk about a place called Indian Diggings. Located only about 25 miles southeast from Hangtown, you [[ask to join the men on a wagon ride to head to Indian Diggings]].

"Hey fellas, I don't have much money to offer you but this shovel and pan. Take which ever one you need. Me and my friend, Jean-Paul, just need a ride to Indian Diggings." The men look around at each other then take the shovel out of Pierre's hand. "I guess we have room for two more people." [[You and Jean-Paul head to Indian Diggings]]

After arriving at Indian Diggings, you and Jean-Paul look around to figure out where you will be staying. You come across a deserted cabin with a few things left inside. A Native American man walks over and says, "Hey folks, if you came here looking to mine, there isn't much left. Get ready to deal with a lot of drunk men dueling over money. There's a [[local saloon]] about a three minute walking distance if you are interested. If not, feel free to start working at our [[general store]]. You fellas can make good money there."

You start making a decent amount of money working at the general store. Excited to tell your wife about it, you write her a letter telling her about your experience in Indian Diggings. You put it in an envelope along with some money you want to send back to France. Jean-Paul runs in and says he lost all his money gambling and owes some people money. [[Take money out of the envelope and lend it to Jean-Paul]] [[Tell Jean-Paul he has to deal with it himself]]

You now have no money to send back to your wife and kids. Forced to stay in California longer, you are extremely upset and end your friendship with Jean-Paul. You cannot have his behavior jeopardizing your plan to make money to support your family. "va te faire foutre et sors de ma vie Jean-Paul!" [[translate this]] Jean-Paul does not take the news lightly and kills you.

You apologize to Jean-Paul and tell him that you have to send the money back to your family in France. While you are trying to calm him down, some men walk over with a gun pointing at both you and Jean-Paul. Jean-Paul tries to punch one of the men as you try to make a run for it. The last thing you see before your death is Jean-Paul getting shot down by the men, and the men running after you.

"Go f*** yourself and get out of my life Jean-Paul!!!"

You start working at the store. Men stop by on their way to various mines, talking about where they have been and how much they have made. It makes you long for a mining adventure of your own, but you have to think of your wife and son back in France, and they really need money. As the days go on, you notice the prices in your store are increasing- you think "hopefully this means my sallery is as well". The men that come buy are no longer excited- they mope around talking about their misfortunes in the mines, and yell at you because they cannot afford to buy much anymore. One day, while you are being yelled at, Rudy, the store owner, comes in. [[Tell Rudy the men are upset at our prices]] [[Ask Rudy for a raise]]

You tell Rudy that a lot of men have been upset that the prices, especially for food, have gotten so high. "Well Pierre, I don't know what to do- that's just what they cost now. A man down the street sold a glass of water for $5 yesterday. We just don't have enough to be givin' away for free no more. It's getting tough in those mines I'll tell ya, real tough to find anything worth finding." What should you reply? [[Ask Rudy for a raise]] [[Just nod and go help a customer]]

You have been working hard at the store for a while, you deserve this raise! Plus, it would really help boost the amount of money youre almost ready to send to Adele. (Scroll down to see what he says!) Rudy says no. "Ah man, you know I would Pierre, I really would if we had it" You're disappointed, but that doesn't mean you aren't going to keep [[working in the store]]

You spend weeks working in the store with Rudy. As the weeks go on, the prices rise. Occasionally there will be waves of new men coming to the mines for the first time, and the older men leaving the mines for the last time. As long as the money keeps coming, you and Rudy can't complain. You just spend your days [[working in the store]] and saving your money.

You feel like a failure. All you have saved for months is gone. You have no motivation to make anymore. California is not what you were promised. You know you cannot return to Adele- you don't want your son to grow up knowing you are a failure. It's best you just stay here and be a failure on your own.

Months crawl by. Your body is showing signs of wear as you spend every day doing what is essentially hard labor. Hours of work in a cold creek, breaking your back as you dip your pan in the water over and over. Days spent breaking apart rocks with an old axe. For such horrible work, you and your little group are hardly complainig. The advice you took to come to Hangtown was good. You're not getting filthy rich, but you are finding enough to start sending back to Adele. You send another letter home: Bonjour amour, Comment vas-tu? Comment est la maison J'attends vos lettres avec impatience alors que je passe mes journées à travailler. Le travail n'est pas terrible. Jean-Paul et moi nous entendons bien ici. Ma famille me manque. Ci-joint les gains de ce mois, un bon mois, non? Je veux que tu achètes quelque chose de gentil pour toi. Nous n'aurons plus à nous soucier de l'argent, mon amour. En attendant le jour où nous sommes réunis. amour, Pierre [[Read this letter in Enlgish]]

Hello love, How are you? How is the house? I look forward to your letters as I spend my days working. The work is not terrible. Jean-Paul and I are getting along fine here. I do miss my family. Enclosed is this month's earnings- a good month, right? I want you to buy something nice for yourself. We won't have to worry about money anymore my love. Awaiting the day we are reunited. love, Pierre [[Close letter]]

Maybe you jinxed it. As soon as that letter was sent off, things started going wrong. Jean-Paul got in a fight with another man in your group, a mexican named Diego. Diego accused Jean-Paul of pocketing some findings for himself, not contributing them to our group. It was only worse for him when Jean-Paul was found with a week's worth of gold in his tent. One night, Diego returned from drinking- angry and armed. "Where is the thief?" he yelled [[Tell him Jean-Paul is by your tent]] [[Try to calm him down- Jean-Paul already returned the gold]]

It happened fast. Before you could even reach Diego to calm him down, he became angry at you. The last thing you heard was Diego yelling "And YOU! You think you are so much better than me. Defending your thief friend. I bet you're both thieves- think you can steal from me because I'm Mexican? Well let me tell you something about that..." It wasn't clear to bystanders if Diego meant for the gun to go off, or if it was a drunk mistake. Unfortunately, the gun was aimed directly at your chest. Before you even knew what happened, you fell to the ground- blood flowing into the creek where men still panned for gold.

"He's over there" you mumble, gestering to your tent. You follow his drunk stagger to Jean-Paul, where an argument ensues. Diego is yelling nonsense, stumbling around the camp and trashing what he thinks is Jean-Paul's tent, but it is yours. He finds letters from Adele and rips them up. [[Let it go]] [[Get involved]]

You are furious, but don't want to get involved in this fight. Until he swings his arm back, gun in hand, pointing right at Jean-Paul. "You have probably been taking from us for months! Since the beginning! Show me! Where do you hide it?" Diego looks around in your tent, yelling at Jean-Paul. You calmly step foward and tell him this isn't even Jean-Paul's tent, it's yours. The last thing you heard was Diego yelling "And YOU! You think you are so much better than me. Defending your thief friend. I bet you're both thieves! Think you cansteal from me? Well let me tell you something about that..." It wasn't clear to bystanders if Diego meant for the gun to go off, or if it was a drunk mistake. Unfortunately, the gun was aimed directly at your chest. Before you even knew what happened, you fell to the ground- blood flowing into the creek where men still panned for gold.

You move foward at Diego, ripping what is left of Adele's letters from his hands. The last thing you heard was Diego yelling "And YOU! You think you are so much better than me. Defending your thief friend. I bet you're both thieves- think you can steal from me because I'm Mexican? Well let me tell you something about that..." jabbing your chest with the end of his gun. It wasn't clear to bystanders if Diego meant for the gun to go off, or if it was a drunk mistake. Unfortunately, the gun was aimed directly at your chest. Before you even knew what happened, you fell to the ground- blood flowing onto ripped up letters from your wife.

[[what happens next?]]