It was a hot summer day in Alabama. There had been a drought for a long time, and the Smith’s struggled to put food on the table. Pa was getting depressed and all ma did was try and make him happy. She even cooked him his favorite, corn chowder. Most of the town men had gone to California to try and find some gold. Pa wanted to go with the 49’s and join the gold rush. The only problem was Ma didn’t want him to go and leave the family. He had a tough decision on his hands.

Pa was a smart man and knew what he had to do if he wanted to keep his family alive. He knew he had to go and had to try and convince Ma to let him go for her and Elizabeth’s sake. One long night he decided that he had to go to California to try and find gold. Ma objected, but finally gave in only if she and Elizabeth could also. He was very surprised. Elizabeth was only nine years old and probably couldn’t withstand the long trip all the way to California. As it was, she wasn’t her normal self, due to a lack of food and water. He agreed but explained to her that there was a good possibility that Elizabeth wouldn’t make it there. Nevertheless she insisted that they both went.

The next day the whole family left on their long journey west, they were all worried and scared about the trip. Ma and Pa’s worst nightmares had come true. They had to take the long and dangerous trip west to try and find gold. Elizabeth was calm and collected because she was only nine years old and had no idea how dangerous the journey was. The family left their house at six A.M... They took off in their family wagon and had little food, water, and money. As they rode they saw a lot of men leaving to go to California. Elizabeth wondered where the rest of the men’s families were. She realized after a while that they were left home and she wondered why. On the route west, the Smith’s saw a lot of wild animals that freaked Ma and Elizabeth out. Elizabeth had nightmares at night and Ma had to stay up with her to stop her from crying. All day Pa told Ma that he was right and that they shouldn’t have come with him. She was pushed to the max all day and all night. Finally she snapped about halfway through the journey, Ma passed away from exhaustion and under nutrition. Elizabeth was hysterical. She couldn’t stop crying. Pa knew it wasn’t right for them to come on the journey.