Dahlonega, Georgia. 1829.

The gold is down there. The ground will not tell you where.

Swing a pick into Georgia red clay and find out what you struck. Sometimes it is nothing, forty times in a row. Sometimes the shovel turns over something that stops you where you stand.

Go deeper for the good stuff. Deeper is also where the ground starts fighting back.

Follow a hunch sideways and you might hit a run of ore that goes on and on. Or you might chase it half a day and get eleven dollars for your trouble. That is prospecting. You do not find out until you dig.

Haul it up, sell it before the assayer shuts, and start buying the town, one business at a time. Ruby runs the saloon, and she is always where the party is at during the night.  But don't stay up too late, you have to hit the mine early!

The Fun

• Dig, strike, and find out what you struck

• Every swing is a guess you paid for

• Chase a seam across the hill and hope it holds

• Go deep for the good stuff, and see what is waiting down there

• Blow a hole with some dynamite!  But look out, who knows how long it's been sitting. 

Own every business in town, or die of exhaustion trying