Seth Humphrey and the Golden Grasshopper

De: James H. Goodwin

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

Seth Humphrey, a master carpenter at a boat shop, was in love with the daughter of one of the richest families in town. Seth asked her father for her hand in marriage and he was rejected because he didn’t have enough money. When word of gold being found in California reached his small Massachusetts town, Seth saw this as his way to become rich and prove he was able to provide for his future wife in the way she was accustomed to. Against her wishes, he bought passage on a clipper ship heading for California. Life on a clipper ship provided many challenges and during the trip, Seth was confronted by several personal trials.
Upon reaching California he realized how ill-prepared he was to mine gold, but that didn’t stop him from trying both digging and panning for gold. It was a hard life, but one that Seth felt confident he could master. What he quickly learned was that California was wilder than his home back east. Many men died from fights, murder, injuries, and illness. One thing he was not prepared for was the unbelievable cruelty that bordered on genocide directed toward Indians. Accepting the fact that life as a gold miner was not for him, Seth headed home although getting home was more problematic than getting to California.
This story chronicles Seth's experience both coming and going as well as his time in California. He faced severe illness, was chased by the Sacramento Militia, was shanghaied, was forced to work on a whaler, and lived on a deserted island after jumping ship. However, none of those issues plagued him as much as the conflicting feelings he had for two women he met while far from home.