粉丝最爱：加州淘金热 | 深入挖掘 | 第4集

嘿，历史爱好者们。如果你们对我们《美国历史讲述者》中挖掘的迷人故事欲罢不能，你们一定会喜欢Wondery Plus的独家体验。通过无广告剧集、新季提前观看和前所未有的历史主题额外内容，更深入地探索过去。在Wondery应用或Apple Podcast上加入Wondery Plus，开启一场穿越美国关键历史时刻的非凡之旅。想象现在是1852年。

Hey, history buffs. If you can't get enough of the captivating stories we uncover on American history tellers, you'll love the exclusive experience of Wondery Plus. Dive even deeper into the past with ad free episodes, early access to new seasons, and bonus content that brings history to life like never before. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcast and embark on an unparalleled journey through America's most pivotal moments. Imagine it's the 1852.

你是一位旧金山的年轻母亲，丈夫在外采矿。深夜，你被刺耳的钟声惊醒。你从床上跳起来，呼唤住在隔壁与婴儿女儿同住的保姆。莎拉。莎拉。

You're a young mother in San Francisco whose husband is away mining his claim. It's late at night, and you've just been awoken by the sound of bells clanging loudly. You spring out of bed and call out to the nanny to sleep next door with your infant daughter. Sarah. Sarah.

是火警。帮我弄湿毯子。火灾是这座城市的持续威胁，所以你制定了希望能拯救家园的计划。你从衣柜抓了几条毯子，冲下楼浸入厨房的雨水桶中。好了。

It's the fire alarm. Help me wet the blankets. Fires are a constant threat in the city, so you have a plan in place that you hope will save your home. You grab some blankets from a bureau and race downstairs to dunk them in a barrel of rainwater in the kitchen. Alright.

把这些拿到楼上去。我爬到屋顶上，然后你把毯子递给我。你将湿毯子铺在瓦片上，希望它们能阻止屋顶着火。完成后，你匆忙回到屋内，抱起女儿，跟着莎拉跑出房子。到了街上，你才意识到刚才有多危险。

Let's take these upstairs. I'll crawl out on the roof, and then you hand the blankets to me. You spread the wet blankets across the shingles, hoping they'll stop the roof from igniting. And when you're done, you scramble back inside, grab your daughter, and then run out of the house with Sarah following behind. When you reach the street, you realize how much danger you were in.

天啊。整条街都着火了。女士，你觉得那些毯子能管用吗？我不知道，但我们得离开这里。当你转身背对家和邻居燃烧的房屋时，你注意到风向变了，火势转向了其他方向。

Oh god. The whole street's on fire. Ma'am, you think those blankets are gonna work? I have no idea, but we need to get away from here. As you turn away from your home and the burning hulks of your neighbor's houses, you notice the wind shift, pushing the fire in a different direction.

噢，我们可能走运了。我觉得风向变了。看。你向莎拉指出仍在燃烧的屋顶，火焰和火星确实远离了你家。莎拉和女儿看起来松了口气，但街上其他人就没这么幸运了。

Oh, we might have been blessed. I think the wind is shifting. Look. You point out the still flaming rooftops to Sarah, and indeed the flames and embers leap and spark away from your home. Sarah and your daughter look relieved, but there are others in the street who have not been so fortunate.

噢，米切尔小姐，我太难过了。老妇人回头望着你，眼里含泪。我失去了一切。噢，我明白。一定很痛心。

Oh, miss Mitchell, I am so sorry. The old woman looks back, tears in her eye. I've lost everything. Oh, I know. Must be heartbreaking.

我...我该怎么办？你拍拍她的肩，伸手拥抱她。她把脸埋在你肩上突然抽泣起来。我所有的衣服、家具。还有一本传了几代人的圣经。

What what will I do? You touch her shoulder and reach out to hug her. She buries her face on your shoulder, suddenly sobbing. All my clothes, furniture. There's a Bible been in my family for generations.

全都没了。你还活着，可以和我们住在一起直到重新振作。你站在那里抱着她，任她哭泣，风在你们周围盘旋。但随后老妇人望向街道，擦干眼泪。你在这儿安慰我...现在该换我来安慰你了。

It's all gone. You got out alive, and you can stay with us until you get back on your feet. You stand there holding her, letting her cry while the wind swirls around you. But then the old woman looks back down the street and wipes her tears. Here you are consoling me and and now I'm the one who should console you.

什么意思？她指向你身后。你顺着望去，恐慌攫住了你。风再次转向。尽管几分钟前你铺了湿毯子，你家的屋顶还是烧起来了。

What do you mean? She points past your shoulder. You look down the block, panic seizes you. The winds have switched directions once again. And despite the wet blankets you laid down just a few minutes ago, your roof is in flames.

我是你们的老朋友尼克·坎农。在此为大家带来我的全新播客《深夜尼克秀》。每周我都会邀请明星好友和业界顶尖专家，解答你们最私密的情感问题。别害羞，快来参与讨论，前往YouTube观看《深夜尼克秀》，或在Wondery应用及其他播客平台订阅收听。

It's your man Nick Cannon. I'm here to bring you my new podcast Nick Cannon at Night. Every week I'm bringing out some of my celebrity friends and the best experts in the business to answer your most intimate relationship questions. So don't be shy, join the conversation and head over to YouTube to watch Nick Cannon at night or subscribe on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcast.

如果我告诉你，世纪罪行正在此刻上演？从东岸到西岸，人们正逃离烈火、狂风与洪水。

What if I told you that the crime of the century is happening right now? From coast to coast, people are fleeing flames, wind, and water.

大自然在向我们宣告：我已不堪重负。

Nature is telling us, I can't take this anymore.

这些正是我们需要讲述的关于地球变迁的故事——欺诈、谋杀与阴谋的真相，以及人类保护或摧毁地球的所作所为。欢迎收听《无法星球》。请在Wondery应用或任意播客平台订阅《无法星球》。

These are the stories we need to be telling about our changing planet. Stories of scams, murders, and cover ups, and the things we're doing to either protect the Earth or destroy it. This is Lawless Planet. Follow Lawless Planet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

这里是Wondery，我是林赛·格雷厄姆。1850年代初期，随着成千上万淘金者涌入加利福尼亚，这个年轻州府快速扩张的城市们突然发现自己无力应对暴增的人口。粗制滥造的建筑物频频失火，犯罪猖獗。酗酒的矿工与从他们身上牟利的酒馆、妓院和赌场，同那些希望整顿市容、建设安全社区的新居民冲突不断。与此同时，矿区地表易采的金矿已被掠夺殆尽，矿工们不得不向地底深处掘进——这需要昂贵且极具破坏性的设备。

From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and In the early eighteen fifties, as thousands of gold miners and fortune seekers continued to pour into California, the young state's fast growing cities found themselves ill equipped to handle their booming populations. Fires regularly swept through hastily and shoddily constructed buildings, and crime was rampant. Rowdy miners and businesses that profited from them, saloons, brothels, and gambling parlors, clashed with new, more civic minded residents who wanted to clean up their towns and build safer communities. Meanwhile, in the mining fields, the most accessible gold had already been stripped out of the rivers and hillsides. Miners now had to dig deeper into the earth, which required expensive and often highly destructive equipment.

很快，小矿主们就被能负担大型工业化开采的富豪投资者挤出市场。虽然加州金矿开采持续了数十年，但这场始于数年前的淘金热狂欢已近尾声。本期为第四集《深掘》。淘金热为加州带来数十万男性，女性却寥寥无几，男女比例很快达到惊人的30:1。

Soon, small time miners would be squeezed out by wealthy investors who could afford to finance the large industrial scale mining operations required. Gold would still be mined in California for decades to come, but the free for all that had been the gold rush was coming to an end only just a few short years after it started. This is episode four, digging deeper. The gold rush brought hundreds of thousands of men to California, but very few women. Men in the state soon outnumbered women 30 to one.

如此失衡的比例，要再过一个世纪加州女性人口才能与男性持平。莎拉·罗伊斯是少数随丈夫参与淘金热的女性。1849年，她与丈夫约西亚历经艰险穿越内华达山脉，最终抵达采矿小镇韦弗维尔。但约西亚的淘金事业举步维艰。

The ratio was so skewed that it would take another century for the population of women in California to equal that of men. One of the rare women who joined her husband in the Gold Rush was Sarah Royce. In 1849, Royce and her husband Josiah made the long overland journey west. After getting nearly stranded in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, they made their way to the mining town of Weaverville, where Josiah staked his claim. But Josiah struggled to make any money mining.

为维持生计，罗伊斯夫妇决定在韦弗维尔开杂货店。莎拉原计划建造带商品陈列区和后住处的木结构店铺，还想要配备壁炉的厨房与摆放正规桌椅的餐厅——而非像矿工们那样围坐树桩在野外就餐。但当时几乎所有男性都沉迷淘金，无人愿意承接建筑工程。

To get by, the Royces decided instead to open a general store in Weaverville. Sarah envisioned the store as a proper wooden building with merchandise in front and a home in back. She also wanted a kitchen with a hearth and a dining room with a real table and chairs instead of having to eat like most miners did, sitting outdoors on tree stumps around a fire pit. But Sarah couldn't find anyone to construct a building. Most men were too preoccupied with finding gold to do any other form of work.

莎拉最终放弃木屋构想，改用大帐篷经营。这个临时店铺生意红火，她常注意到邋遢矿工对她女儿玛丽投来怪异目光。后来有矿工解释：因矿区罕见女性，他们总会不自觉地多看两眼。有时思念家乡女儿的矿工来找玛丽聊天时，莎拉会默许以慰藉他们。但加州具有创业精神的女性远不止莎拉。

So she finally gave up on having a wooden structure, and settled for a large tent from which she could sell her goods. The Royces soon did brisk business from their makeshift store, and as their customers came and went, Sarah would sometimes notice the scruffy miners giving her or her daughter Mary an odd stare. One miner finally explained that because women and children were so scarce in the goldfields, the men did a double take whenever they saw one. Sometimes, if the miners were keenly missing young daughters or sisters back home, Sarah let them chat with Mary to ease their heartache. But Sarah Royce was far from the only woman in California with an entrepreneurial spirit.

在整个黄金乡与旧金山等新兴城市，女性们在男性主导的社会中开辟出独特生存之道。想象1851年夏天的旧金山：你是个来自密歇根的年轻寡妇，为开启新生活来到这里。推开市中心餐馆大门时，炸肉腥气与汗臭味扑面而来，映入眼帘的是杂乱无章的桌椅。

All over Gold Country and in boomtown cities like San Francisco, women found inventive ways to thrive in the male dominated landscape. Imagine a summer eighteen fifty one in San Francisco. You're a young woman from Michigan who moved here for a fresh start after your husband died. You open the door to a crowded restaurant downtown, and a strong odor of fried meat hits you along with a reek of stale sweat. Inside, you see a jumble of mismatched tables and chairs.

一张桌子不过是架在两副锯木架上的旧门板，另一张则是摇摇欲坠的棺材盖。但几十名矿工围坐四周，正狼吞虎咽地吃着盘里的培根和豆子。嘿，漂亮姑娘。今晚需要人陪吗？

One table is nothing more than an old door balanced on two sawhorses. Another is a precariously perched coffin lid. Dozens of miners sit around them though, shoveling plates of bacon and beans into their mouths. Hey, pretty lady. Need some company tonight?

你转头看见门边有个矿工冲你咧嘴笑。瘦骨嶙峋的男人，胡子参差不齐，还缺了好几颗牙。不了，谢谢。我是来找工作的。

You look over to see a miner near the door grinning at you. Skinny man with patchy beard and several missing teeth. No. Thank you. I'm looking for a job.

知道老板在哪吗？厄休拉就在那边，不过我劝你别问工作的事。为什么？这是家族生意。他们不招外人。

Do you know where the owner is? Ursula's right over there, but I wouldn't bother asking about jobs. Why not? It's a family business. They don't hire outsiders.

你沮丧地叹了口气。虽然才来镇上几周，积蓄却快见底了。这里的物价高得离谱，连基本食品价格都是老家的三倍。你必须尽快找到赚钱的门路。

You let out a frustrated sigh. You've only been in town a few weeks, but your savings are nearly gone. It's ridiculously expensive here. Even basic groceries cost three times as much as back home. You need to find a way to make money and fast.

正当你走向门口时，突然灵光一现。你转身对那个调戏你的矿工说：先生是矿工吗？是啊。你们在矿上怎么洗衣服？

So as you head for the door, a thought hits you. You turn back to the catcalling miner. Are you a miner, sir? I am. How do you do your laundry out there?

我们不洗。那是娘们的活儿，可矿上没女人。呵，看你们这副尊容和气味，倒也不奇怪。女士，我承认确实很久没洗了。我可以帮你洗衣服。

I don't. That's women's work, but there ain't no women up there. Well, I'm not surprised given how you all look and smell. Well, ma'am, I admit it's been a while. I can do your laundry.

哦，多少钱？你脑子飞速盘算。在密歇根时洗衣费是每件10美分。你决定翻倍报价。虽然离谱，但你需要钱。

Oh, how much? Your mind starts racing. Back in Michigan, laundry's charged about 10¢ an item. You decide to double that. It seems outrageous, but you need the money.

每件20美分。矿工眨了眨眼。你胃部紧张地抽动。要价太高了吗？20美分。

20¢ an item. The miner blinks. You feel a nervous flutter in your stomach. Did you ask too much? 20¢.

见鬼，这简直白菜价！在这价钱下我每周都能洗衬衫了。他当场在餐馆里解起扣子，几个同伴也纷纷效仿。有人甚至脱掉工装裤，只穿着长内裤继续吃饭。你承诺次日把衣物送到旅馆，抱着臭气熏天的衣服堆离开了。

Well, hell, that's peanuts. I might get my shirt washed every week for that here. He stands up and starts unbuttoning his shirt right there in the restaurant, and so do several of his companions. A few strip off their overalls too and continue eating in their long underwear. You promised to deliver their things to the hotel the next morning and leave with a stinking bundle of clothes in your arms.

你有些懊恼没多要价。从他们的反应看，明明可以收更高。于是你决定明天开始报价翻倍。但错失良机并未影响你的心情——这正是你急需的转机。

Part of you is upset that you didn't think to charge them more. It's clear from their response you could have gotten a higher price. So you decide that tomorrow, you'll start asking for double. But the missed opportunity doesn't dampen your spirits. This is the lucky break you needed.

自你抵达加利福尼亚以来，情况首次出现转机。十九世纪四十年代，许多矿工将清洁和洗衣等任务视为女性专属工作，认为这些劳动会占用本可用于淘金的宝贵时间。但这种固执却成了具有创业精神的女性们的福音——她们能为洗衣等服务索要天价报酬。

For the first time since you arrived in California, things are finally looking up. In the eighteen forties, many miners dismissed certain tasks like cleaning and washing clothes as women's work. It was also labor that took up time that could be better spent mining for gold. But their stubbornness was a boon for women with an entrepreneurial streak. They could demand what would otherwise have been considered outrageous prices for services like laundry.

矿工们为获得干净衣物不得不掏钱。不过烹饪这项家务活倒是许多矿工愿意学习的技能。可惜大多数人只会煎土豆和烙薄饼，因此每当进城采购时，他们总渴望吃顿像样的饭菜。这使得淘金区的少数餐馆生意兴隆，其中最成功的餐厅属于一位名叫卢齐娜·威尔逊的女性。

Miners who wanted clean clothes had little choice but to pay up. But one domestic task that many miners did try to learn was cooking. Still, most never got beyond fried potatoes and flapjacks, so whenever they hit town to stock up on supplies, they were always keen to find a good meal. As a result, the few restaurants in Gold Country did brisk business. One of the most successful eateries belonged to a woman named Luzina Wilson.

淘金热初期，威尔逊与丈夫梅森住在密苏里州的木屋中。当梅森决定1849年前往加州时，卢齐娜坚持带着两个幼子同行。威尔逊一家在萨克拉门托定居并购买了酒店半数股权，但1849年12月底的洪水摧毁了他们的产业。他们很快迁往萨克拉门托东北60英里处的矿业小镇内华达城，试图重振旗鼓。

At the start of the Gold Rush, Wilson and her husband Mason were living in a log cabin in Missouri. When Mason decided to strike out for California in the 1849, Luzina insisted on coming along and bringing their two young sons with them. The Wilsons settled in Sacramento and bought a half share in a hotel, but when a flood tore through the town in late December eighteen forty nine, it devastated their business. They soon relocated to the mining town of Nevada City, 60 miles Northeast of Sacramento. There, they tried to start over.

趁丈夫外出期间，威尔逊决定开餐馆。她亲自采购木材制作桌椅，在露天搭起大帐篷，批量购买食材开始烹饪。吃了数月薄饼的矿工们立刻被新鲜食物的香气吸引。开业首晚她就实现盈利，当丈夫归来时，惊愕地发现二十多名矿工正在家旁的帐篷里大快朵颐。

And while her husband was absent one week, Wilson decided to open a restaurant. She bought some timber and constructed the tables herself. Then she erected a big tent over the furniture, purchased some food in bulk, and started cooking. After months of little more than flapjacks, miners were quickly drawn to the rich aroma of her freshly cooked meals. As a result, Wilson started making money on her very first night, and when her husband returned, his jaw dropped to find two dozen miners in a tent next to their home, all devouring his wife's cooking.

据卢齐娜回忆："每位食客起身时都会在我手心放一美元，声称要成为常客。"餐馆生意前景大好。因矿工多用黄金支付，她将店铺命名为"黄金国"（El Dorado）。六周内她赚取700美元（相当于密苏里州两年收入），随后又建造简陋的寄宿公寓，每周收取25美元租金。

As Luzina later said, each diner as he rose put a dollar in my hand and said I might count him as a permanent customer. It looked like the restaurant business might be pretty good. And because the miners usually paid in gold, she called her place El Dorado, the mythical city of gold. Within six weeks, Wilson made $700, the equivalent of two year salary back in Missouri, and she didn't stop there. She bought some more timber and built a rickety boarding house near the tent, charging $25 a week for borders.

接着她开设杂货店并扩张分店，很快建立起商业帝国。由于加州银行稀少，她把收到的黄金装袋堆放在卧室，曾积攒价值20万美元（现值约400万美元）的黄金。加州法律允许已婚女性独立经营，这些财富完全属于卢齐娜个人。

A general store came next, and then a second one. Wilson was soon running a small empire of businesses. And because so few banks existed in California, she would take the gold she received as payment, tie it up in small sacks, and toss them into her bedroom. At one point, she had $200,000 worth of gold just lying around, the equivalent of roughly $4,000,000 today. And unlike most states, California gave married women the right to own businesses and property independently of their husbands, so the money was all Luzinas to keep.

功成名就后，威尔逊决定盘活闲置黄金，以月息10%从事放贷业务，迅速跻身加州最富有女性行列。当然并非所有来淘金区的女性都能如她般成功，但多数人确实收入不菲。

But even after all this success, Wilson decided she could do better still by doing something with all her languishing gold. So she became a banker, lending money out at 10% interest per month. And before long, she was one of the richest women in California. But of course, not all women who came to Gold Country became magnates like Wilson. But many still did quite well for themselves.

女佣月薪可达240美元（是东部地区的10倍），妓女收入更为可观。有些北加州妓院的从业者来自巴黎（原日薪2美元），在旧金山作为高级交际花每晚可赚400美元。相比其他地区，旧金山妓女遭受的执法骚扰也少得多。

Maids could charge $240 a month, 10 times the rate they earned back east. Prostitution could be even more lucrative. Some of the workers in Northern California's brothels came from as far away as Paris, where they had been making $2 a night. In San Francisco, they could make up to $400 a night as high end courtesans. Prostitutes in cities like San Francisco also faced far less harassment from law enforcement than they did elsewhere.

当时全州仅有少数治安官和警察，且大多对违法行为睁只眼闭只眼。作为北加州最大城市，旧金山不仅是矿业贸易中心，也充斥着各种放纵堕落。但1850年代城市逐渐发展成熟，开始吸引不再追求采矿暴利、转而投身正经行业的新移民，越来越多前矿工也转型从事稳定工作，使旧金山形成了更文明守序的社会风气。

The entire state still had just a few marshals, sheriffs, police officers, and those that existed were often willing to look the other way. As Northern California's largest city, San Francisco was the main hub for all commerce surrounding the mines and the many vices and excesses that came with it. But as San Francisco matured in the 1850s, the city began to attract a new type of person, One not seeking a quick windfall from the mines, but success in more established, respectable businesses. A growing number of ex miners were also settling down to do steadier work. As a result, a more conventional, civic minded attitude took hold in San Francisco.

这些体面的新居民对当初建设城市的粗野矿工和投机者颇为不满。但缔造旧金山的那群草莽之辈，可不会轻易拱手让出这片天地。

And these new respectable types decided they didn't much like the unruly miners and hustlers who made the city in the first place. But the rough and tumble crowd that had built San Francisco was not about to leave without a fight.

法国阿格达镇以阳光、沙滩、海洋和性闻名。但近来，海滨生活发生了诡异转变。镇上德高望重的社区支柱因贪污被捕，其妻子声称他被一位美丽的通灵者蛊惑。还有当地居民接到的神秘电话。

The town of Agda in France is famous for sun, sand, sea and sex. But lately, life on the coast has taken a strange turn. The town's respected pillar of the community, has been arrested for corruption. His wife claims he's been bewitched by a beautiful clairvoyant. Then there's the mysterious phone calls that local people have been getting.

我是大天使米迦勒。

I am the Archangel Michael.

整个小镇已陷入混乱。

The whole town has been thrown into chaos.

鉴于市长无法履行职责，我愿向诸位发表讲话。法律程序已经启动。

As the mayor is unable to carry out his duties, I would like to address you all. Legal proceedings have been initiated.

我是安娜·理查森，与记者利奥·谢赫共同带来《灵媒与市长》，我们将调查权力、腐败与魔法的故事。立即在Wondery Plus无广告畅享全集《灵媒与市长》。通过Apple Podcasts、Spotify或Wondery应用开启免费试用。

Join me, Anna Richardson, and journalist Leo Sheikh for The Mystic and the Mayor as we investigate a story of power, corruption, and magic. Binge all episodes of The Mystic and the Mayor exclusively and ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Start your free trial in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the Wondery app.

毁灭一颗星球有多难？或许只需一些钻探、采矿，以及向大气层排放大量碳。当你目睹残留的景象，它开始像犯罪现场。我们真的安全吗？我们的水源安全吗？

How hard is it to kill a planet? Maybe all it takes is a little drilling, some mining, and a whole lot of carbon pumped into the atmosphere. When you see what's left, it starts to look like a crime scene. Are we really safe? Is our water safe?

你们毁坏了我们的水龙头。这类罪行绝非偶然。我们总称其为意外，但根本没有意外。这完全是可以预防的。

You destroyed our tap. And crimes like that, they don't just happen. We call things accidents. There is no accident. This was 100% preventable.

它们是人为选择的结果——无情的石油大亨、腐败政客，甚至是有组织犯罪。这些正是我们需要讲述的关于地球变迁的故事：关于欺诈、谋杀和掩盖的真相，关乎我们如何选择保护或摧毁地球。在Wondery应用或任意播客平台订阅《无法星球》。

They're the result of choices by people. Ruthless oil tycoons, corrupt politicians, even organized crime. These are the stories we need to be telling about our changing planet. Stories of scams, murders, and cover ups that are about us and the things we're doing to either protect the earth or destroy it. Follow Lawless Planet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

现在加入Wondery Plus，即可在Wondery应用、Apple Podcasts或Spotify提前无广告收听《无法星球》新剧集。

You can listen to new episodes of Lawless Planet early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

19世纪50年代初，旧金山已成为拥有六种语言报纸的国际化都市，同时孕育了强烈的平等民主精神。酒店骄傲地宣称不雇佣搬运工——人人都自己提行李。尽管人口激增且经济繁荣，多数人仍视旧金山为临时驿站，矿工和商人鲜有长期定居的打算。

By the early eighteen fifties, San Francisco was a vibrant cosmopolitan city with newspapers in a half dozen languages. It also had developed a fiercely egalitarian democratic spirit. Hotels proudly declared that they did not employ porters everyone carried their own bags. But despite the flood of people and the booming local economy, many considered San Francisco a temporary stop. Most miners and merchants didn't intend on staying long term.

他们希望快速积累财富然后离开。正因如此，长期基础设施投资严重不足。街道未经铺砌，常常变成泥潭。建筑物几乎一夜之间拔地而起，用料有时堪忧。招牌画家莱曼·布拉德利回忆说，他曾路过一个空置地块，48小时后再经过时，发现那里已矗立起一家设施齐全的商店。

They hoped to amass a quick fortune and move on. Because of this, there was a lack of investment in long term infrastructure. Streets were unpaved and often became mud pits. Buildings were erected seemingly overnight with sometimes questionable materials. Sign painter Lyman Bradley recalled passing an empty lot on one block, then returning forty eight hours later to find that a full fledged store had been erected.

虽然他欣赏这种实干精神，但也知道这些建筑造价低廉，可能摇摇欲坠且易发火灾。事实确实如此，这种爆炸性且无监管的增长创造了危险环境。1849年圣诞夜，一场大火吞噬了旧金山，随后几年里毁灭性大火频繁肆虐这座城市。1851年5月的一场大火烧毁了参议员之女杰西·弗里蒙特的住宅，她曾独自带着幼女穿越巴拿马来到西海岸。抵达加利福尼亚后，弗里蒙特推动她的探险家丈夫约翰从政。

Although he admired this can do spirit, he also knew that such structures were built cheaply and could prove rickety and fire prone. And indeed, this explosive and unregulated growth created dangerous conditions. On Christmas Eve eighteen forty nine, a fire gutted San Francisco, and more devastating blazes erupted in the city frequently for the next few years. One such fire in May 1851 destroyed the home of Jesse Fremont, the senator's daughter who traveled through Panama alone with her young daughter to reach the West Coast. After arriving in California, Fremont had pushed her explorer husband, John, into politics.

他成为加州首批两位参议员之一。人们敬重约翰，但杰西被公认为家族智囊。约翰长期驻留华盛顿意味着杰西经常独自在家抚养三个孩子。某夜，她被火警钟声惊醒，在火焰吞噬房屋前惊险逃生。望着燃烧的家园，她意识到世上所有财富与权力都无法保护家人免受此类灾难。

He became one of California's first two senators. People admired John, but Jesse was widely considered to be the brains of the family. John's long trips to Washington meant that Jesse was often left home alone with three children. One night, she awoke to fire alarm bells and narrowly escaped her house before the flames consumed it. As she watched it burn, she reflected that all the wealth and power in the world couldn't protect her family from disasters like this.

遗憾的是，旧金山领导者们对屡次火灾的教训置若罔闻。建筑法规未作修改，每次火灾后人们继续搭建易燃的危楼。但即便不在火灾期间，旧金山也以全美最狂野城镇闻名，充斥着舞厅、妓院和赌场。正如当地一位牧师痛心指出，这里似乎没有哪个男人特别渴望上天堂。男人们酗酒无度，赌注一掷千金。

Unfortunately, San Francisco's leaders ignored any lessons from the repeated fires. Building codes didn't change, and after each blaze, people continued to throw up rickety, fire prone buildings. But even when San Francisco wasn't burning, it was developing a reputation as the wildest town in America, full of dance halls, brothels, and gambling parlors. As one local preacher ruefully noted, not a single man there seemed particularly anxious to go to heaven. Men drank heavily and gambled away fortunes on a single throw of dice.

女人们公然抽雪茄，许多人夜宿酒馆，醉倒在桌下只因无处可去。犯罪猖獗，抢劫、袭击和谋杀频发。不少当地人怀疑旧金山屡次火灾是帮派故意纵火，趁乱劫掠民宅。但随着1850年代旧金山人口持续膨胀，部分居民意识到这座城市远不止是早期那个简陋的暴发户小镇。这里气候温和，陡峭山丘几乎处处可俯瞰海湾壮景。

Women brazenly smoked cigars, and many people slept in saloons at night, passing out under tables because they had nowhere else to go. Crime was rampant, robberies, assaults, and murders. Many locals suspected that some of San Francisco's repeated fires were started on purpose by gangs who then looted homes in the chaotic aftermath. But as the population of San Francisco continued to swell in the 1850s, some residents decided that the city had potential far beyond its early identity as a ramshackle boom town. The weather was mild, and the steep hills offered sweeping views of the bay from seemingly every vantage point.

或许这是值得投资的城市。因此在淘金热期间，越来越多人退出采矿行业，定居开设商店、餐馆、剧院和书店。有人竞选地方公职，逐渐形成了更稳重体面的市民阶层。但这些体面人日益反感市井之徒，为决定城市未来的冲突埋下伏笔。想象现在是1852年1月的冬夜。

Perhaps this was a city worth investing in. So over the course of the gold rush, a growing number of people got out of mining and settled down to open shops, restaurants, theaters, and bookstores. Some ran for local office, and they all began to form a more sober, respectable class of residents. But increasingly, those respectable folk began to resent the unsavory types, setting the stage for a clash that would determine the city's future. Imagine it's a winter night in January 1852.

你是旧金山码头区妓院的老鸨。周六夜晚，乐队在主厅角落演奏。你手持威士忌穿梭其间，添酒陪客并与姑娘们闲聊。你的妓院或许不是城里最豪华的，但你对这份职业问心无愧。去年离开佛罗里达的酒鬼丈夫后，你白手起家闯出一片天。

You're a local madam running a brothel near the docks in San Francisco. It's Saturday night, and a band of musicians is playing in the corner of your main parlor. You circulate with a bottle of whiskey in your hand, refreshing drinks and chatting with clients and the girls. Yours may not be the fanciest cat house in town, but you don't see any shame in your line of work. You built yourself up from nothing after leaving your alcoholic husband in Florida last year.

你的姑娘们每日能吃上热饭，你也绝不纵容虐待顾客的客人。但听到前门砸门声时你皱起眉头——熟客都知直接进门，来者恐怕不善。你将酒瓶放在吧台上，走去应门。

Your girls get hot meals every day, and you don't tolerate abusive clients. But you frown when you hear someone pounding on the front door. All the regulars know to just walk right in, so this might be trouble. You set the bottle down on the bar and walk over to answer the door. Yeah.

有什么能帮您的？您是老板娘吗？一位银色长发的男子站在门口。你隐约记得他，但已时隔多年。就你回忆，他是警察，也曾是客人。

Can I help you? Are you the owner, ma'am? A man with long silvery hair stands in the doorway. You vaguely recognize him, but it's been ages. As far as you can recall, he's a police officer and a former client.

哎呀，见到您真高兴，警长先生。快请进。他挤过你进入门厅，亮出徽章：我不当警长了，现在是美国联邦法警。

Well, lovely to see you, sergeant. Please come on in. He shoves past you and enters the small foyer, then flashes the badge. I'm not a sergeant anymore. I'm a US marshal now.

好吧，不管你是不是警长，我感谢你在踩上我的地毯前擦了靴子。女士，你马上要面对比脏地毯严重得多的问题了——我要查封整个场所。你无权这么做。再说了，你为什么要这样？

Well, marshal or not, I appreciate you wiping your boots before you walk on my carpet. Ma'am, you're about to have a lot bigger problems than a dirty carpet. I'm shutting the whole place down. You have no right to do that. Besides, why would you want to do that?

我记得你曾很享受这里。现在不了，女士。我已重获新生，追随耶稣基督的教诲。维护联邦法律是我的职责，包括禁止卖淫的法令。现在请通知所有人撤离。

I seem to recall you enjoying this place. Not anymore, ma'am. I've been born again, and I follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. And it's my duty and my job to uphold federal law, including statutes against prostitution. So now please go tell everyone to clear out.

不。不。不。你不能就这样查封我。我的姑娘们去哪儿？

No. No. No. You can't just shut me down like that. Where will my girls go?

那不是我的问题。哦，你这个肮脏的伪君子。不。不。不。

That is not my problem. Oh, you dirty hypocrite. No. No. No.

你给我滚出去。立刻滚出我的房子。男人涨红了脸，五官扭曲成讥讽的表情。好吧女士，我给过你体面解决的机会。现在只能用我的方式了。

You just get out. Get right out of my house. The man goes red faced and his features twist into a sneer. Well, ma'am, I've given you the chance to do this quietly. But now I guess we'll just have to do it my way.

他跺着脚走到门口向夜色中呼喊。你意识到他在召集其他警员。你冲向门口想推警长出去锁门，却被他抓住狠狠撞在墙上。转眼间十几名警员已冲进会客厅。

He stomps over to the door and yells out into the night. You realize he's summoning other officers. You run to the door and try to push the marshal out and lock it. He grabs you and slams you against the wall. Before you know it, a dozen other marshals are storming past you into the parlor.

房间陷入混乱，他们开始抓捕你的姑娘们和客人，试图逮捕所有人。这是一场全面突袭，你只能眼睁睁看着他们摧毁你的事业。越来越多新移民开始反感旧金山放纵的风气。这些 newcomers 打算在城里扎根，为此他们清理帐篷区、建造砖房，组建正规警队和消防局，并游说联邦警长关闭妓院等非法场所。

Room erupts in chaos as they begin grabbing your girls and your clients, trying to arrest everyone. It's a full on raid, and all you can do is watch as they tear your business apart. Increasingly, new arrivals to San Francisco didn't appreciate the city's loose morals and fast ways. These newcomers intended to put down roots in the city, and to do that, they began clearing out tent neighborhoods and constructing brick buildings. They organized a proper police force and fire department and lobbied federal marshals to shut down brothels and other illegal businesses.

他们用音乐厅、舞厅和剧院取代了酒馆赌坊。1851年还成立了名为治安委员会的反犯罪组织。其章程宣称要维护社会安宁、保护市民生命财产。讽刺的是，委员会领袖正是当年举着金粉罐游街、点燃淘金热的萨姆·布兰南。该组织逐渐演变成强大的民间执法团体。

Instead of saloons and gambling dens, they opened concert halls, ballrooms, and theaters. In the 1851, they also formed an anti crime organization called the Committee of Vigilance. The committee's charter promised that its members would safeguard the peace and good order of society and preserve the lives and property of the citizens of San Francisco. Ironically, a leading member of the committee was Sam Brannan, the hype man who had helped ignite the Gold Rush in the first place by parading through the streets of San Francisco with a jar of gold dust. The committee began a powerful vigilante law enforcement group.

他们有时将嫌犯移交警方，但更多时候会在自己的袋鼠法庭审判并施行私刑。名妓贝儿·科拉亲身体验了这点。科拉在豪华宅邸经营妓院，提供珍馐美酒，客户据说包括旧金山最有权势的男性。但当她的情人被控谋杀联邦警长时，她动用财富和人脉聘请了顶级律师辩护。

Sometimes they seized suspects and handed them over to the police, but more often than not, they would try suspects in their own kangaroo courts and dole out their own special justice. A well known madam named Belle Cora learned this firsthand. Cora ran her brothel from a resplendent mansion filled with fine furniture and served rich food and expensive wine. Her client list was reported to include some of the most powerful men in San Francisco. But when Cora's lover was charged with murdering a US marshal, she used her wealth and connections to hire the best lawyers for his defense.

起初她的努力似乎见效——陪审团未能达成裁决，科拉的情人获释。但治安委员会决不容许这位声名狼藉的老鸨逃脱制裁。他们从监狱拖出她的情人，草草进行二次审判后定罪，并架起绞刑架。在愤怒的民众面前，委员会批准了死囚最后一个请求。

And at first, it appeared that her efforts paid off. The jury at the trial couldn't reach a verdict, and Cora's lover went free. But the Committee of Vigilance was determined not to let the city's most notorious madam escape justice. They hauled her lover out of jail, held a hastily conducted second trial, found him guilty, and erected a gallows. There, before an angry mob, the committee granted the condemned man one final request.

他们请来一位牧师为他和科拉举行婚礼，随后便将他绞死。科拉在短短几分钟内从新娘变成了寡妇。随着淘金热最初的狂热逐渐消退，加州作为一个州逐渐成熟，即便是淘金地最具影响力的公民也遭遇了命运转折。萨姆·布兰南在淘金热初期通过收购镇上所有铁锹大发横财后，继续扩张他的百货商店帝国。在他最成功时，据说每天能赚取高达5000美元。

They summoned a preacher to unite him and Cora in marriage, and then they hanged him. Cora went from a wife to a widow in just minutes. As the initial frenzy of the gold rush cooled and California matured as a state, even some of gold country's most influential citizens faced a turn of fortune. After cashing in on the initial rush of miners by buying up every shovel in town, Sam Brannan continued to expand his empire of general stores. At the height of his success, he was reportedly making up to $5,000 a day.

他可能是加州第一位百万富翁。但尽管财运亨通，布兰南最终失去了一切。他重金投资纳帕谷房地产，建造度假村、酿酒厂和蒸馏厂，却未能收回成本。最终他酗酒致死，1889年去世时身无分文，尸体在公共墓穴中无人认领长达一年有余。而被称为加州黄金第一发现者的詹姆斯·马歇尔，命运同样坎坷。

He was likely California's first millionaire. But despite his good fortune, Brannen lost everything. He invested heavily in Napa Valley real estate, building a resort, winery, and distillery, but never recouped his costs. He eventually drank himself to death and died in 1889 with so little money to his name that his body lay unclaimed in a public tomb for over a year. The man credited with first discovering California gold, James Marshall, didn't fare much better.

马歇尔为老板约翰·萨特建造的锯木厂是淘金热的中心，本可轻松致富的他却选择将时间投入锯木厂运营——这个决定被证明是灾难性的。由于所有壮劳力都忙于淘金，马歇尔始终无法招到足够工人维持工厂运转，最终当上游矿工改道驱动水车的河流时，锯木厂彻底倒闭。马歇尔晚年徒劳地试图争取作为淘金热发起者的认可，1885年去世时几乎身无分文。

The sawmill Marshall built for his boss, John Sutter, was the epicenter of the gold rush, and Marshall could have made an easy fortune. But he decided to invest his time in the mill instead, which proved to be a mistake. Marshall could never find enough workers to keep the mill running, as every able-bodied man was too busy mining gold, and eventually the mill failed completely when miners upstream diverted the river that powered it. Marshall spent the last years of his life unsuccessfully trying to win recognition as the man who'd started the gold rush. He died in 1885 almost penniless.

自1853年起，一项新技术出现并很快摧毁了加州首批

Beginning in 1853, a new technology appeared that would soon be the ruin of many California's first wave of miner 49ers. Hydraulic mining required vast quantities of water, heavy industrial equipment, and a large capital investment to get any new operation up and running. As a result, it was out of reach for most individual miners, the ones who had started the rush with shovels, picks, and washpans. The gold rush had always bred winners and losers though, those who struck pay dirt and those who came up empty. But now, more than ever, only a wealthy few would be able to reap the spoils of gold country.

对其他人而言，这标志着淘金热终结的开始。

For everyone else, it was the beginning of the end of the gold rush.

我是你们的老朋友尼克·坎农，在此隆重推出我的新播客《深夜尼克秀》。听说你们在感情方面需要些建议？还有谁比我更合适呢？不，我是认真的。

It's your man, Nick Cannon. I'm here to bring you my new podcast, Nick Cannon at Night. I've heard y'all been needing some advice in the love department. So who better to help than yours truly? No, I'm serious.

每周我都会邀请明星好友和业内顶尖专家，解答你们最私密的情感问题。和男友闹矛盾？我们帮你解决。对秘密情人动了真心？先让我们验明正身。

Every week, I'm bringing out some of my celebrity friends and the best experts in the business to answer your most intimate relationship questions. Having problems with your man? We got you. Catching feelings for your sneaky link? Let's make sure it's the real deal first.

想在卧室增添情趣玩具？咱们敞开了聊。这里是无评判地带，欢迎提出关于性爱、现代约会、恋爱关系、友情、暧昧关系等任何问题。节目将充满性感、狂野与混乱——想知道多精彩？看了就知道。

Ready to bring toys into the bedroom? Let's talk about it. Consider this a non judgment zone to ask your questions when it comes to sex and modern dating in relationships, friendships, situationships, and everything in between. It's gonna be sexy, freaky, messy, and you know what? You'll just have to watch the show.

别害羞，快来参与讨论！前往YouTube观看《深夜尼克秀》，或在Wondery应用及其他播客平台订阅。想提前观看无广告版？立即加入Wondery+会员。

So don't be shy. Join the conversation and head over to YouTube to watch Nick Cannon at night or subscribe on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Wanna watch episodes early and ad free? Join Wondery plus right now.

淘金热初期，矿工仅用淘金盘就能发现黄金。但随着地表黄金日益稀少，勘探者不得不向更深处挖掘。后来矿工们挖掘的所谓

In the early days of the gold rush, miners could find gold with little more than a wash pan. But as gold on the surface became more scarce, prospectors had to dig deeper. Eventually, miners were digging so called coyote holes that could extend down for hundreds of feet and often yielded no gold. When they got tired of digging, some miners switched tactics and began building dams and canals to divert waterways. This allowed miners to systematically dig up and sift through the newly exposed riverbeds.

向更大型水坝的转变改变了采矿业的本质。不再是个人或合伙挖坑，现在需要大批人马建造复杂的土方工程来改道整条河流。这需要数周的艰苦劳动，期间他们毫无收益。只有那些拥有充足资金的人才能承担这样的冒险。随后在1853年，水力采矿技术出现，永久性地改变了加利福尼亚的淘金方式，使得开采规模达到了几年前还无法想象的级别。

This shift to ever larger dams changed the nature of mining. Instead of individuals or partners digging holes, now large teams of men had to construct elaborate earthworks to reroute entire rivers. This required weeks of hard labor, during which they made no profit. Only those with access to sufficient capital could afford to even undertake such ventures. Then in 1853, hydraulic mining emerged, permanently altering the nature of gold mining in California, making it possible to mine on a scale that just a few years earlier had been unthinkable.

想象现在是1853年。你是来自阿肯色州的锡匠，但此刻正站在内华达山脉的山麓。松树环绕，鸣禽在头顶掠过。阳光明媚，幽静美丽，但这些此刻都无关紧要。你正忙着将一码长的金属喷嘴锤接到铁管末端，想造出一门水炮，但进展不顺。

Imagine it's the 1853. You're a tinsmith from Arkansas, but right now, you're standing in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Pine trees surround you, and songbirds flit overhead. It's sunny, secluded, and beautiful, but none of that matters at this moment. You're hard at work hammering a yard long metal nozzle onto the end of an iron tube to create a water cannon, but it's not going well.

喷嘴套不进管口。设计这门炮的工程师在你身后徘徊，你能感觉到他的焦虑。你不是说量过尺寸了吗？我量了。那怎么这么久？

The nozzle won't fit over the end of the tube. An engineer who designed the cannon hovers over your shoulder and you can sense his anxiety. Didn't you say you measured this? I did. Well, what's taking so long?

测量不可能分毫不差。看起来卡住了。是啊，我看出来了。帮点忙，去找点猪油什么的。

Well, measurements aren't always exact. It looks stuck. Yeah, I realized that. Be useful. Go find some lard or something.

我们抹油润滑。工程师嘟囔着跺脚走开。你对他也不满。整个星期他都在你身边转悠，问些愚蠢的问题。你一直按他的图纸造这门水炮，可一旦出问题，责任总是你的。

We'll grease it. The engineer stomps off grumbling. You're not happy with him either. He's been in your business all week asking the stupidest of questions. You've been following his plans to build this water cannon, but somehow, whenever anything goes wrong, it's always your fault.

你来金矿已一年多，但好运始终未至。就在准备放弃时，这个工程师说服你把最后的积蓄投入他的计划。你开始后悔了。工程师拿着猪油回来。给，这次最好能成。

You came to the Goldfields over a year ago, but your lucky strike has always eluded you. Just before you are ready to quit, this engineer convinced you to pour what's left of your life savings into his plan. You're beginning to regret it. The engineer returns with the lard. Well, here, this better work.

会的，退后点。你将猪油抹在炮口润滑，然后在泥土上擦手。抡起锤子继续敲打。终于，金属喷嘴滑入到位。

It will. Just back off. You slap lard onto the end of the cannon and grease it up, then wipe your hands in the dirt. Pick up a hammer, resume pounding. Finally, the metal nozzle slides on.

老天，这玩意儿真够倔的。那可以开始了？算是吧。你紧张不已。为了建造这套设备，已耗费数月时间和十几个人力。

Well, Jesus, that was a stubborn bastard. We ready to start then? Well, ready as we'll ever be. You're nervous. It's taking months of work and a dozen men to build the necessary equipment.

如果失败，你将身无分文。工程师摘下帽子挥舞，向身后山顶的两名工人示意。放水吧，伙计们。工人站在蓄满分流溪水的池塘边，接到信号后猛地拉开闸门。

And if this doesn't work, you'll be penniless. The engineer removes his hat and waves it over his head, signaling two workers at the top of the hill behind you. Let her rip, boys. The workers are standing near a holding pond full of diverted stream water. At the signal, they wrench open a sluice gate.

洪水冲过闸门涌入水槽。水槽连接着粗帆布软管，随着水流灌入，软管如巨蟒般鼓胀扭动。你担心压力会撑爆它，但软管承受住了。你看着鼓包沿山坡冲向水炮。求上帝保佑成功。一分钟后，水流从喷嘴喷薄而出。

Water rushes through the gate and into a trough. The trough is connected to a thick canvas hose, and as the hose fills with water, it bulges and writhes like a giant snake. You're afraid the pressure will burst it, but the hose holds and you watch the bulge race downhill toward your cannon. I pray God this works. A minute later, water explodes out of the nozzle.

每秒必定有100加仑的水喷涌而出，一道白色水刃划破长空。哇，皮特，快看！它直接把那棵树劈成了两半。你既感到敬畏又同样恐惧。

There must be a 100 gallons a second gushing out, a white sword of water slicing through the air. Woah, Pete. Look at that. And it snapped that tree right in half. You're awed and terrified in equal measure.

接着你将水炮对准山坡，开始轰击松动的数千磅泥土。泥石流顺着特制的沟槽和滤网倾泻而下，将黄金分离出来。几分钟后，你的伙伴再次挥动帽子示意：好了，关闭水闸吧。

Then you direct a cannon to the hillside, and it starts chewing in, loosening thousands of pounds of soil. An avalanche of mud forms and flows downhill in a series of troughs and strainers designed to separate the gold out. After a few minutes, your partner waves his hat again. Alright. Close the sluice.

顶部的人们奋力关闭闸门，水管中的水流逐渐变成细流。当泥河退去后，你和工程师艰难地走下坡检查滤网。你胃里的结比任何时候都紧，但走近时你看到了——那里湿漉漉闪耀着的，是你在加州18年来见过最多的黄金。你对这个工程师疯狂计划的投资终于得到了回报。

Men up top heave the sluice gate shut, and the water in the hose slows to a trickle. When the river of mud subsides, you and the engineer trudge down to inspect the strainers. The knot in your stomach is tighter than ever, but as you draw near, you see it. There, glistening wet, is more gold than you've seen in your entire 18 in California. Your investment in this engineer's crazy scheme has paid off.

水力采矿法是康涅狄格州工程师转矿工的爱德华·麦迪逊的创意。他在山脚挖矿时险些被山体滑坡掩埋后产生了这个想法。麦迪逊深知采金最费力的步骤就是挖土，而大自然能在几秒内移除数吨泥土的速度令他震撼。于是他开始思考如何利用地质力量剥离土壤，想起家乡消防队使用的水炮便决定尝试用于采矿。

Hydraulic mining was the brainchild of a Connecticut engineer turned miner named Edward Madison. Madison came up with the idea after nearly being buried in a landslide while digging mining holes at the bottom of a hill. Madison knew that the most laborious step in gold mining was excavating dirt, and he was awed by how quickly Mother Nature had removed several tons of it in just seconds. So he began thinking about ways to harness geological forces to strip away soil. He remembered seeing fire departments back home in Connecticut use water cannons and decided to try them for mining.

1853年他在内华达城附近的山丘开始试验。但水力采矿需要巨额前期投资来建造水坝、溜槽、水管和水炮。不过效率回报极其丰厚：当时单个矿工用淘金盘处理一立方码泥土需20美元工具和人力成本，滤网挖掘可降至5美元，而水力系统仅需20美分，且每日可处理数百立方码。

He started on a hill near the mining town of Nevada City in 1853. But hydraulic mining required extensive upfront investment to pay for all the dams, sluices, hoses, and cannons the process required. Still, it paid off handsomely in terms of efficiency. By 1853, it cost a lone miner $20 in tools and labor to extract the gold from a cubic yard of dirt with a wash pan. Digging with a strainer brought the cost down to $5, but a hydraulic system could eat through a cubic yard of dirt for just 20¢, and hydraulic miners could go through hundreds of cubic yards every day.

尽管水力采矿经济效益显著，其环境代价却极为沉重。为获取大量水源，矿工们改道了维系生态系统的溪流。时速100英里的水炮更具破坏性——它们剥离数千英亩土地直至基岩，连根拔起数万棵树木。如今加州仍可见这些环境伤痕：大片裸露的荒芜山坡。

But however efficient hydraulic mining was economically, its environmental costs were immense. To obtain the vast quantities of water their operations needed, hydraulic miners diverted streams and creeks that were the lifeblood of many ecosystems. The water cannons themselves were even more destructive. They sprayed jets of water at 100 miles an hour, stripping thousands of acres down to bedrock and uprooting tens of thousands of trees. Today, many of these environmental scars are still visible in California, huge naked hillsides of barren dirt.

泥浆洪流同样造成毁灭性影响。巨型瀑布般的泥流从山脉冲下淹没山谷农田，溺毙庄稼牲畜。有时整个城镇都会被泥浆淹没。由于这项技术太新，当时对其使用范围方式毫无限制，也几乎无需为破坏担责。水力采矿还带来更深层社会经济影响——巨额前期成本使得利润最终集中在少数资金雄厚的企业手中。

The torrents of muddy runoff could be devastating as well. Huge cataracts rushed down from the mountains and flooded valleys and farms, drowning crops and livestock. Sometimes entire towns were swamped with a muddy runoff, and because the technology was so new, there were no restrictions on where or how it could be employed and few penalties for the destruction it caused. There were larger social and economic implications of hydraulic mining as well. Given the huge upfront costs, profits from the technique ended up in the hands of a small number of well financed corporations.

这与淘金热初期形成鲜明对比，那时理论上任何人拿着淘盘和镐都能致富。因此到1850年代中期，圈地暴富的梦想基本破灭，工业采矿开始主导加州。但事实上即便在巅峰期，淘金热也极少让人真正致富。不过其对美国的影响深远持久——这个国家几乎一夜之间变成了横跨两海岸的国度。

This was a dramatic shift from the early days of the gold rush when anyone with a pan and a pickaxe could, in theory, earn a fortune. So because of hydraulic mining, by the mid eighteen fifties, the dream of staking your claim and striking it rich was largely over. From then on, industrial mining would dominate in California. But realistically, even at its peak, the gold rush made very few people rich. But despite that, the rush's effects on The United States were deep and lasting.

1848至1852年间，整整1%的美国人口（相当于费城总人口两次跨海岸迁徙）移居加州。虽然个人鲜少致富，但这些新移民集体创造了惊人财富——1850年代他们开采的黄金相当于现代120亿美元，推动美国经济长达数十年。这股淘金热最终蔓延至加州之外。

America became a bicoastal nation virtually overnight. From 1848 to 1852, a full 1% of The US population moved to California, the equivalent of the entire city of Philadelphia moving to the other coast twice. And although few of them made fortunes themselves, collectively, these new arrivals generated a staggering amount of wealth. Throughout the eighteen fifties, they extracted the modern equivalent of $12,000,000,000 worth of gold, which helped drive The US economy for decades to come. And America's gold fever would eventually spread beyond California.

研究内华达山脉金矿的地质工程师们很快在全国发现类似矿脉。基于其观察，科罗拉多、南达科他和阿拉斯加相继发现金矿并引发淘金热。这场热潮还改变了美国商业本质——对许多人而言，其启示就是抢先机、攫取最大利益。19世纪末石油繁荣和1920年代股市热潮都延续了这一模式。

Geologists and engineers who studied the Sierra Nevada gold fields soon noticed similar formations elsewhere in the country. Based on their observations, gold was later discovered in Colorado, South Dakota, and Alaska, all of which experienced rushes of their own. The gold rush also transformed the nature of other American businesses. For many, the lesson of the rush was to get in early, grab as much as you could, and make a killing. American oil booms in the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds followed the same pattern, as did the stock market in the nineteen twenties.

或许最重要的是，淘金热具体体现了这样一种非常美国式的理念：无论出身如何，个人都可以通过努力工作致富。在那短短的几年里，成千上万的男男女女背井离乡，重塑自我，掌控自己的命运，全都为了追逐那个看似不可能实现的发财梦。这里是Wanderee为您带来的《美国历史讲述者》第四集——加利福尼亚淘金热。下季节目中，我们将讲述1864年12月，109名联邦军官从里士满恶名昭著的利比监狱挖地道越狱，发动了内战期间最大胆的逃亡之一。但这只是惊人越狱传奇的一个篇章。

Perhaps most importantly, the gold rush crystallized the very American idea that individuals could work hard and make a fortune no matter how they started in life. In those few short years, thousands of men and women uprooted their lives, reinvented themselves, and took control of their own destinies, all in pursuit of the improbable dream, but striking it rich. From Wanderee, this is episode four of the California Gold Rush for American history tellers. In our next season, in December 1864, 109 union officers tunneled their way out of Richmond's notorious Libbey Prison, launching one of the most daring escapes of the civil war. But this was just chapter in a saga of incredible prison breaks.

从莱文沃思联邦监狱的火车劫持事件，到纳粹战俘逃往亚利桑那沙漠，再到1962年恶名昭彰的恶魔岛越狱，我们将探索四个铤而走险的故事——那些甘愿赌上一切逃离美国最森严监狱的人们。若您喜欢《美国历史讲述者》，现在加入Wondery Plus即可在Wondery应用或Apple Podcasts上提前无广告畅听所有剧集。Prime会员可在Amazon Music享受无广告收听。离开前，欢迎到wondery.com/survey填写简短问卷告诉我们您的收听体验。若想深入了解淘金热，我们推荐H.

From a train hijacking at the federal prison at Leavenworth, to Nazi prisoners of war fleeing into the Arizona Desert, to the infamous 1962 Alcatraz escape, we'll explore four stories of men desperate enough to risk everything to escape America's most formidable prisons. If you like American history tellers, you can binge all episodes early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com/survey. If you'd like to learn more about the Gold Rush, we recommend The Age of Gold by H.

W. Brands所著《黄金时代》与Edward Dulnik的《淘金热潮》。《美国历史讲述者》由我Lindsey Graham为Airship主持、编辑及制作。音频剪辑Molly Bach。音效设计Derek Barons。

W. Brands and The Rush by Edward Dulnik. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham, for Airship. Audio editing by Molly Bach. Sound design by Derek Barons.

配乐Lindsey Graham。本集编剧Sam Keane。编辑Dorian Marina。制作人Alita Rozanski。执行制作Matt Gant。

Music by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written by Sam Keane. Edited by Dorian Marina. Produced by Alita Rozanski. Managing producer is Matt Gant.

高级执行制作Tanja Thigpen，资深制作人Andy Herman。执行制片Jenny Lauer Beckman与Marsha Lewy代表Wondery。

Senior managing producer is Tanja Thigpen, and our senior producer is Andy Herman. Executive producers, Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marsha Lewy for Wondery.