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拓荒者在沙加缅度 (Sacramento) 的生活：1849年11月25日
虽然柏克很想家，但这位年轻的淘金者在写给姊姊的信中说：「我不像其他人一样，大老远走了2万英里的路，然后只是因为想念家乡就打道回府。」柏克告诉玛丽他的事业有多么成功。他骄傲的说：「就在上个星期，我们这家店在一天内就以现金交易卖出价值1千5百元的商品。你一定要告诉约瑟夫这件事……我在旧金山用18块买进一袋200磅的面粉，在这里可以用44块的高价卖出，而且还销售一空。」在1849年前往加州淘金的许多人之中，有
许多的人返乡时还是身无分文。但是像柏克这样的商人，却因为卖补给品给这些矿工，而在这黄金西岸赚进了大把钞票。
Though homesick, the young forty-niner wrote to his sister, "I have not come 20,000 miles to turn around and go right back again like some persons who have been here and gotten homesick." Young Buck told Mary about the success of his business. "Week before last," he boasted, "we sold out of our little store $1,500 worth of goods. All cash trade in one day. Tell Joseph to beat that . . . The flour that I bought in San Francisco for $18 per sack (200 lbs) we sold for $44 and are all out." Among those seeking gold in California in 1849, many went home again penniless. But merchants, like Buck, who provided supplies for the miners, tended to do well in the golden West.
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