ABSTRACT
The following excerpts from the letters of William Carpenter to his fiancée suggest the problem that faced many miners. Many who set out on the adventure were condemned for being foolish and irresponsible by neighbors and family members who stayed at home. William Carpenter, like many of these young men, promised to stay moral and righteous among the temptations of a life in California. In his early letters, he described the region as immoral, barbarous, and no place for a woman. Yet, when he switched from mining to shop keeping, he now had to convince his fiancée that California was not so bad, and that she should move west herself. But having painted such a dismal picture of California, how could he now change his tune without appearing to have slipped morally?
