Tom Norton

Irish Gold Tom Norton

If you were to meet three young Irish immigrants getting off a ship in New York harbor in the year 1864, you could not even hazard a guess as to their future in America. But, if you were to meet three young Irish men in the gold fields of California in 1866, their arriving there could be reduced to a very few possibilities. Their experiences getting there could vary from any other three Irish brothers accomplishing the same thing, but either trio of brothers would have experienced similar adventures along the way. Although the three brothers in this story are fictional characters, it is highly likely there were many actual occurrences similar to this novel's description of their journey from coast to coast. The brothers in this story immigrated to America not to have the United States as their home, but their destination was Mexico City. Pursing this goal resulted in them being pursued by the Union Army, every law man in America and a bounty for their capture by any citizen. Unforeseen circumstances altered their destination and their route across America. It was not their desire to seek wealth, but to rid themselves of the destitute way of life in Ireland at the time. If they acquired wealth it would have to be by no more than sheer luck, and any gold miner could tell you, luck plays a good part in who finds the gold and who doesn't.