Proudly Presents

LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST by Giacomo Puccini

Featuring

Minnie, owner of the Polka Saloon. . . . . . .. . . . . . . Soprano Jack Rance, the Sheriff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baritone

Dick Johnson (aka Ramerrez) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tenor Nick, the bartender at the Polka . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tenor

Ashby, a Wells Fargo agent . . . . . . . . .Bass-baritone Billy Jackrabbit, a Native American . . . . . . . . . Bass

Wowkle, Billy’s girlfriend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mezzo Jake Wallace, a travelling minstrel . . . . . . . . . . . . Baritone

José Castro, a member of Ramerrez’s band. . . . . . . . . Bass Miners: Sonora, Trin, Sid, Handsome, Harry, Joe, Happy,

Larkens

LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST (THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST) By Giacomo Puccini Text by Guelfo Civinini and Carlo Zangarini after David Belasco’s play THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST First performed on December 10, 1910 in New York City, Metropolitan Opera House Place: A mining camp at the foot of the Cloudy Mountains, California Time: During the gold rush; 1849-50 Act I – The Polka saloon, at sunset Miners drift into the Polka saloon where they are greeted by Nick, the bartender. The saloon’s owner is Minnie who cares for the miners and leads them in Bible studies. Minnie is attended by two Native Ameri-cans, Billy Jackrabbit and his girlfriend, Wowkle. Min-ers Happy, Harry, Bello and Joe sit down to play a game of faro. Jake Wallace, the camp minstrel, be-gins to sing a nostaglic tune (Che farrano I vecchi miei) that causes Larken to break down in tears. So-nora, another miner, takes up a collection for Larken to go home. Sid (the “banker” for the faro game) is caught cheating and the miners threaten to hang him. Sheriff Jack Rance steps in and pins a two of spades to Sid’s chest as a mark of shame. Rance tells the miners that Sid is no longer allowed to play, spread the word around the camps, and if Sid removes the card, he’ll be shot on sight. Ashby, a Wells Fargo agent, enters and asks after Minnie. Ashby tells Rance that he’s hot on the heels of the notorious bandit, Ramerrez. Rance begins to brag that soon Minnie will be Mrs. Rance and Sonora taunts him, for he also loves Minnie. A fight begins but is soon broken up by Minnie herself. She tells them to behave or they’ll be barred from the Polka. As the miners give her small tokens of their esteem, she takes down her Bible and begins the Bible study class. The Pony Express arrives with letters and newspapers. Ash-by has received a letter from Nina Micheltorena, a former girlfriend of Ramerrez, who is supposed to tell him Ramerrez’ whereabouts. Nick announces that there is a stranger outside asking for whiskey and wa-ter. Rance declares his love for Minnie, who brushes him off. Rance sings of his unhappy childhood (Minnie, dalla mia casa) and his gambling life and how he’d give a fortune for just one kiss from Minnie. In return, Minnie sings of her happy childhood memories of her parents (Laggiu nel Soledad, ero piccina) and how she’ll only marry for love. Nick brings in the stranger, Dick Johnson. Rance demands to know his business but Minnie vouches for him as they’ve met before. Johnson and Minnie dance to a waltz. Ashby and a group of men drag in Jose Castro, a member of Ramerrez’ gang. Castro says he has no loyalty to Ramerrez and will lead the men to Ramerrez’ camp. Castro, as an aside to Johnson, tells him that the gang is ready to plunder the saloon and Castro will lead Ashby and his men on a decoy away from the Polka. Johnson is to return a whistle when the coast is clear to rob the saloon. Castro and the other men depart leaving Minnie to guard the saloon. Johnson comments on Minnie’s strange situation, but she de-

LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST- the synopsis

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Once again, Puccini fell in love with a David Belasco play (the same playwright who wrote MADAMA BUT-TERFLY). Puccini was so taken with LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST that he imme-diately asked his publisher, Ricordi, to hurry and get the rights. Puccini himself added some of the more exciting elements of the plot in-cluding the manhunt for Ramerrez and Minnie’s final plea for Dick John-son’s release. It premiered at the Metro-politan Opera in 1910 and was an immediate success. Given that Arturo Tosca-nini was the conductor and Enrico Caruso was the first Dick Johnson, it seemed destined to have a magnificent opening run. Although it’s not BUTTER-FLY or LA BOHÈME, LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST has heart and when Min-nie pleads to the miners for Dick’s release, there won’t be a dry eye in the house. Also look for the magnificent tenor aria Ch’ella mi creda in the final act.

clares that she loves her life and wouldn’t trade it for anything. Nick says that a bandit’s been seen around the saloon, but Johnson comforts Minnie and agrees to come to her place for dinner. The ban-dit whistles to Johnson who does not return the whistle and instead declares that Minnie has the face of an angel. Act II – Minnie’s cabin, later that evening Wowkle is singing a lullaby to her child. Wowkle and Billy discuss whether they should get married. Minnie sends Billy on his way and begins dress-ing up for dinner. Johnson enters and wonders at Minnie’s lonely life which Minnie defends as being most exciting (Oh, se sapeste). As dinner is finished, Johnson offers to leave but a blizzard makes that impossible so Minnie prepares a bed by the fire. Voices are heard outside demanding entrance. Minnie hides Johnson behind the bed curtains and admits

Rance, Nick, Ashby and Sonora. They were worried about her safety because they’ve discovered that Dick Johnson is really Ramerrez. Minnie sends them out and be-comes furious with Johnson/Ramerrez. Johnson pleads for her forgiveness and swears he will abandon his bandit ways to be with her. Minnie says she can forgive the bandit but not the man who stole her first kiss. Johnson leaves. A shot is heard and Johnson appears at the door, wounded. Min-nie helps Johnson to the attic just before Rance arrives. Minnie says that Johnson is not there and challenges Rance to search her cabin. Rance is about to leave when a drop of blood from the ceiling falls on his hand. Rance orders Johnson to come downstairs, which he does. Minnie chal-lenges Rance to a game of poker. If she loses, then she’ll marry Rance but if he loses, then Johnson belongs to her. Rance accepts. During the game, Minnie pretends to faint and switches her cards so she ends up with the winning hand. Rance does not accept his defeat well.

Act III – A clearing in the forest, sometime later Nick, Ashby and Rance are sitting around a campfire. Ashby declares that he believes his men have caught up with Ramerrez but it turns out to be a false alarm. They talk about the changes in their lives

since Johnson appeared. Rance points to Minnie’s cabin and says that she’ll never see her lover again unless it’s at the end of a rope. There is another false alarm and then Sonora rides up declaring that they have caught Johnson at last. Johnson is brought in tethered to his horse and Billy is ordered to prepare his noose (Nick has bribed Billy to take his time with his task). Johnson defends himself against the murder charges and asks only that Minnie never be told of his fate. He wants Minnie to believe that he is free and leading a better life somewhere else (Ch’ella mi creda li-bero e lontano). Rance punches him in the face to the dis-may of some of the men. Johnson is about to hang when Minnie’s voice is heard. She rides in on horseback and pleads for mercy for Johnson. When her pleas go unan-swered, she rushes to Johnson’s side and draws a pistol,

threatening to kill both Johnson and herself. The miners are divided over this tactic, but Sonora finally sways the decision and Minnie and Johnson are allowed to leave and find their happiness. The miners bid a sad farewell to Minnie.

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LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST

Biography of the Composer

Giacomo Puccini 1858 - 1924

His full name was Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini . . . it was Italian tradition to include the names of your grandfathers on the birth certificate. Giacomo came from a long line of organists, composers and choir masters in Lucca, a small town in nothern Italy. As a boy, Puccini was described as “lazy, slow, and a poor student,” who enjoyed only bird hunting. His mother, a single parent with seven children, forced him to study music. To help with family finances, Puccini began working at age 11 as a church organist, and later earned money by teaching piano and playing piano in Lucca’s taverns. Puccini saw his first opera at age 18. Too poor for train fare, he walked almost 20 miles to see Verdi’s AIDA in Pisa, and it changed his life: “ I felt that a musical window had opened for me.” Puccini now knew he would not become a church musician like his father, but would turn to opera. He made plans to move to Milan, where the famous opera house, La Scala, was the new center of Italian opera. It took him four years to save enough money to enroll in Milan Conservatory. In Milan, Puccini was poor, but he met the most influential figures in Italian opera. To save money, he shared an apartment with several friends, and in later years, he would recall episodes of dodging bill collectors and playing piano in bars for food. Puccini hated his landlord, who opened the tenants’ mail to collect rent before they could spend it. The students were not allowed to cook in their rooms, but were too poor to eat out, so while his friends cooked, Puccini played piano as loudly as possible to cover the kitchen sounds. In LA BOHÈME, the landlord would become the old buffoon, Benoit, and the young roommates would cheat him out of his rent. . . something Puccini wanted to do in his youth.

Puccini wrote his first opera, LE VILLI, for an opera competition. The judges didn’t like it, but Giulio Ricordi, the most important publisher in Italy, liked it, and saw great promise in Puccini. He paid Puccini a stipend for several years, and stood by him through several attempts to write a successful opera. Ricordi believed that Puccini would become famous. He was right. He made a fortune as the publisher of the world’s most popular operas: LA BOHÈME, TOSCA, and MADAMA BUTTERFLY.

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Some of Puccini’s most popular operas were composed around the turn of the century in-cluded LA BOHÈME in 1896, TOSCA in 1900, and MADAMA BUTTERFLY in 1904, an opera he based on a David Belasco play he’d seen in London. This would not be the first time that Puccini had inspiration from a Belasco play. Then came a long period when he searched for new subjects and yearned to write a different kind of opera. The result was a commission

from America, on an American subject, to be premiered in New York for the Metropolitan Opera. Puccini was again inspired by a David Belasco play and subsequently wrote LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST (THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST), a tale of gold miners in the California gold rush. FANCIULLA had its premiere in 1910. He wrote four more operas before beginning TURANDOT in 1920. TURANDOT would prove to be an extremely difficult project for Puccini. In fact, he never completed the opera. There were many problems: his librettists were slow, the story line required major rewriting, Puccini wanted it to be bigger than any of his other works and, worst of all, his health was failing. Throughout his life Puccini was never without his beloved cigars, and he was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1923. He had a fatal heart attack after surgery in Brussels, and died on November 29, 1924. Unlike most composers, Puccini died a wealthy man, with an estate valued at $24 million in today’s money. From 1850 to Puccini’s time, the opera business in Italy was like the Broadway musical scene of today: it was big business. Wealthy investors poured money into star performers and big productions, looking for the next hit show. In Italy, Giuseppe Verdi had been the reigning monarch of opera composers for over fifty years. He had just come out of a long retirement to compose OTELLO (1887) and FALSTAFF (1893), but he was already 80 years old. Italy was looking for Verdi’s successor, and Ricordi put his money on Puccini. And by 1900, all the world knew that Puccini was the heir designate. Puccini wrote 12 operas with three of them, MADAMA BUTTERFLY, LA BOHÈME, and TOSCA easily qualifying as world class, all-time hits, that made the “top ten money makers” list. Add FANCIULLA, TURANDOT and MANON LESCAUT, and you have operas with a large portion of the most beautiful, most frequently sung arias ever written.  

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Puccini was a master of composing beautiful tunes. Many are used in arias, but most are found woven into the score like threads in fabric. He uses melodies to describe action, individual characters, and emotions. Most of Puccini’s characters have their own themes, called motives, which portray them through music. Puccini searched long and hard for good subjects for his operas. He read scripts and traveled widely to see new plays and theatrical productions. He had an uncanny sense of drama and would not settle on one subject until he knew it would provide powerful, emotional theater. Puccini once described himself as “more heart than mind,” and wrote once, “how can one compose what one does not feel?”

With his great melodic gifts, Puccini controlled pacing and mood on stage. He never let things slow down. His favorite tool was contrast: he could instantly turn a scene from humorous to tragic, from lyric to dramatic. Puccini heroines are often tragic figures who are ultimately betrayed by the circumstances of their lives. But Minnie was a deviation from the previous tragic Puccini heroines. He specifically wanted a strong female character and instead of being rescued by the hero, she rides up on her horse and rescues him! The original Minnie was Emmy Destinn, a very fa-mous Czech singer and the original Dick Johnson was Enrico Caruso.

Enrico Caruso Emmy Destinn

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Author, Author! David Belasco (1853—1931)

David Belasco was born in San Francisco, California on July 25, 1853. His parents, Abraham and Reina Martin Belasco, had come to California from London during the Gold Rush. Belasco grew up in San Francis-co and Victoria, British Columbia. He had some expe-rience as a child actor, and from the early 1870s, he worked in a number of San Francisco theatres as eve-rything from a call boy and script copier to actor, stage manager, and playwright. He spent time as a theatrical vagabond, acting in small theatrical companies troup-

ing through the mining camps and frontier settlements. He recited poetry, sang, danced, clowned, painted and built scenery. He played everything from Hamlet to Fagin in OLIVER TWIST and Topsy in UNCLE TOM’S CABIN. Theatrical manager Daniel Frohman brought Belasco to New York City in 1882, hiring him to work as stage manager for the Madison Square Theatre. A few years later, when Frohman left the Madison Square for the new Lyceum Theatre, he took Belasco along as stage manager and house playwright. While at the Lyceum, Belasco co-wrote several hit plays (THE CHARITY BALL and LORD CHUMLEY) with playwright and good friend Henry C. DeMille. In later years, Belasco would serve as mentor to DeMille’s two sons, playwright William C. and Holly wood director Cecil B. DeMille. Belasco also taught at the Lyceum’s school of acting, a successful and highly regarded enterprise that eventually became the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. In 1895, Belasco had his first smash hit as playwright, director and inde-pendent manager. His Civil War melodrama THE HEART OF MARY-LAND became a runaway hit in New York, London, and as a touring production across the United States. Belasco wrote the play as a show-case for the particular talents of a young actress who would be the first in a long line of “Belasco stars”; notorious society divorcee named Mrs. Leslie Carter. (née Caroline Louise Dudley from Lexington, KY). Work-ing closely with her for several difficult years, Belasco taught Mrs. Carter everything he knew about acting. The two of them soon became known as an inseparable theatrical duo. She was America’s greatest “emotional actress” and he was whispered to be her Svengali, dragging her across the floor by her hair to bring out the first and passion in her acting (both Belasco and Carter would later deny the hair-dragging sto-

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ries; in the meantime, the story sold lots of newspapers and filled theatre seats). In her sixteen years with Belasco, Mrs. Carter starred in such plays as ZAZA, MADAME DUBARRY and ADREA.

In 1902, Belasco leased the Theatre Republic on 42nd Street from Oscar Hamemrstein. Belasco re-built and redecorated the theatre as a showcase for his increasingly lavish productions. He installed elaborate stage machinery and lighting equipment and renamed the house after himself. In 1906, Belasco realized a long-time dream when ground was broken on 44th Street for a brand-new theatre, the Stuyvesant: a state-of-the-art playhouse built largely to Belasco’s own designs. At the time of its gala opening in October 1907, the Stuyvesant was the

most technically advanced theatre in New York. In 1910, the name of the 42nd Street house reverted to the Republic and the 44th Street house was renamed The Belasco. Belasco’s 42nd Street house has been lovingly restored, survives today as the New Victory. Belasco claimed to have been connected with the production of 374 plays, most of them written or adapted by him. His better known productions included THE HEART OF MARYLAND (1895); MADAME BUTTERFLY (1900) and THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST (1905) - the latter two were adapted by Giacomo Puccini into operas. Belasco also wrote the autobiographical The Theatre Through Its Stage Door (1919). Because of his austere, cleric-like dress and personal manger, he came to be known as the “Bishop of Broadway.” Since his death in 1931, it has been rumored that his ghost still haunts the theatre that bears his name. Footsteps are heard late at night and a lone figure has been spotted watching the actors from the balcony. The Belasco Theatre continues to operate to this day hosting productions that feature some of the biggest stars of the day including a spring 2014 production of HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH starring Neil Patrick Harris.

Where in the World?

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California’s history has several periods with much of its history having been shaped by its geography. California has four main regions; the temperate coastal region, the Central Valley, the desert and the mountain region. The Sierra Nevadas created such a large barrier to the rest of the country that California developed in virtual isolation. After Americans began to settle in California in large numbers during the 19th century (primarily due to the Gold Rush), it could be weeks before news and mail would arrive from the East. The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 made it easier to reach California from the East; a one-way ticket from Omaha to San Francisco was $69 for an adult. Certainly less treacherous and more time efficient than taking the Oregon and/or California Trail (for more on the hazards, see The Donner Party section). Four different countries have had claims on California; Russia, Spain, Mexico and the United States. The name “California” came from a romance book that was published in 1510; THE ADVEN-TURES OF ESPLANDIÁN. It was about an island paradise near the Indies where beautiful Queen Califia ruled over a country of beautiful Black Amazons with lots of pearls and gold. The Spanish explorer Cortez and his men thought they found the island in 1535 because they found pearls. The first non-Native Americans to arrive in California were the Spanish, and later Mexicans.

Russia had some small settlements in northern California (mostly for whaling and fur trapping) but didn’t attempt to colonize the remainder of the area. Spanish priests were sent to California to convert the Native Americans to Christianity. Spain hoped to make the California native population into loyal Spaniards, although there was concern over the claims being made by the Russians and English. The fight for California began almost 500 years ago when Queen Eliza-beth I sent Sir Francis Drake to harass and raid the Spanish galleons. This was due in part to the fact that the English were beginning to realize the value of California—and certainly the value to the Spanish. Sir Francis Drake

During this period, Spain was exploring the world and con-quering every piece of land they “discovered” from the indige-nous populations. England was also know for the colonizing practice and they did not want Spain claiming anymore land in the “new world”. This would upset the balance of power be-tween the English and Spanish. Tensions were already high between Spain and England due to a fundamental religious shift in England. Henry VIII (Elizabeth I’s father) had di-vorced his first wife Catherine of Aragon, a Spanish princess

(daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella). But under Catholic law, this was not possible. So Henry broke with the Catholic Church and created his own church—what eventually became the Church of England. Following Henry’s death, England shifted between Catholicism and Protes-tantism for the next decade depending on who was on the throne. Henry’s son by Jane Seymour (his third wife), Edward VI, maintained Henry’s religious policies. Edward died at age 16 and the throne went to his cousin Lady Jane Grey (albeit only 9 days). Edward’s half-sister Mary (daughter of Henry and first wife Catherine and a practicing Catholic) took over the throne, executed Jane and shifted the country back to Catholicism. Mary imprisoned her half-sister Elizabeth (daughter of Henry and second wife Anne Boleyn) in the Tower of London believing Elizabeth was plotting to overthrow Mary. Mary earned the nickname of “Bloody Mary” for her fatal policies regarding practicing Protestants. After Mary died in 1558, Elizabeth I became Queen of England but the religious power struggles did not end. Due to Elizabeth’s treatment of her rival, Mary Queen of Scots (who was eventually executed for treason), England found itself firmly entrenched in Protestantism but short on European allies. With Spain’s settlement on the west coast of North America, England viewed this as more territory and therefore more power (and wealth) for Spain. This posed a potential threat to England’s power within the European theater.

Two hundred years later, Spain decided to send priests in large numbers to California in order to start missions, which would serve to supply the Spanish galleons but also to con-vert the indigenous population. Spain knew it needed set-tlers to maintain a hold on this land. England was out of the picture since their military (thus their power) had been driv-en out by the Revolutionary War. Even though England was physically gone, their culture continued to be the common denominator. Unfortunately, Spain was unable to find enough settlers to maintain their colony and the attempts at converting the indigenous population were failing. Much of

the native culture was being forgotten or abandoned and tensions between the Spanish and Na-tive Americans was growing. Eventually, the missions became a way to control the indigenous population, turning Native Americans into slaves. There were uprisings and bloodshed on both

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Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon

Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots

Misión San Juan de Capistrano by Henry Chapman Ford, 1880

sides. The mission period lasted only about 60 years. The earthquake of 1812 destroyed many of the missions in Southern California. The missions have since been reclaimed and re-built and have become important historical sites. By the mid-19th century, California had grown from small settlements to statehood—largely because of the Gold Rush that began in 1849. Prior to the completion of the transcontinental railroad, getting to California was quite a challenge. If settlers on wagon trains made it over the Rockies safely, they were often stopped by the Sierra Nevadas. Winter comes early and many settlers lost their lives, like the Donner party. The most common method of travel for those that could afford the passage was by ship. Settlers would leave the East Coast, travel South around the tip of South America before coming up the West Coast. The only “short cut” was through the Straits of Magellan (a notoriously perilous path) near the tip of the South American continent. If you didn’t want to go around South America, you could also get off the ship in Panama, cross the isthmus (by foot or other over land transportation) and then pick up a ship on the west coast of Panama that was headed North. But many travelers died of dis-ease crossing the tropical isthmus (the Panama Canal was not completed until 1914 finally al-lowing ships to cross from Atlantic to Pacific). Prior to the Gold Rush, settlers slowly filtered into California until 1848 when gold was discov-ered at Sutter’s Mill (see the Eureka! Section for more detailed information). Suddenly, people from all over the world flooded into California, primarily through San Francisco. The Gold Rush was devastating to the Native Americans in the area as it depleted many of the natural resources. What is now San Francisco was once a redwood forest, tribes were scattered or de-stroyed and in some areas, there were bounties placed on Native Americans.

But it was the gold discovery that hastened California’s statehood. On September 9, 1850, President Fillmore officially made California the 31st state. With all this wealth in California, an easier way to reach the state needed to be realized and fast. Theodore Judah and his assistant, Daniel Strong, vowed to find a way through the Sierra Nevadas by railroad. In 1861, after exploring the Sierras, and

almost losing their lives to the rugged mountains, they eventually found a route that would work. Judah needed money to build the railroad and even-tually found four wealthy men willing to invest. Those men were Leland Stanford (Stanford University was named for his son and Leland went on to be the Governor of California), Collis Huntington, Charles Crocker, and Mark Hopkins. The money that these investors made from the railroad was such a huge fortune, that they be-came known as the Big Four. The Central Pacific Railroad was born. Judah travelled to Washington to ask the Union government to help. His timing was perfect. The union wanted California to help in the Civil War. Congress helped with Judah’s railroad and they also helped the Union Pacific build from the East towards California. But Judah had a problem—the Big

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Theodore Judah

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Four wanted the railroad built quickly and cheaply; Judah wanted it built well. In 1863, Judah decided to travel to the East Coast to find new inves-

tors. Unfortunately, Judah never made it as he died of yellow fever while crossing the Isth-mus of Panama. With Judah out of the picture, the Big Four could build the railroad the way they wanted to, sometimes laying ten miles of track a day. Many people would not work in the dangerous conditions of the Sierras, so the Big Four needed to find workers. They began hiring emi-grant laborers including Chinese, many of whom were fleeing the Taiping Rebellion (a mas-sive civil war in southern China). Chinese workers could make the same wages as their un-skilled white counter-parts, but conditions were perilous and there was rampant discrimina-tion. The Big Four eventually became very unpopular men in California because of the ruthless way they made their money. Time was of the essence since the US government was giving land to railroads based on how much track was laid. Six years after the initial groundbreak-ing, the transcontinental railroad was complete.

The ceremony took place at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory on May 10, 1869 with the golden spike. The famous picture (on the left) was taken that day with the workers and management from the Union and Central Pacific railroads. The Chinese, to whom the railroad owed everything for such a timely completion, were excluded from the photo. California was now linked to the rest of the nation.

The Big Four; Stanford, Huntington, Crocker and Hopkins

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Eureka! There’s gold in those hills! The California Gold Rush

In January 1848, James Marshall had a work crew camped on the American River at Coloma near Sacramento, Califor-nia. The crew was building a sawmill for John Sutter. On that cold, clear morning of January 24, Marshall found a few tiny gold nuggets. Thus began one of the larg-est (and quickest) human migrations in his-tory as more than 300,000 people from the rest of the United States and around the world descended upon California in search of instant wealth. The first printed notice of the discovery was in the March 15th issue of The Californian in San Francisco. Shortly after Marshall’s discovery, General John Bidwell discovered gold in

the Feather River and Major Pearson B. Reading found gold in the Trinity River. The Gold Rush was soon in full swing. In 1849, quartz mining began at the Mariposa mine in Mariposa County. Gold deposits were often found in quartz veins. In 1850, gold-bearing quartz was found at Gold Hill in Grass Valley. This led to the development of the great underground mines in that district and a major industry that continued for more than 100 years. In 1851, gold was discovered in the Greenhorn Creek, Karen County. This discovery led to the rush to the upper Kern River region. By 1852, California’s annual gold production reached a then all-time high of $81 million. In the span of six years, San Francisco grew from a small port town of 200 in 1848 to 36,000 by 1852. Along with this rapid growth came new problems including attacks on Na-tive Americans (driving many away from their tribal lands), legal issues (staking claims), and environmental issues with the use of hydraulic methods to extract gold (this dumped heavy metals, among other things, into many of the surrounding waterways and ground). By the mid 1850s, the gold fields were mined by compa-nies rather than individual miners. One business that began by selling denim to the miners is still with us today; Levi Strauss. The Gold Rush changed California from a sleepy Mexican territory into the 31st state with the now largest population and one of the big-gest state economies in the United States. The state motto is “Eureka!”, Gold Rush images are on the state seal and it is known as the “golden state”.

John Sutter

Levi Strauss

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The Donner Party

The way west was never easy and this was tragically demon-strated by the Donner Party. George Donner (age 60 at the time) and his brother Jacob (age 56) took their families and as many of their possessions as they could load into nine wagons and headed West from Springfield, Illinois to begin the journey on the California Trail (starting in Independence, Missouri) on April 14, 1846. Al-so joining them was James Reed and his family. By May, they reached Independence, gath-

ered supplies and joined a much larger wagon train (Boggs company). By late June, the group arrived in Fort Laramie, Wyoming and met James Clyman (a friend of Reed). Cly-man told them there was a new route that supposedly cut 350 miles off of the journey but he did not recommend it. The route became known as the Hastings cutoff (after Lans-ford Hastings) - the cutoff goes through Utah’s Wasatch Mountains and across the Great Salt Lake Desert rather than the longer northern route through Fort Hall. Several fami-lies decided to take this new path including the Donners

(George Donner was elected wagonmaster and the group became known as the Donner Party). By the time the Donner Party reached Fort Bridger (in Black Forks, Wyoming), Hastings had already left with another party (Harlan-Young group). On July 31, 1846, the Donner Party left to follow and were met with extremely difficult terrain. Without Has-tings as a guide, the party continued on in the general direction Hastings had indicated but were greatly delayed because unlike the well-used Oregon Trail, the cutoff was not easily traversed. Several members were sent ahead to John Sutter (in California) for assistance. By early September, they reached and crossed the Great Salt Lake Desert. The cutoff had taken considerably longer than anticipated, supplies were running low, the wagons were in terrible shape and the livestock were lean. They stopped on the other side of the desert to retrieve lost cattle, repair wagons and decide what to do next. They picked up the tradi-tional trail near the Humboldt River and by mid-October, the Donner party had split into two groups to make better time. Poor morale and continued losses of livestock (some in part to the local Paiute tribe raids) were taking their toll on the parties. Eventually the two parties rejoined near the Truckee River. Charles Stanton (who had been sent to Sutter) returned bringing some supplies. Taking the remaining mountain pass near Truckee lake, the party had been told that snow wouldn’t fall until mid-November. By October 20th, the various families began their journey through the pass but found it was snowing and the drifts made it impossible to find the trail. They all ended up in and around Truckee Lake in several run-down cabins. Multiple attempts

James and Margaret Reed

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were made to reach the summit but an 8 day snow storm made that nearly impossible. By mid-November, the livestock were dying and the camp supplies were nearly gone. The ox hides that had served as roofs for many of the dilapidated cabins were being used as food. Although several groups tried to get through the pass on foot, none were suc-cessful and all had to turn back. The Donners were staying along Alder Creek, a full day’s trek from Truckee Lake . Members of the party

at all sites were now dying. James Reed had been one of the members who went to Sutter for help. Concerned for his family, Reed attempted to get military intervention as well as return himself but was not able to get through the snow. He did eventually reunite with his family, one of the only ones that remained intact. In late December, a group from the Truckee lake decid-ed to create snowshoes and go for help. Some had to turn back and others perished along the way. Eventual-ly William Eddy made it to a Miwok village and then on to a small settlement where a rescue party was put to-gether to rescue the other six survivors. They had been gone from the Truckee site for 33 days. A rescue party for the Donner Party was put together and by mid-February, they made it through the pass and found the cabins at Truckee. A smaller rescue team went on to Alder Creek. Of the remaining 56 people at the site (there had been a total of approximately 87 who started the journey), 23 left with the first rescue team, leaving the other 33 between Truckee Lake and Alder Creek. For those that left in the first relief effort, 3 died on trek out of the mountains. The second relief effort arrived in early March and rescued an additional 17 (mostly children) but the remainder were either too weak or injured to move. The second re-lief party told them another rescue would be arriving shortly. Other rescue efforts continued but of the 87 in the original party (although this numbers varies depending who all is counted), only 48 survived and reached California. One of the more gruesome aspects of this tragedy was the party having to resort to cannibalism to stay alive. Those reports also vary widely de-pending on the version. The location of the cabins became a tourist attraction in the 1850s and in 1927, California cre-ated Donner Memorial State Park. The pass and lake were named after the ill-fated party and there is also a monument to them with the pedestal standing at 22 ft., the depth of the snow that winter in the pass.

The real women of the Wild West

The character of Minnie in LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST is the owner of the Polka Saloon with a heart of gold who cares for the miners but falls in love with an outlaw. The real women of the Wild West had to be tough, hold their own and some became legendary. And while there were many women worthy of a legendary status, two of the most famous were Calamity Jane and Annie Oakley.

Calamity Jane (née Martha Jane Cannary) was born on May 1, 1852 in Princeton, Missouri. Martha was the oldest of six children and in 1865, her family joined a wagon train and began the move west to Montana. Her mother, Charlotte, died along the way. The family reached Montana in the spring of 1866 but not long after, her father Robert moved the fam-ily to Salt Lake City. He died the following year and Martha moved the family to Wyoming. She took on many jobs to take care of the large family and ended up working as a scout at Fort Russell. Martha was quite the self-promoter and in later

years, many of her stories have come under scrutiny including how she got her nickname “Calamity Jane”. However she got the name, it stuck. In July 1876, she met the legendary Wild Bill Hickok when she joined a wagon train heading to Deadwood, South Dakota. Bill would be killed while playing poker (where the term “Dead Man’s hand” came from—it’s pairs of Aces and 8s) in August of that year. Jane stayed in Deadwood for awhile but eventually moved to Montana and then to Boulder. In 1893, she joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show as a story teller. She died in 1903 and is buried in Deadwood next to Wild Bill.

Annie Oakley (née Phoebe Ann Moses) was born on August 13, 1860 in Darke County, Ohio; the sixth of seven children born to Quaker parents. Her father died when Annie was six and by the time she was nine, she and one of her sisters were wards of the Darke County Infirmary. She went in-to service for a couple to care for their child, with the promise of pay and education. She suffered mental and physical abuse for the next two years before reuniting with her family in 1872 (her mother had re-married twice by then). She had been trapping and hunting since she was little to support

her family so became quite well known for being an expert markswom-an. Her life would change at age 15 during a shooting match in Cincin-nati against Frank Butler. He lost and began courting her (he was 10 years her senior). They wed in 1876. She eventually joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and became known as “Little Sure Shot” - a translation of the nickname given her by Sitting Bull. She spent much of her life touring, and continued to set records into her 60s. She and Frank did not have children but she was very generous with her family and charity (as well as women’s rights issues). She died on November 3, 1926.

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The American West was opening up. Settlers were coming from all over the world to cash in on the Gold Rush. American writers and poets were exploring new worlds as well including the world of the sea and obsession, the wonders of nature and the poetry of life. Three American writers who had a profound impact on the literary world were Herman Melville, Henry David Thoreau and Emily Dickinson.

Herman Melville was born in New York City on August 1, 1819 into an es-tablished merchant family. Herman was the third of eight children. A bout of scarlet fever in 1826 left Herman with poor eyesight and his father died when Herman was 12, leaving the family penniless. Up to that point, Her-man was not a great student but had a fairly steady education. But as there was little money to pay for education, Herman took on a series of odd jobs and eventually shipped out to sea in 1839 as a green-horn on a merchant ship and two years later was aboard the Acushnet, a whaling ship. Herman ended up deserting the ship on a stop-over in the Marquesas Islands where he spent time living with the Typee. He eventually joined another whaling ship and

spent time in Hawaii before returning to Boston in 1844 (via the frigate USS United States). Much of his writing would be based on his experiences at sea and with the Typee people. His novel TYPEE (1846) and the follow-up OMOO (the Tahitian word for beachcomber, published in 1847) were hits in London but not in America. In 1847, Herman married Elizabeth Shaw and in September 1850, they purchased the farm “Arrowhead” near Pittsfield, Massachusetts where Herman became friends with Nathaniel Hawthorne (THE SCARLET LETTER). During this time, Herman was working on MOBY-DICK (working title was THE WHALE) and by late 1851, the novel was published. Hawthorne’s influence on Melville was profound and likely turned MOBY-DICK from a novel on whaling into an allegorical novel about obsession (among other things). Melville was shocked at the lackluster reception of his masterpiece. He continued writing but nothing garnered him acco-lades (or fortune). He and his family moved to New York City in 1863 and in 1866, he became a customs inspector for the city. Herman died in 1891 at the age of 72. It wasn’t until the 1920s that his writings be-came popular, partly due new biographies on Melville as well as the discovery of an unpublished work, BILLY BUDD. MOBY-DICK is now recognized as one of the masterpieces of American and world litera-ture. “…to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee.” Captain Ahab, MOBY-DICK, Chapter 135, The Chase—Third Day

“Call me Ishmael” American writers and poets of the 1840s and 1850s

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Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts on July 12, 1817. He was christened “David Henry” but his parents always called him by his middle name “Henry”. As a child, Thoreau spent much of his time exploring Concord’s woods, fields, rivers and ponds. He was a good student and eventually attended Harvard, graduating in the class of 1837. In the autumn of 1837, he became a teacher at the public school in Concord. He didn’t believe in corporal punishment so he resigned after a few weeks. In the following months, he spent quite a bit of time with Ralph Waldo Emerson, a fellow resident of Concord.

In 1838, he and his brother John founded a grammar school in Concord (the Concord Academy) but in 1842, John died of tetanus and the school closed. Thoreau was a philoso-pher of nature and had followed the transcendental movement (a favorite of Emerson and Louisa May Alcott among others) that promoted self-reliance and the inherent goodness of people and nature. In 1841, he moved in with the Emerson family and remained there for several years as a tutor and handyman. But he returned to Concord in 1844 and then in 1845, he decided to live simply in a small cabin (on property owned by Emerson) near Wal-den Pond. Over the next two years, he would write WALDEN OR LIFE IN THE WOODS that would be published in 1854. After he left Walden, he traveled extensively and continued his fascination with natural history. He died on May 6, 1862 from bronchitis and likely compli-cations from tuberculosis, an illness he had battled since 1835. “ I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, dis-cover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary.” WALDEN OR LIFE IN THE WOODS

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts, the second of three children of Edward and Emily Dickinson. Emily’s grandfather, Samuel Fowler Dickin-son, had been one of the founders of Amherst College. Her father was a lawyer, the treasurer of Amherst College for twenty years and a pillar of the Congregationalist Church. After several years of prima-ry school, Emily attended Amherst Academy and Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Despite Emily’s interest in her studies, her father decided not to send her to Mount Holyoke for an additional year, so her formal education ended.

In all respects, Emily appeared to be a lively and engaging young woman and with her younger sister, Lavinia, participated in local social events with their close circle of friends. As she grew older, Emily began to withdraw from society with her primary method of communication through letter writing. The gap between her and her family was also widen-ing. Although Emily was profoundly (and unconventionally) religious, she refused to accept the God of her parents.

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This went against all convention so the only way for her to turn was inward. Between 1860 and 1862, she apparently wrote over 366 poems. Many have speculated that she had undergone a crisis (perhaps romantic in nature) but these stories are purely rumor. Out of the nearly 1800 poems attributed to her, only 8 were published during her lifetime. She began a correspondence with literary critic Thomas Wentworth Higginson in 1862. They corre-sponded regularly and Higginson visited her in Amherst in 1870 and 1873, although he did not encourage her to publish her work. There were two women who recognized Emily’s poetic gifts; Helen Hunt Jackson and Mabel Loomis Todd. Helen tried to get Emily’s work published but to no avail. In 1882, Mabel Loomis Todd began a love affair with Emily’s brother Austin (who had been married to Susan Gilbert since 1856) that continued until his death in 1895. Emily died of kidney disease on May 15, 1886 when she was 55 years old. After Emily’s death, her sister Lavinia discovered Emily’s manuscripts of more than one thousand poems and enlisted Mabel Todd’s help in getting them published. In cooperation with Higginson, Todd prepared three heavily edited volumes of poems for the press. Todd rewrote much of the poetry to make them more traditional in terms of rhyme, meter and diction. It was not until 1955 that all of Emily Dickinson’s poems were published together in one edition, transcribed directly from her own manuscripts and printed exactly as she had written them. Emily Dickinson’s literary lega-cy was immense and she is considered one of the great American poets of the 19th century.

Because I could not stop for Death— He kindly stopped for me—

The Carriage held but just Ourselves— And Immortality.

From Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson

Thomas Wentworth Higginson

LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST Q&A

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1. Who first discovered gold in California? 2. What was the name of the river where gold was first discovered? 3. Who was President of the United States during when gold was discovered in 1848? 4. California became a state in ____________________. 5. Which ethnic group suffered the most during the Gold Rush? 6. Match the business person with the type of business started during the Gold Rush. A. Phillip Armour 1. Banking B. Henry Wells 2. Clothing C. Levi Strauss 3. Automobiles D. John Studebaker 4. Meat packing 7. Who wrote the original play THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST? 8. How many members of the Donner party survived? 9. Where was Henry David Thoreau inspired to write his most famous work? 10. What’s the name of Minnie’s saloon in LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST? 11. What’s Giacomo Puccini’s full name? 12. Who was the performer who originated the role of Dick Johnson? 13. What was David Belasco’s nickname and why? 14. Who were the Big Four and what did they build? 15. What Verdi opera did Puccini walk 20 miles to see?

1. James Marshall 7. David Belasco 2. American River 8. 48 3. Polk 9. Walden Pond 4. 1850 10. The Polka 5. Chinese 11. Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Seconda Maria Puccini 6. a—4 12. Enrico Caruso b—1 13. The bishop of Broadway, because of his manner and clerical style of dress c—2 14. Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkings—the d—3 first transcontinental railroad 15. AÏDA