That 1849 image [1] depicting a man riding a personal rocket-propelled vehicle through the air is pretty imaginative for its time.

[1] https://the-public-domain-review.imgix.net/essays/comic-gold...

Hey! Silicon Valley! See something when you look in this mirror?

Having enjoyed visiting gold rush historic sites in California and the area around Sitka Alaska, I think these cartoons give a very different view.

In the Lincoln Museum in Springfield Illinois, there is an entire exhibit of political cartoons of the day. Really crass stuff, makes it seem like our modern society is almost civil.

Well written and obviously well researched. I can't testify to the absolute truth of this article but it is certainly entertaining!

No mention of the risk of malaria on the Panama route? Perhaps alligators were more dramatic and better suited to the graphic medium.

Anyone remember the old Gold Rush game by Sierra?

I do! In classic Sierra style, that game was impossible.

Those comics reminded me that without context even the English language can be inscrutable.