Natalie merchant`s gold rush brides describes the life of gold seekers during the westward expansion and how they struggled to adapt to their new environment. Through Davidson’s narrative on the history of westward expansion, the song “gold rush brides” will be analyzed to check whether it depicts the occurrence of events during the gold rush era.
At the onset of the song the first verse “ follow the typical signs, the hand painted lines, down prairie roads. Pass the lone church spire. Pass the talking wire from where to who knows?” there is no way to divide the beauty of the sky from the wild western plains. Where a man could drift, in legendary myth, by roaming over spaces”. The verse describes the movement of gold seekers who were mostly men, after its discovery in the beginning of 1848 and that it led to quick riches (pg 336).
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In the line where Natalie Merchant sings, “ the land was free and the price was right” the verse implies that the land was given at little or no pay to the gold seekers. This was granted by a generous congress to the white settlers under the homestead act of 1862.
The song in the lines “Dakota on the wall is a white woman is a white robed woman, broad yet maiden such power in her hands as she hails the wagon man’s family. I see Indians that crawl through this mural that recalls our history”. In search of gold most men left their women behind which led to scarcity of women in the gold fields. The less population of women present in the fields was to seen to play a pivotal role in household chores such as cooking, cloth making and housekeeping. Women were therefore treated accordingly however, this was not extended to women of other races. The Indians were harshly treated and abandoned as soon as the man found a white bride referred in the line as Dakota.
“ The land was free, yet it cost their lives.” This line talks about the suffering of Indians in the reserves, how they were brutally murdered and the raping and killing of their women. Mining also brought about environmental hazards such as flooding and mudslides which often claimed the lives of many people (Davidson’s narrative pg. 343). “ In letters mailed back home her Eastern sistersthey would moan as they would accounts of madness, childbirth, loneliness and grief.’’ Madness was as result of aimless killing and brawling in the mining camps, childbirth was a painful ordeal due to insufficient of medical practitioners and midwives. Loneliness was because they had left their loved ones behind during the migration and grief was as result of death of their husbands due to hardships and other tragedies.
Although America is at the epitome of civilization and economic development, its history is not full of joyful and triumphant moments. There is a dark side of the history that involves murder, cruelty towards other races, gender inequalities. Therefore, the songs acts as a learning source which reminds the people of what their nation is built on and that they should learn from the past mistakes of their ancestors, which will enable them to stay clear of disasters and plunging their great nation into great darkness.
