Group+2

= = = Mountain Man=

You are a young fur trapper/mountain man. You are single and prefer to keep it that way. Often you trade fur with both Native Americans and United States Citizens. You have heard that there is a lot of land and game out west, but also know how people stretch the truth. Do you decide to make the journey?

=Pros:=
 * John Sutter is offering anyone a job.
 * He trades with Native Americans and most Native Americans are West.
 * Gold Rush= profitable discovery.
 * Covered Wagon Train= good size + pretty safe.
 * By the mid 1850s most of the miners who remained were employees.
 * The Transcontinental Railroad made it easier to travel West from the East.

=Cons:=
 * Many miners in the south were worked by foreigners.
 * The California Gold Rush was not moral American happening.
 * Mountain men go West, but I like the cold in Maine.
 * I am not going West via the California Trail.
 * They were killing people for gold out West.
 * No bridges across rivers to cross to the West.
 * Food is scarce and expensive.
 * There are diseases out West including Cholera.
 * The Pony Express men might think I am a Native American and kill me.
 * The Gateway to the West was past the Mississippi River, and I might die crossing it.

=Response=

No, I do not want to make the journey. I want to prevent dying, Poison Ivy, Cholera and starvation. I do not want to find any mates on the journey and I want to keep it that way. I am going to build a hut in Augusta, Maine that is very sturdy and warm. We can have plenty of land, have fun in the snow, and find plenty of thick fur coats on animals. Also, I don't want to run into Mountain Men that are out West. They could kill or surverely injure me. I do not want to go out into the unexplored parts of the Frontier and become a Pioneer. I am a Mountain Man!