This historical fiction reader will give students a first-hand look at life during the late 1800s from the perspective of the rich and poor, the east coast and the west. Rodney Ropes is a wealthy boarding school student until he learns that his fortune is gone. Leaving school, he learns to work hard among the other young men working in NYC. However, he soon incurs the jealous wrath of some of his coworkers, who frame him and pave the way for his journey to the gold mines of the western United States.