Stanley Pearce wanted to get rich on gold during a time when money was sparse and jobs were hard to find. The day that “Thousands of people in the public square watched the weather-beaten and hardy adventurers stagger into the express office with sacks of gold, gold in blankets, in oil cans, and even in moccasins(Meissner 2)”. “In a matter of hours, many Seattle residents began planning their own trips to the goldfields.