A couple of notes: The Panama Canal wasn't dug until the end of the century so any goldrush song about it is probably one from the Alaskan gold rush. There could be a California gold rush song about rounding the Cape of Good Hope or crossing the Isthmus of Panama on foot or on mules. The Alaska gold rush, of course, was immortalized in the poems of Robert Service: "The Cremation of Sam McGee," etc. Anyone know any musical settings for Robert Service poems? (Just before I stopped teaching English, I started practicing "The Cremation of Sam McGee" as a rap. Some Frost poems are fun to rap, too, especially "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" and "The Road Not Taken."

"Acres of Clams" is about someone who gave up on the gold rush and went to Washington to farm, found that as unrewarding, and finally ended up digging clams. It's on the db, with melody.