Mr. Fogelberg took some liberties with historical fact when he wrote this one. The discovery of gold in California occurred on January 25, 1848, not in "the spring of forty sesven". John Sutter didn't do it anyway, it was James Marshall who found gold at Sutter's Mill. And neither of them "took it to the city" because Sutter was trying to establish a farming community and Sutter and Marshall attempted to keep the gold discovery a secret. A "lumberin' conestoga" was a large freight wagon totally unsuitable for travel to California which was accomplished by the much smaller prarie schooner. Virtually none of the prospectors "fell prey to hostile arrows". The main cause of death along the California Trail was cholera and accidents. Finally, no one was "lost in the Rocky Mountains with their hands froze to the reins" because the Rockies were easily traversed at South Pass which would have been encountered in the middle of summer by immigrants departing from Missouri in late April or May. They may have "froze" in the Sierra Nevadas which would have been encountered in the fall or early in winter.