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拓荒者在沙加緬度 (Sacramento) 的生活：1849年11月25日
雖然柏克很想家，但這位年輕的淘金者在寫給姊姊的信中說：「我不像其他人一樣，大老遠走了2萬英里的路，然後只是因為想念家鄉就打道回府。」柏克告訴瑪麗他的事業有多麼成功。他驕傲的說：「就在上個星期，我們這家店在一天內就以現金交易賣出價值1千5百元的商品。你一定要告訴約瑟夫這件事……我在舊金山用18塊買進一袋200磅的麵粉，在這裡可以用44塊的高價賣出，而且還銷售一空。」在1849年前往加州淘金的許多人之中，有
許多的人返鄉時還是身無分文。但是像柏克這樣的商人，卻因為賣補給品給這些礦工，而在這黃金西岸賺進了大把鈔票。
Though homesick, the young forty-niner wrote to his sister, "I have not come 20,000 miles to turn around and go right back again like some persons who have been here and gotten homesick." Young Buck told Mary about the success of his business. "Week before last," he boasted, "we sold out of our little store $1,500 worth of goods. All cash trade in one day. Tell Joseph to beat that . . . The flour that I bought in San Francisco for $18 per sack (200 lbs) we sold for $44 and are all out." Among those seeking gold in California in 1849, many went home again penniless. But merchants, like Buck, who provided supplies for the miners, tended to do well in the golden West.
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