Puzzle Description:

Gold Rush Prospector Panning for Gold. This is Alden Rice, my Great-Great-Great Grandfather, who exactly 160 years ago, at the age of 31, left his wife and three young children on their farm in Missouri, to make a long, harrowing journey to California, hoping to find prosperity. It took him six months to cross the plains by foot to get to the gold hills of California. After a year of hard work and hard times, he realized his only treasure was his beloved wife and babies, and he returned home with empty pockets but a heart full of love for the family he valued above all.

#1: Jane Doe (telly) on Jan 26, 2009

Great image and story. good job. :)

Thanks, Telly.

My Dad's genealogy hobby led him to discover the love letters Alden wrote to his wife while he was gone. He set out thinking it would be the adventure of a lifetime, and it turned out to be filled with tragedy, trauma, and loneliness. After he returned home, he and his young wife had 5 more children, and 100 years later, I was born!

I really liked this image a lot, even though his bandanna blended in with the water somewhat.

very good image I didn't see it at first but when you catch the image its so well done


good luck in this week WC

It also took me a while to see the image-the bandanna (never knew that had double n's!) threw me off. It is funny how I can struggle to see an image and then when I see it I don't know how i could have so much trouble. Nice story too! Thanks

I put a lot of thought into what color to make his bandanna. Other colors drew too much attention, so I chose blue so it would not be too obvious, but you can still tell what it is when you are finished.

An alternate title idea was "No Yellow." At first I wanted to put some gold in his pan. But the reality was he never found any gold. Well, he found small amounts now and then, enough to pay for his immediate needs, but not enough to bring home to his family. Poor Alden. I don't know if I feel more sorry for him or his poor wife stuck back on the farm with three little kids for two years.

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Beautiful story and wonderful puzzle. great job.

i only wish we could rate puzzles higher than 5. this is incredible. i love all of your puzzles but so far, this is my very, very favorite image. what a beautiful story about your relatives, too. you're an amazing contributor to this site.

Thanks so much, Linda.

Really cool puzzle and wonderful image. Glad I found it.

Thanks, Martin.

I saw a pert little goat (with curly white horns and a blue eye) until I read the description, and Alden popped right into view!

Bonita imagen y bonita historia. Yo tengo un árbol genealógico que llega hasta el siglo XVI. Me resulta emocionante verlo.

Gracias Julio. La geneología ciertamente es interesante. Hice otro enigma sobre mis antepasados que eran de Irlanda.

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