Gold Is Where You Find It

Overview

Colonel Ferris, a prosperous farmer in northern California, vehemently opposes hydraulic mining, a disruptive practice threatening his farmland during the gold rush of the 1870s. Tensions rise when Jared Whitney, an Eastern mining engineer, befriends Ferris' son Lance and becomes romantically involved with his daughter, Serena. Complications arise as Ferris' brother Ralph abandons farming to join the mining industry in San Francisco, working under his wife Rosanna's father, Harrison McCooey. When Lance chooses to follow Ralph, Colonel Ferris, consumed by rage, forbids Jared from seeing Serena, spiraling into familial discord.