How Much Of These Hills Is Gold

Part 3 spans the 20 years between 1842 and 1862. It is told by the ghost of Lucy’s father, and he speaks to her in the voice of the night wind. As she and Sam continue their trek to find a suitable burial plot for his body, Ba tries to explain his life to his daughter.

Ba says that gold wasn’t discovered by White men in 1848: “That history in your books is plain lie. Gold wasn’t found by a man, but by a boy the same age as you. Twelve. And it wasn’t found in ’48 but back in ’42. I know because it was me that found it” (162).

He explains that he was raised by a group of outcast Indians after he was discovered as a newborn alongside the bodies of his dead parents. He grew up along the coast of California, fishing in the streams with his Indian companions. When he was handed his first nugget of gold, he discarded it as a useless bit of rock. Later, White men came and stripped the land until there was no gold left.

By the time he reached adulthood, Ba was hired by a man planning to build a railroad.