The joyful cry “Eureka!” comes from the Greek expression for “I found it!” In the late 1840s, people searching for gold in California reportedly shouted “Eureka!” when they succeeded. This cartoon highlights a different resource in demand out West today—water.
California and other Western states have been struggling with extreme drought for several years. A drought is a long period with little or no rain or snow, leading to a shortage of water. The situation has devastated farming and sparked some of the worst wildfire seasons in history.
The drought conditions are forecast to continue this winter, U.S. weather officials say, endangering lakes and reservoirs that millions of people rely on.
This cartoon illustrates the seriousness of the situation by comparing water’s value today with gold’s importance during the Gold Rush. Even the way the man shown is searching for water is similar to Gold Rush methods, when people would shake a pan of gravel and water to separate out any gold.
Study the cartoon, then answer the questions.
1. Where are the men? What details help identify their location?
2. How do the words in speech bubbles, read in sequence, tell a larger story?
3. What is unusual about where the man is searching?
4. How does the cartoonist compare the value of water to that of gold?