Gold rush!
Gold rush! (French original title: La ville fantôme ) is an album from the Lucky Luke comic series . It was first published in 1971. The album was drawn by Morris and written by René Goscinny . The volume appeared in German for the first time as number 9 Die Geisterstadt in Koralle-Verlag . Today it is available as volume 64 under the title Gold Rush! in Ehapa publishing available.
The story is a parody of history that was repeated several times in the United States in the 19th century: the rumor that gold was found in one place is spreading rapidly. This leads to a so-called gold rush , which quickly sprouts cities and villages from the ground. If nothing is found (anymore), these cities become deserted just as quickly as they came into being and become ghost towns .
action
Lucky Luke comes to Gold Hill accompanied by Miles and Bill, two cardsharps. The city seems to have died out. When they want to spend the night in the abandoned hotel, they are suddenly attacked by the old gold digger Powell and chased away. Life is still pulsating in nearby Bingo Creek. There they learn that Powell once bought a mine on the mountain that supposedly was supposed to contain gold. That was a lie, but he still digs there today and chases away anyone he thinks they want to dispute the mine.
Miles and Bill decide to unbutton the mine from Powell and then - vaccinated, of course - sell it to a fool. The money they need for it they lick the townspeople with poker and games of chance. Although Luke tries to screw up the tour for them, they quickly get the change. But because they can't convince Powell to sell, they try to stir up a mob against him, accuse him of witchcraft and chase him away.
To convince the citizens of Bingo Creek that Powell is harmless, Luke organizes a festival in the ghost town of Gold Hill. In this way he succeeds in convincing the citizens that it is not haunted there. But the two gangsters are already making new plans. The attempt to blame Powell for several thefts initially fails, but then gives up because he is tired of constantly being the victim of slander. He shows himself ready to sell the mine.
Dallas is too hasty and has the report published that gold had been found in the now vaccinated mine before the purchase agreement was signed. This immediately triggers a new gold rush, and the entire population moves to Gold Hill. There is still nothing to be found there, however, and the offended prospectors are about to lynch Powell. At the last moment, Luke manages to “persuade” Miles and Bill to admit their betrayal. Before the population moves on due to a lack of gold, Luke can convince them that a city can live if there is no gold there. The earth that has been dug through now becomes a field.
At the very end, Powell finds gold in his mine. But he realized that this would no longer be an advantage for the city. So he blows up his mine.
Hints
- ↑ The term "vaccination" stands for a scam in which a small amount of gold (or other valuable ore) is extracted in a mine, which is then found "by accident" during a presentation in the presence of a potential customer.
- ↑ The end credits of the story say that Gold Hill has become an important agricultural metropolis with 687,541 inhabitants and a major agricultural fair. Which city the author is referring to is unclear. Gold Rush (Colorado) could be meant . The place is near Denver , which today has about 600,000 inhabitants. A gold rush broke out in Colorado in 1858.