The California Gold Rush left a huge mark on America. In the novel The Sisters Brothers, written by Patrick deWitt, the gold rush had a great effect on the transformation of the Californian lifestyle and its population. This research paper will demonstrate that America was transformed by the gold rush of 1851 and that this was realistically portrayed in the novel. The novel, The Sisters Brothers, written by Patrick deWitt is the story of two adventurous brothers named Eli and Charlie who travel from Oregon to San Francisco during the gold rush in 1850. The brothers are hired to find and kill a man named Hermann Warm. They encounter a wide range of difficult situations and shady characters, such as a wealthy businessman named Mayfield who runs his town. Brothers have two very different characters that influence how they should react to these situations. Eli is sweet, thoughtful and chivalrous while Charlie is a quiet, angry man who as a child was forced to kill his father to protect his mother. After all, they are both violent and cold-blooded killers. While traveling to San Francisco, Eli has an internal conflict over whether he wants to continue living the life of a killer or settle down and open a shop with his brother. When they arrived in San Francisco, they were exposed to the “gold fever” caused by the gold rush. Instead of killing their target, they befriend Warm and search for gold in the rivers to get rich. Unfortunately, Warm dies tragically from the chemicals and Charlie is burned and forced to have his hand cut off, leading the brothers to return home to their mother as changed men. Marsha Lederman wrote an article titled "Patrick DeWitt, Sensitive Cowboys Strike Gold." for the Globe and Mail about Patrick deWitt, a Canadian author...... paper center ......gracing the population, helps California's economy by building many businesses and causing violent conflicts between different groups of people . The Gold Rush of 1851 changed California. Works mentions "California". British School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2014. Web. 12 January 2014 deWitt, Patrick. The brothers sisters. Toronto: Anansi, 2011. Print."The Gold Rush of 1849." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. January 10, 2014. Lederman, Marsha. “Patrick DeWitt, Sensitive Cowboys Strike Gold.” The globe and the mail. Np, October 12, 2011. Web. January 12, 2014. Medley, Mark. “Patrick DeWitt: The Good, the Bad and the Neurotic.” The National Post. Np, May 27, 2011. Web. January 10, 2014. Phelps, Robert. “The California Gold Rush.” Advanced World Book. Book of the World, 2014. Web. January 29, 2014 "Politics and guns: duels in America." PBS.org. PBS and Web. February 4. 2014.