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Scene One
James Marshall: (calling over his shoulder as he pretends to dig away, working
on the water wheel) Yes, sIr, Mr. Sutter! I think we’re almost
finished. We’ll have this water wheel ready in no time. Then
you can pay me the 95 cents you owe me for the labor. (He
stops and looks down). What’s this? (he picks up a stone)
Could it possibly be? (He bites on it. In awe he says) Gold!
(then more excitedly) Gold!!! (Then he shouts with joy) Mr.
Sutter! Iiiiiii quit!!! (He yells as he runs off stage )
GOOOOLD!!!!!!
(First from offstage and then from all around the audience, we
hear people yelling “Gold” as though it’s being passed along
from one person to the next from the West Coast all the way
back East. Finally from stage R, a young editorial newspaper
writer for the Terre Haute Express by the name of John Soule,
rushes in)
John Soule: Wow! The hills of California are covered with GOLD! I know
exactly what my editorial will be in the paper tomorrow (he
hold up his hands as though showing a marquee) Go West,
Young man! And grow up with the country! That’s it! Go
West, Young man! Go West!
ALL STUDENTS SING: Go West!
Scene Two
(The wagon master is trying to get people to move along in
order to begin the trip West.)
Wagon Master: Hurry up now, folks! We have to get this wagon train a-
moving or we’ll never get to California before the winter snows
make the mountain passes—impassable!!
Pioneer Woman: We’re ready to go, Wagon master. We’ll be with you all the
way to Oregon, where they say land is fertile and free for the
takin’!
Pioneer man: We’ll be rich as kings!
Wagon master: How about you cowboys? Are you ready to go?
Cowpoke 1: We’re ready, boss. But what’s the hurry? We can only go as
fast as the cattle, and these longhorns have a pace of their
own.
Wagon Master: (with some disgust) Longhorns! Shorthorns! Looks like I’m
saddled with a bunch of Greenhorns!
Miner 1: Don’t worry, boss! The miners are ready to go, with an itch to
get rich!
Miner 2: We’ll be with you until Idaho, boss, and then we’re heading
south to Californ-i-ay! We’ll be rich in a matter of days!
Robert Fulton: You people are crazy! Why go by wagon to the West? It will
take forever! There will be blizzards, deserts, no water, sand,
skunks and snakes!
Steamboat Captain: Why don’t you get smart and come along with us on my
sensational steamboat? We’ll go down to New Orleans,
then take a clipper ship ‘round the horn and beat you to
California by a week and a day.
Robert Fulton: We’ll be rich…
Steamboat Captain: …while you’re still ploddin’ along…
Fulton and Captain: (smiling together)…poor as dirt.
Wagon Master: We’ll see about that, Mr. Fulton! We’ll see about that.
Mr. Henry: (a railroad man holding up a golden railroad spike) It won’t be
long before we can make this trip by locomotive. I’ve got the
golden spike right here that will join the rails together from
east and west and make wagon trains a thing of the past.
Railroads! That’s the way to get rich in the West!
Wagon Master: That could be true, Mr. Henry, but in the meantime, this
wagon train is all we’ve got. How about you, Mr. Brigham
Young?
Brigham Young: We’re ready to go, boss, and I can tell you now, we’re going to
make that desert “blossom as the rose”!
Wagon Master: I’m sure you will, Mr. Young. I’m sure you will. Speaking of
roses, are you ready, Yellow Rose?
Yellow Rose: (smiling) Of course, I’m ready, mister. Come on, boys. Let’s
get a move on! I’m on my way to Texas and I haven’t got time
to waste.
Tex: I’m with you, Yellow Rose!
Yellow Rose: Listen boys, I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor! Rich is better
and I plan to be it.
Tex: I’ve heard that the new state of Texas is the place to be for real
riches and adventure.
All: (cheering) Remember the Alamo!
Wagon Master: (rolling his eyes) Everybody wants to get rich. Well, enough of
this jawin’. Load ‘em up and let’s get a goin’.
Mayor: Now, just a minute, Wagon master.
Wagon Master: (rolling his eyes again) Oh boy! Here we go… another long-
winded speech by a politician.
Mayor: As Mayor of Independence, I want to take this auspicious
occasion to say, that this new adventure on which you are
about to embark, will change your lives and our land forever
and ever. Therefore, I wish you the very best of luck, and
when you strike it rich, don’t forget about your little old friends
back here in the east. Remember all that we have done for
you. Now, bon voyage, my friends and may God speed!
Wagon master: Ladies and gentlemen, pathfinders and prospectors, cowpokes
and gamblers –it’s time!
Pioneers: It’s time!
Miners: It’s time!
Cowpokes: It’s time!
Yellow Rose
And Tex: It’s time!
All: It’s time!
Wagon Master: Then, wagons, ho, everybody! Wagons, ho!
FIFTH GRADE SINGS: Wagon, Ho!
Scene Three
(The cowpokes are left alone on the stage. They are waving to the wagon train as
it pulls away. They are heading West but are not in such a hurry mainly because
they have cattle to herd along the way)
Cowpoke 1: (waving) So long, folks! Hope ya’ll have a safe and pleasant
trip.
Cowpoke 2: Boy, everybody sure is in a hurry, aren’t they, pardner? I guess
they think the gold is gonna run out before they get there.
Hank: Well, maybe they’re right.
Cowpokes 1&2: (looking at him shocked) WHAT?!!!
Cowpoke 1: I thought you said there was gold enough for everyone in the
West?
Cowpoke 2: Yeah, Hank, you said that if we came along with you on this
cattle drive, we’d know riches like we’ve never seen before.
Hank: I wasn’t lyin’ to ya, boys. The West is filled with riches enough
for everyone.
Cowpoke 1: What do ya mean, Hank?
Cowpoke 2: Yeah, Hank! What do ya mean?
Hank: What I mean is that some people will find gold like the kind
you find in coins and jewelry.
Cowpokes 1&2: (hopefully) Yeah?
Hank: Others will find gold in the form of fertile fields and bountiful
forests.
Cowpokes 1&2: (more hopefully) YEAH?
Hank: And others will find gold in the life of a cowboy—free from
crowds, free from fences, free to ride the range with nothin’
but open air and bright, clear skies.
Cowpokes 1&2: (Smiling and nodding with understanding) Yeah!
Hank: So, come on, boys. There’s no hurry. I’ll show you REAL gold!
Just follow my pony and me.
FIRST GRADE SINGS: My Pony and Me and Wide Open Spaces
Scene Four
Robert Fulton: (talking with gleeful sarcasm to the audience; pretending to be
perplexed, but in reality, smiling and smug) Let’s see…You
could pack up yourself and your entire family, stick them in the
back of a covered wagon and travel about two miles an hour
through deserts, blizzards, dangerous mountain passes and
quicksand.
Steamboat Captain: You could fight off mountain lions, rattlesnakes,
scorpions and a wholes slew of other unpleasantries and
maybe make it to the West more dead than alive.
Robert Fulton: OR…. You could get on board our LUXURY steamboat and
make your way to the riches of the West!
Steamboat Captain: We’ll ride on smooth waters, eat three square meals a
day and enjoy entertainment nightly. Hmmmm… I just
CAN’T decide. (After a pause, calling) ALL ABOARD!!!!
All aboard the Mississippi Queen- the newest steamboat
in the newest land-- headin’ west on the river of
dreams. ALL ABOARD!!!
FOURTH GRADE SINGS: Steamboatin’ AND M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I
Scene Five
(Train sound effect)
Peter Cooper: (inventor of the Tom Thumb, one of the first locomotives in the
U.S.) ALL ABOARD? I’ll get on board, all right, but not on some
old steamboat. I’m heading out West on iron horses.
Townsperson: Iron horses? What do you mean, Mr. Cooper?
Peter Cooper: I mean RAILROAD! I’ve got a locomotive here I call the Tom
Thumb. I guarantee he will be the fastest and best way to get
to the West this country has ever known.
Townsperson: You must be kidding! Ride that thing ALL the way out West?
Horse Owner: No train locomotive could ever be as fast or as reliable as a
good team of horses!
Peter Cooper: Now that’s where you’re wrong, mister. I’m so confident that
my Tom Thumb is the way of the future, that I’ll wager you a
week’s pay that he can outrace your horse any day.
Horse Owner: Outrace my horse with THAT contraption? You’re on, mister!
You’re ON!
(They shake hands)
(All the cast members get to the front of the stage and watch
an imaginary race between the train and the horse from stage
L to R)
Announcer 1: Is the Tom Thumb ready?
(A train whistle blows)
Announcer 2: Is the horse ready?
(There is a horse’s whinny)
Announcer 1: On your mark!
Announcer 2: Get set!
Both Announcers: GO!!
Announcer 1: And…They’re off!! The horse gets off to a quick start, as Tom
Thumb is slow on the take off.
Announcer 2: Now Tom Thumb is picking up the pace a little and making up
some distance, sure and steady, like…a…well…a train.
Announcer 1: They’re comin’ ‘round the bend now and…could it be? Yes!
Yes! The Tom Thumb has taken the lead, out-pacing the horse,
who seems to be huffing and puffing like a…a…well, like a
horse, of course.
Announcer 2: They’re coming down the home stretch now and it looks like
the Tom Thumb is destined to be the…no, wait!...The Tom
Thumb is losing steam!
Announcer 1: Something catastrophic has happened to the locomotive train!
The horse has pulled back into the lead!
Announcer 2: The horse has crossed the finish line and wins the race!
(Crowd cheering)
Peter Cooper: (clearly disappointed) Well, here’s your money, sir. Your horse
won fair and square.
Horse Owner: Aw, keep your money, Cooper. My horse DID win the race
today. But it’s clear to me and everybody here, including my
horse ( there is a whinny), that the wave of the future is
definitely with locomotives like the Tom Thumb.
Townsperson: I’m headin’ West! And I’m takin’ my dreams on the fastest
way by far – THE LOCOMOTIVE!
Mr. Henry: (The man with the golden spike) Now hold your horses there,
friend. (Another whinny) You’re right that the locomotive will
be a great way to get to the West, but first we’ve got to lay
MILES and MILES of track.
Townsperson: I knew there’d be a catch!!!
Mr. Henry: But don’t worry. Already a team of workers is putting down
track from west to east, and another from east to west. It
won’t be long and the two will meet and give us a railroad all
the way to the West Coast. I hold right here the golden spike
that will join the two together.
Townsperson: Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s make some tracks of our
own!
Mr. Henry: You’re singin’ my song, partner. You’re singin’ my song!
SECOND GRADE SINGS: Keep Rollin’ and Get On Board
Scene Six
Pioneer Woman 1: We will build our home on a prairie
From whatever we can find.
It won’t be full of riches,
Yet, welcoming and kind.
Pioneer Man 1: It will be warm enough for winter
And though it may seem odd
We will build our home on a prairie;
We will build our home of sod.
Miner 1: I will live by myself in the side of a hill
And everything that I save,
I will bury in the ground inside my home
For my home will be a cave.
Pioneer Woman: Our journey may be lonesome
Yet anywhere we roam,
Pioneer Man: Where we work together side by side,
That will be our home.
THIRD GRADE SINGS: Where I Make my Home and Oklahoma Land Rush
Scene Seven
Miner 1: GOLD! GOLD! There’s gold in them thar hills!
(The cast is not impressed)
(Music Underscores following dialog)
Yellow Rose: Yeah, yeah! We’ve heard it all before. The only gold we’ve
found so far is “FOOLS” gold!
Mr. Henry: The trip to the West was not filled with all the treasures our
travelers had in mind.
Brigham Young: It sure took us a lot longer than we thought to make the desert
“bloom as a rose.”
Miner 2: But wait! The gold in them thar hills is as much there today as
it’s ever been.
Pioneer Woman: What do you mean?
Miner 2: Look! EVERYBODY who came to the West didn’t get rich by
finding rivers running with gold.
All: I’ll say!!
Miner 1: But the riches of the West were discovered many other places.
All: Like what?
Pioneer Man: Like in the waving fields of grain!
Pioneer Woman: The bounties of the forest!
Steamboat Captain: The wonders of the ocean!
Cowpoke 1: The wide open spaces with room enough to grow.
Miner 2: All of that and more! The West is about ideas as much as
anything else.
Robert Fulton: I get it! It’s the IDEA of the West that drew people there.
Steamboat Captain: The ideas that you could pursue your dreams
Yellow Rose: Be the best that you can be.
Mr. Henry: The idea that anything was possible!
Mayor: And that you had the right to pursue it.
Cowpoke 2: Hey! That’s the American Dream!
Miner 2: And that my friends, is the REAL gold of the American West!
James Marshall: There’s gold in them thar hills, all right!
Steamboat Captain: And the rivers!
Pioneer Man: The mountains!
Pioneer Woman: The plains!
Robert Fulton: And in people who use their ideas to pursue the American
Dream.
All: (with genuine, quiet awe look over the audience’s heads) It’s
all…gold!
(after a pause)
Wagon master: (with determination) Let’s go get some!
(Everyone cheers)
FIFTH GRADE SINGS: Go For the Gold
Speaker: Whether on foot, on horseback horse, by wagon, by
steamboat, or train, ALL of those brave people who took the
risk to seek their fortune in the West, certainly had many
adventures along the way.