Island Card (visiting Island U-132 on the scorecard)
~ On visiting Bluefields and the nearby Deer Island you learn that thousands of Americans wishing to join the 1849 California Gold Rush left the U.S. East Coast and sailed here; then they were shipped up the San Juan River to Lake Nicaragua, where they were ferried across the lake. This was followed by a short ride down to the Pacific Coast, after which they then sailed up to San Francisco. This saved a five-month, dangerous journey across the continental U.S.A. in a wagon train. ~
