For James Willows there was really no other life but the life of a prospector. Willows was like most of the men who had meandered here to the desolate gold camp. The gold camp was the last stop for desperate men like Willows, who basically had nothing to lose. Men like Willows were living on the edge of society, in an already tough time. In between working for the railroads, or taking menial jobs, men like them had few options to get by. But James Willows and the other men in the gold camp did have one thing going for them.