It's a gold rush. The first prospectors do pretty well. The later ones starve. It's the people selling auxilliary stuff to the prospectors that make a killing.
Except selling auxilliary stuff to the prospectors is also a gold rush...
I wonder if anyone's done any old-west historical fiction with a mild-mannered, quiet, but well respected general store owner who is actually a scheming Machiavellian underneath?
I wonder how right you are? I suspect you're probably spot on.
If that's the case, who's rushing for gold now that we're paying attention too?