During the mid-1800s, thousands of prideful, independent pioneers pushed past the natural boundaries of the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains seeking gold, adventure and the hope of a better life. Nobody could persuade them from trying and many lost their lives in the attempt (including many women and children). What were they seeking? Wealth? More farmland? An epic adventure? Many years later these pioneers spawned yet another independent, rebellious, adventurous, generation of young people, but on another quest. This time they sought not gold or wealth. They claimed to be seeking justice, peace and meaning to their lives. They pushed past the social boundaries of the day and threw off the restraints of the comfortable middle-class society their parents worked so hard to establish, and began a movement that would rock the entire country, and even the world. In the '60s, the West Coast was the birthplace of the Hippie and Jesus Movements.