The Joys of Civilization is the 43rd main story mission in Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2). This walkthrough will guide you through all objectives of The Joys of Civilization Main Quest including all Gold Medals for 100% completion.
The Joys of Civilization is unlocked after completing The Battle of Shady Belle.
Quest Giver: Dutch
Chapter: 4
Region: Lemoyne
Gold Medal Requirements:
- Catch the street urchin before he reaches the market
- Complete within 5 minutes 30 seconds
Starting Location: St Denis, Lemoyne
Ask About Angelo Bronte
- GOLD MEDAL: Complete within 5 minutes 30 seconds
NOTE: This is a timed mission, so every second counts. Skip all cinematics where possible, and try to get the Gold Medal on your first time through the mission where hopefully your Stamina has beeen built up a few levels.
Arthur and Dutch are asking around St. Denis about Angelo Bronte, the man who apparently has Jack. Go to the westernmost mission marker, and enter the bar there (skipping Dutch’s oh so funny joke). Talk to the bartender until he comes over and serves you. Order a whiskey.
Skip the next cinematic where the bartender warns you about asking questions. As you leave, a drunk will try to stop you. While he is talking about kids in the alley knowing where to find Bronte, continue to walk out of the bar, around the corner to the right. As soon as you can run again, do so.
Turn left and go through the door on the left at the far end of the alley. This leads through another door to the right.
Move past the two women talking near a tree and through an archway straight ahead where you can see two kids talking.
You’ll automatically start talking with them, and you’ll ask about Bronte. Skip this cinematic.
Follow the Kid
The kid will lead you to the street, and across the intersection to the church while his taller friend follows behind you, not at all suspiciously.
Yoink.
- GOLD MEDAL: Catch the street urchin before he reaches the market
Chase the kid up the street. He will outpace you on the wagon, but do your best to keep up.
At the top of the street, the kid will hop on a trolley. Don’t even try to reach him, immediately turn and run down the street to the right.
Go around a wagon, and you’ll see a horse ahead of you someone has been nice enough to leave out for you to borrow.
Push the horse hard to keep up with the trolley. Don’t worry about his stamina; you won’t be riding him long, and you got the insurance. Follow the trolley around the corner to the right as it heads east down the street.
Just as the road curves to the right, the kid will jump off and run through an archway.
Get off your horse and follow him.
Now, if you’re fast and don’t hit anything you might be able to catch him here, but its very difficult if you’re doing this on a replay. Run through the archway shown above, and immediately cut to the right to avoid the men talking near the fountain, and through the archway straight ahead of you. If you run fast enough, you might be able to tackle the kid immediately by pressing the 
/ 
when in range, but its hard to pull off.
More likely, you’ll be following him into the next street and getting him in a more foolproof way.
When he crosses the street up ahead, a wagon will cross the street immediately after him, cutting him off. Avoid the wagon by cutting to the right and going up the street. Start to conserve your stamina at this point.
Rather than following the kid directly by going up the alley to the left, follow the wagon to the end of the block and turn left down the street.
Run down this street, and you’ll see Cleet on the radar behind the wall.
Climb over the gate quickly, and you’ll have gained a lot of ground on Cleet. Climb the stairs and follow him to the left quickly.
Cleet will run into some men at the corner, slowing him down. Avoid them and turn around the corner to the right.
At this point you should be close enough to tackle him easily by pressing / .
Cleet will give you your things back and tell you where to find Angelo Bronte.
Return to Dutch on the benches outside the saloon, and the mission will end.
This finishes The Joys of Civilization main mission in Red Dead Redemption 2. Now the next quest Angelo Bronte, a Man of Honor starts.
Next Up: Angelo Bronte, a Man of Honor
For more Walkthroughs with all gold medals, check out the complete Red Dead Redemption 2 Story Walkthrough.
Worst mission ever. Kept clipping into anything that was on the street, even the air.
When you catch up Arthur won’t sprint, even with full stamina…
The first time I did this mission the kid ended up running into the trolley and did not get on which made him easy to catch, I ended up doing it again and caught him right after he got off the roof.
Easy gold for me, after the kid gets on the trolley your horse will actually be a little ways down the street. Instead of getting on the first horse you see, run a little further and mount yours. As soon as you see the kid jump off towards the alley on the right, jump on your horse and run towards him. You should be able to tackle him (hopefully not the man walking out of the alley).
Y’all are the best!!!!!!
Why is there a requirement, to catch the kid, when the game forces you almost to slow down when you get close. The game is programmed to have shitty controls at every moment. Cheep
Rockstar does this a lot of times. They talk big game of player freedom, when they constrain our choices every other corner.
Why can’t I just blow his head off.
Just get incendiary buckshot for the sawed off shotgun and shoot the wagon. It’ll stop and the kid will jump off allowing you to tackle him right then and there
I forgot to mention just make sure to shoot right next to the kid so the wagon catches on fire
When you gets off the wagon up the street if you hang back a little he doesn’t run to the trolly right away. Instead he will move towards a taunting location but if you sprint towards him as he’s moving in that direction he will get caught up in the transition to running away and get stuck behind the wagon. You can catch him there.