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California gold rush

Coordinates:38°48′N120°53′W/ 38.800°N 120.883°W/38.800; -120.883
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California gold rush
Prospectors workingCaliforniagoldplacer depositsin 1850
DateJanuary 24, 1848(1848-01-24)–1855
LocationSierra NevadaandNorthern Californiagoldfields
Coordinates38°48′N120°53′W/ 38.800°N 120.883°W/38.800; -120.883
Participants300,000 prospectors
OutcomeCalifornia becomes aU.S. state
California genocideoccurs
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TheCalifornia gold rush(1848–1855) was agold rushthat began on January 24, 1848, whengoldwas found byJames W. MarshallatSutter's MillinColoma, California.[1]The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people toCaliforniafrom the rest of the United States and abroad.[2]The sudden influx of gold into the money supply reinvigorated the American economy; the sudden population increase allowed California to go rapidly to statehood in theCompromise of 1850.The Gold Rush had severe effects onNative Californiansand accelerated the Native American population's decline from disease, starvation, and theCalifornia genocide.

The effects of the Gold Rush were substantial. Whole indigenous societies were attacked and pushed off their lands by the gold-seekers, called "forty-niners" (referring to 1849, the peak year for Gold Rush immigration). Outside of California, the first to arrive were fromOregon,theSandwich Islands(Hawaii) andLatin Americain late 1848. Of the approximately 300,000 people who came to California during the Gold Rush, about half arrived by sea and half came overland on theCalifornia Trailand theCalifornia Road;forty-niners often faced substantial hardships on the trip. While most of the newly arrived were Americans, the gold rush attracted thousands from Latin America, Europe, Australia and China. Agriculture and ranching expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of the settlers.San Franciscogrew from a small settlement of about 200 residents in 1846 to aboomtownof about 36,000 by 1852. Roads, churches, schools and other towns were built throughout California. In 1849 astate constitution was written.The new constitution was adopted by referendum vote; the future state's interim first governor and legislature were chosen. In September 1850,California became a state.

At the beginning of the Gold Rush, there was no law regarding property rights in the goldfields and a system of "staking claims" was developed. Prospectors retrieved the gold from streams and riverbeds using simple techniques, such aspanning.Althoughminingcaused environmental harm, more sophisticated methods of gold recovery were developed and later adopted around the world. New methods of transportation developed assteamshipscame into regular service. By 1869,railroadswere built from California to the eastern United States. At its peak, technological advances reached a point where significant financing was required, increasing the proportion of gold companies to individual miners. Gold worth tens of billions of today's US dollars was recovered, which led to great wealth for a few, though many who participated in the California gold rush earned little more than they had started with.

California goldfields (red) in theSierra Nevadaandnorthern California[image reference needed]

History

See also:History of California before 1900

Earlier discoveries

Gold was discoveredin Californiaas early as March 9, 1842, atRancho San Francisco,in the mountains north of present-dayLos Angeles.Californian native Francisco Lopez was searching for stray horses and stopped on the bank of a small creek (in today'sPlacerita Canyon), about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of present-dayNewhall,and about 35 miles (56 km) northwest of LA. While the horses grazed, Lopez dug up some wild onions and found a small gold nugget in the roots among the bulbs. He looked further and found more gold.[3]Lopez took the gold to authorities who confirmed its worth. Lopez and others began to search for other streambeds with gold deposits in the area. They found several in the northeastern section of the forest, within present-dayVentura County.[3]In November, some of the gold was sent to theU.S. Mint,although otherwise attracted little notice.[4][5]In 1843, Lopez found gold in San Feliciano Canyon near his first discovery. Mexican miners fromSonoraworked the placer deposits until 1846.[3]Minor finds of gold in California were also made byMission Indiansprior to 1848. Thefriarsinstructed them to keep its location secret to avoid agold rush.[6]

Marshall's discovery

1855 illustration ofJames W. Marshall,discoverer of gold atSutter's Mill

In January 1847, nine months into theMexican–American War,theTreaty of Cahuengawas signed, leading to the resolution of the military conflict inAlta California(Upper California).[7]On January 24, 1848,James W. Marshall[a]found shiny metal in thetailraceof a lumber mill he was building forSacramentopioneerJohn Sutter—known asSutter's Mill,nearColomaon theAmerican River.[9][10][11]Marshall brought what he found to Sutter, and the two privately tested the metal. After the tests showed that it was gold, Sutter expressed dismay, wanting to keep the news quiet because he feared what would happen tohis plans for an agricultural empireif there were a gold rush in the region.[12]The Mexican–American War ended on May 30 with the ratification of theTreaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,which formally transferred California to the United States.[13]

Having sworn all concerned at the mill to secrecy, in February 1848, Sutter sentCharles BennetttoMontereyto meet with Colonel Mason, the chief U.S. official in California, to secure the mineral rights of the land where the mill stood. Bennett was not to tell anyone of the discovery of gold, but when he stopped atBenicia,he heard talk about the discovery of coal near Mount Diablo, and he blurted out the discovery of gold. He continued to San Francisco, where again, he could not keep the secret. At Monterey, Mason declined to make any judgement of title to lands and mineral rights, and Bennett for the third time revealed the gold discovery.[14]

By March 1848, rumors of the discovery were confirmed by San Francisco newspaper publisher and merchantSamuel Brannan.Brannan hurriedly set up a store to sell gold prospecting supplies,[15]and he walked through the streets of San Francisco, holding aloft a vial of gold, shouting "Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!"[16]

On August 19, 1848, theNew York Heraldwas the first major newspaper on the East Coast to report the discovery of gold. On December 5, 1848, US PresidentJames K. Polkconfirmed the discovery of gold in an address toCongress.[17]As a result, individuals seeking to benefit from the gold rush—later called the "forty-niners" —began moving to theGold Country of Californiaor "Mother Lode" from other countries and from other parts of the United States. As Sutter had feared, his business plans were ruined after his workers left in search of gold, andsquatterstook over his land and stole his crops and cattle.[18]

San Francisco had been a tiny settlement before the rush began. When residents learned about the discovery, it at first became aghost townof abandoned ships and businesses,[19]but then boomed as merchants and new people arrived. The population of San Francisco increased quickly from about 1,000[20]in 1848 to 25,000 full-time residents by 1850.[21]Miners lived in tents, wood shanties, or deck cabins removed from abandoned ships.[22]

Transportation and supplies

Advertisement about sailing to California,c. 1850

In what has been referred to as the "first world-class gold rush,"[23]there was no easy way to get to California; forty-niners faced hardship and often death on the way. At first, mostArgonauts,as they were also known, traveled by sea. From the East Coast, a sailing voyage around the tip of South America would take four to five months,[24]and cover approximately 18,000 nautical miles (21,000 mi; 33,000 km). An alternative was to sail to the Atlantic side of theIsthmus of Panama,take canoes and mules for a week through the jungle, and then on the Pacific side, wait for a ship sailing for San Francisco.[25]There was also arouteacross Mexico starting atVeracruz.The companies providing such transportation created vast wealth among their owners and included theU.S. Mail Steamship Company,the federally subsidizedPacific Mail Steamship Company,and theAccessory Transit Company.Many gold-seekers took the overland route across the continental United States, particularly along theCalifornia Trail.[26]Each of these routes had its own deadly hazards, from shipwreck totyphoid feverandcholera.[27]In the early years of the rush, much of the population growth in the San Francisco area was due to steamship travel fromNew York Citythrough overland portages inNicaraguaandPanamaand then back up by steamship to San Francisco.[28]

While traveling, many steamships from the eastern seaboard required the passengers to bring kits, which were typically full of personal belongings such as clothes, guidebooks, tools, etc. In addition to personal belongings, Argonauts were required to bring barrels full of beef, biscuits, butter, pork, rice, and salt. While on the steamships, travelers could talk to each other, smoke, fish, and other activities depending on the ship they traveled. Still, the dominant activity held throughout the steamships was gambling, which was ironic because segregation betweenwealth gapswas prominent throughout the ships. Everything was segregated between the rich vs. the poor.[29]There were different levels of travel one could pay for to get to California. The cheaper steamships tended to have longer routes. In contrast, the more expensive would get passengers to California quicker. There were clear social and economic distinctions between those who traveled together, being that those who spent more money would receive accommodations that others were not allowed. They would do this with the clear intent to distinguish their higher class power over those that could not afford those accommodations.[30]

Merchant ships fillSan Francisco Bay,1850–51

Supply ships arrived in San Francisco with goods to supply the needs of the growing population. When hundreds of ships were abandoned after their crews deserted to go into the goldfields, many ships were converted to warehouses, stores, taverns, hotels, and one into a jail.[31]As the city expanded and new places were needed on which to build, many ships were destroyed and used as landfill.[31]

Other developments

Within a few years, there was an important but lesser-known surge of prospectors into far Northern California, specifically into present-daySiskiyou,ShastaandTrinity Counties.[32]Discovery of gold nuggets at the site of present-dayYrekain 1851 brought thousands of gold-seekers up theSiskiyou Trail[33]and throughout California's northern counties.[34]

Settlements of the Gold Rush era, such asPortuguese Flaton theSacramento River,sprang into existence and then faded. The Gold Rush town ofWeavervilleon theTrinity Rivertoday retains the oldest continuously usedTaoisttemple in California, a legacy ofChineseminers who came. While there are not many Gold Rush era ghost towns still in existence, the remains of the once-bustling town ofShastahave been preserved in aCalifornia State Historic Parkin Northern California.[35]

By 1850, most of the easily accessible gold had been collected, and attention turned to extracting gold from more difficult locations. Faced with gold increasingly difficult to retrieve, Americans began to drive out foreigners to get at the most accessible gold that remained. The newCalifornia State Legislaturepassed a foreign miners tax of twenty dollars per month ($730 per month as of 2024), and Americanprospectorsbegan organized attacks on foreign miners, particularlyLatin AmericansandChinese.[36]

In addition, the huge numbers of newcomers were drivingNative Americansout of their traditional hunting, fishing and food-gathering areas. To protect their homes and livelihood, some Native Americans responded by attacking the miners. This provoked counter-attacks on native villages. The Native Americans, out-gunned, were often slaughtered.[37]Those who escaped massacres were many times unable to survive without access to their food-gathering areas, and they starved to death. Novelist and poetJoaquin Millervividly captured one such attack in his semi-autobiographical work,Life Amongst the Modocs.[38]

Forty-niners

The first people to rush to the goldfields, beginning in the spring of 1848, were the residents of California themselves—primarily agriculturally oriented Americans and Europeans living inNorthern California,along withNative Californiansand someCalifornios(Spanish-speaking Californians; at the time, commonly referred to in English as simply 'Californians').[39]These first miners tended to be families in which everyone helped in the effort. Women and children of all ethnicities were often found panning next to the men. Some enterprising families set up boarding houses to accommodate the influx of men; in such cases, the women often brought in steady income while their husbands searched for gold.[40]

Word of the Gold Rush spread slowly at first. The earliest gold-seekers were people who lived near California or people who heard the news from ships on the fastest sailing routes from California. The first large group of Americans to arrive were several thousandOregonianswho came down the Siskiyou Trail.[41]Next came people from theSandwich Islands,and several thousand Latin Americans, including people fromMexico,fromPeruand from as far away asChile,[42]both by ship and overland.[43]By the end of 1848, some 6,000 Argonauts had come to California.[43]

Only a small number (probably fewer than 500) traveled overland from the United States that year.[43]Some of these "forty-eighters",[44]as the earliest gold-seekers were sometimes called, were able to collect large amounts of easily accessible gold—in some cases, thousands of dollars worth each day.[45][46]Even ordinary prospectors averaged daily gold finds worth 10 to 15 times the daily wage of a laborer on the East Coast. A person could work for six months in the goldfields and find the equivalent of six years' wages back home.[47]Some hoped to get rich quick and return home, and others wished to start businesses in California.

"Independent Gold Hunter on His Way to California", c. 1850[b]

By the beginning of 1849, word of the Gold Rush had spread around the world, and an overwhelming number of gold-seekers and merchants began to arrive from virtually every continent. The largest group of forty-niners in 1849 were Americans, arriving by the tens of thousands overland across the continent and along various sailing routes[49](the name "forty-niner" was derived from the year 1849). Many from theEast Coastnegotiated a crossing of theAppalachian Mountains,taking toriverboatsinPennsylvania,poling thekeelboatstoMissouri Riverwagon trainassembly ports, and then traveling in a wagon train along theCalifornia Trail.Many others came by way of theIsthmus of Panamaand the steamships of thePacific Mail Steamship Company.Australians[50]and New Zealanders picked up the news from ships carrying Hawaiian newspapers, and thousands, infected with "gold fever", boarded ships for California.[51]

Forty-niners came from Latin America, particularly from the Mexican mining districts nearSonoraand Chile.[51][52]Gold-seekers and merchants from Asia, primarily from China,[53]began arriving in 1849, at first in modest numbers toGum San( "Gold Mountain"), the name given to California in Chinese.[54]The first immigrants from Europe, reeling from the effects of theRevolutions of 1848and with a longer distance to travel, began arriving in late 1849, mostly from France,[55]with someGermans,Italians,andBritons.[49]

It is estimated that approximately 90,000 people arrived inCaliforniain 1849—about half by land and half by sea.[56]Of these, perhaps 50,000 to 60,000 were Americans, and the rest were from other countries.[49]By 1855, it is estimated at least 300,000 gold-seekers, merchants, and other immigrants had arrived in California from around the world.[57]The largest group continued to be Americans, but there were tens of thousands each of Mexicans, Chinese, Britons, Australians,[58]French, and Latin Americans,[59]together with many smaller groups of miners, such as African Americans,Filipinos,Basques[60]andTurks.[61][62]

People from small villages in the hills near Genova, Italy were among the first to settle permanently in theSierra Nevada foothills;they brought with them traditional agricultural skills, developed to survive cold winters.[63]A modest number of miners of African ancestry (probably less than 4,000)[64]had come from theSouthern States,[65]theCaribbeanandBrazil.[66]

A number of immigrants were fromChina.Several hundred Chinese arrived in California in 1849 and 1850, and in 1852 more than 20,000 landed in San Francisco.[67]Their distinctive dress and appearance was highly recognizable in the goldfields. Chinese miners suffered enormously, enduring violent racism from white miners who aimed their frustrations at foreigners. Further animosity toward the Chinese led to legislation such as the Chinese Exclusion Act and Foreign Miners Tax.[68][67]

There were alsowomen in the Gold Rush.However, their numbers were small. Of the 40,000 people who arrived by ship to theSan Francisco Bayin 1849, only 700 were women (including those who were poor, wealthy, entrepreneurs, prostitutes, single, and married).[69]They were of various ethnicities including Anglo-American,African-American,[70]Hispanic,Native,European,Chinese,and Jewish. The reasons they came varied: some came with their husbands, refusing to be left behind to fend for themselves, some came because their husbands sent for them, and others came (singles and widows) for the adventure and economic opportunities.[71]On thetrailmany people died from accidents,cholera,fever, and myriad other causes, and many women became widows before even setting eyes on California. While in California, women became widows quite frequently due tomining accidents,disease, or mining disputes of their husbands. Life in the goldfields offered opportunities for women to break from their traditional work.[72][73]

Because of many thousands of people flooding into California atSacramentoandSan Franciscoand surrounding areas, the Methodist church deemed it necessary to send missionaries there to preach the gospel, as churches in that part of the state were not to be found. The first missionary to arrive wasWilliam Taylorwho arrived in San Francisco in September 1849. For many months he preached in the streets to hundreds of people without salary, and ultimately after saving often generous donations from successful miners, he built and established the first Methodist church in California, and California's first professional hospital.[74][75]

Joaquín Murrieta,called the "Robin Hoodof California ", was a notoriousoutlawduring the Gold Rush.

When the Gold Rush began, the California goldfields were peculiarly lawless places.[76]When gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, California was still technically part of Mexico, under American military occupation as the result of the Mexican–American War. With the signing of the treaty ending the war on February 2, 1848, California became a possession of the United States, but it was not a formal "territory"and did not become a state until September 9, 1850. California existed in the unusual condition of a region under military control. There was no civil legislature, executive or judicial body for the entire region.[77]Local residents operated under a confusing and changing mixture of Mexican rules, American principles, and personal dictates. Lax enforcement of federal laws, such as theFugitive Slave Act of 1850,encouraged the arrival of free blacks and escaped slaves.[62]

While the treaty ending the Mexican–American War obliged the United States to honor Mexican land grants,[78]almost all the goldfields were outside those grants. Instead, the goldfields were primarily on "public land",meaning land formally owned by the United States government.[79]However, there were no legal rules yet in place,[76]and no practical enforcement mechanisms.[80]

The benefit to the forty-niners was that the gold was simply "free for the taking" at first. In the goldfields at the beginning, there was no private property, no licensing fees, and notaxes.[81][82]The miners informally adapted Mexican mining law that had existed in California.[83]For example, the rules attempted to balance the rights of early arrivers at a site with later arrivers; a "claim"could be" staked "by a prospector, but that claim was valid only as long as it was being actively worked.[76][84][85]

Miners worked at a claim only long enough to determine its potential. If a claim was deemed as low-value—as most were—miners would abandon the site in search of a better one. In the case where a claim was abandoned or not worked upon, other miners would "claim-jump" the land. "Claim-jumping" meant that a miner began work on a previously claimed site.[84][85]Disputes were often handled personally and violently, and were sometimes addressed by groups of prospectors acting asarbitrators.[79][84][85]This often led to heightened ethnic tensions.[86]In some areas the influx of many prospectors could lead to a reduction of the existing claim size by simple pressure.[87]

Development of gold-recovery techniques

Approximately four hundred million years ago, California lay at the bottom of a large sea; underwatervolcanoesdepositedlavaand minerals (including gold) onto the sea floor. Bytectonic forcesthese minerals and rocks came to the surface of the Sierra Nevada,[88]anderoded.Water carried the exposed gold downstream and deposited it in quiet gravel beds along the sides of old rivers and streams.[89][90]The forty-niners first focused their efforts on these deposits of gold.[91]

Because thegoldin the Californiagravelbeds was so richly concentrated, early forty-niners were able to retrieve loose gold flakes and nuggets with their hands, or simply "pan"for gold in rivers and streams.[92][93]Panning cannot take place on a large scale, and industrious miners and groups of miners graduated toplacer mining,using "cradles"and" rockers "or" long-toms "[94]to process larger volumes of gravel.[95]Miners would also engage in "coyoteing",[96]a method that involved digging a shaft 6 to 13 metres (20 to 43 ft) deep into placer deposits along a stream. Tunnels were then dug in all directions to reach the richest veins ofpay dirt.

In the most complex placer mining, groups of prospectors would divert the water from an entire river into asluicealongside the river and then dig for gold in the newly exposed river bottom.[97]Modern estimates are that as much as 12 million ounces[98](370t) of gold were removed in the first five years of the Gold Rush.[99]

In the next stage, by 1853,hydraulic miningwas used on ancient gold-bearing gravel beds on hillsides and bluffs in the goldfields.[100]In a modern style of hydraulic mining first developed in California, and later used around the world, a high-pressure hose directed a powerful stream or jet of water at gold-bearing gravel beds.[101]The loosened gravel and gold would then pass over sluices, with the gold settling to the bottom where it was collected. By the mid-1880s, it is estimated that 11 million troy ounces (340 t) of gold (worth approximately US$15 billion at December 2010 prices) had been recovered by hydraulic mining.[99]

A byproduct of these extraction methods was that large amounts of gravel,silt,heavy metals,and other pollutants went into streams and rivers.[102][103]Court rulings (1882 Gold Run and 1884"Sawyer Act") and 1893 federal legislation limited hydraulic mining in California. As of 1999many areas still bear the scars of hydraulic mining, since the resulting exposed earth and downstream gravel deposits do not support plant life.[104]

After the Gold Rush had concluded, gold recovery operations continued. The final stage to recover loose gold was to prospect for gold that had slowly washed down into the flat river bottoms and sandbars of California'sCentral Valleyand other gold-bearing areas of California (such asScott Valleyin Siskiyou County). By the late 1890s,dredgingtechnology (also invented in California) had become economical,[105]and it is estimated that more than 20 million troy ounces (620 t) were recovered by dredging.[99]

Both during the Gold Rush and in the decades that followed, gold-seekers also engaged in "hard-rock"mining,extracting the gold directly from the rock that contained it (typicallyquartz), usually by digging and blasting to follow and remove veins of the gold-bearing quartz.[106]Once the gold-bearing rocks were brought to the surface, the rocks were crushed and the gold separated, either using separation in water, using its density difference from quartz sand, or by washing the sand over copper plates coated withmercury(with which gold forms anamalgam). Loss of mercury in the amalgamation process was asource of environmental contamination.[107] Eventually, hard-rock mining became the single largest source of gold produced in theGold Country.[99][108]The total production of gold in California from then until now is estimated at 118 million troy ounces (3,700 t).[109]

  • Forty-niner panning for gold
    Forty-niner panning for gold
  • Sluice for separation of gold from dirt using water
    Sluice for separation of gold from dirt using water
  • Excavating a riverbed after the water has been diverted
    Excavating a riverbed after the water has been diverted
  • Crushing quartz ore prior to washing out gold
    Crushingquartzore prior to washing out gold
  • California gold miners with long tom, c. 1850–1852
    California gold miners with long tom, c. 1850–1852
  • Mining on the American River near Sacramento, c. 1852
    Mining on the American River near Sacramento, c. 1852
  • River mining, North Fork of the American River, c. 1850–1855
    River mining, North Fork of the American River, c. 1850–1855
  • Excavating a gravel bed with jets, c. 1863
    Excavating a gravel bed with jets, c. 1863
  • Panning on the Mokelumne River (1860 illustration)
    Panning on theMokelumne River(1860 illustration)
  • Chinese gold miners in California (illustration)
    Chinese gold miners in California (illustration)
  • Henry Raschen, California Miner with Pack Horse, 1887, oil on canvas
    Henry Raschen,California Miner with Pack Horse,1887, oil on canvas

Profits

Recent scholarship confirms that merchants made far more money than miners during the Gold Rush.[110][111]The wealthiest man in California during the early years of the rush wasSamuel Brannan,a tireless self-promoter, shopkeeper and newspaper publisher.[112]Brannan opened the first supply stores in Sacramento, Coloma, and other spots in the goldfields. Just as the rush began he purchased all the prospecting supplies available in San Francisco and re-sold them at a substantial profit.[112]

Some gold-seekers made a significant amount of money.[113]On average, half the gold-seekers made a modest profit, after taking all expenses into account; economic historians have suggested that white miners were more successful than black, Indian, or Chinese miners.[114]However, taxes such as the California foreign miners tax passed in 1851, targeted mainly Latino miners[115]and kept them from making as much money as whites, who did not have any taxes imposed on them. In California most late arrivals made little or wound up losing money.[110]Similarly, many unlucky merchants set up in settlements that disappeared, or which succumbed to one of the calamitous fires that swept the towns that sprang up. By contrast, a businessman who went on to great success wasLevi Strauss,who first began selling denim overalls in San Francisco in 1853.[116]

Other businessmen reaped great rewards in retail, shipping, entertainment, lodging,[117]or transportation.[118]Boardinghouses, food preparation, sewing, and laundry were highly profitable businesses often run by women (married, single, or widowed) who realized men would pay well for a service done by a woman. Brothels also brought in large profits, especially when combined with saloons and gaming houses.[119]

By 1855, the economic climate had changed dramatically. Gold could be retrieved profitably from the goldfields only by medium to large groups of workers, either in partnerships or as employees. By the mid-1850s, it was the owners of these gold-mining companies who made the money. Also, the population and economy of California had become large and diverse enough that money could be made in a wide variety of conventional businesses.[120]

Path of the gold

Portsmouth Square,San Francisco,during the Gold Rush, 1851

Once extracted, the gold itself took many paths. First, much of the gold was used locally to purchase food, supplies and lodging for theminers.It also went towards entertainment, which consisted of anything from a traveling theater to alcohol, gambling, and prostitutes. These transactions often took place using the recently recovered gold, carefully weighed out.[121][122]Thesemerchantsand vendors, in turn, used the gold to purchase supplies from ship captains or packers bringing goods to California.[123]

The gold then left California aboard ships or mules to go to the makers of the goods from around the world. A second path was the Argonauts themselves who, having personally acquired a sufficient amount, sent the gold home, or returned home taking with them their hard-earned "diggings". For example, one estimate is that someUS$80 million worth of California gold (equivalent to US$2.6 billion today) was sent to France byFrenchprospectors and merchants.[124]

A majority of the gold went back to New York City brokerage houses.[28]

As the Gold Rush progressed, local banks and gold dealers issued "banknotes" or "drafts" —locally accepted paper currency—in exchange for gold,[125]and private mints created private goldcoins.[126]With the building of theSan Francisco Mintin 1854,gold bullionwas turned into official United Statesgold coinsfor circulation.[127]The gold was also later sent by California banks to U.S. national banks in exchange for national papercurrencyto be used in theboomingCalifornia economy.[128]

Effects

1852 photograph, captioned "The Heathen Chinee Prospecting", indicating prejudice against Chinese gold miners

The arrival of hundreds of thousands of new people in California within a few years, compared to a population of some 15,000 Europeans andCaliforniosbeforehand,[129]had many dramatic effects.[130]

A 2017 study attributes the record-long economic expansion of the United States in the recession-free period of 1841–1856 primarily to "a boom in transportation-goods investment following the discovery of gold in California."[131]

Government and commerce

The Gold Rush propelled California from a sleepy, little-known backwater to a center of the global imagination and the destination of hundreds of thousands of people. The new immigrants often showed remarkable inventiveness and civic mindedness. For example, in the midst of the Gold Rush, towns and cities were chartered, a stateconstitutional conventionwas convened, astate constitutionwritten, elections held, and representatives sent toWashington, D.C.,to negotiate the admission of California as astate.[132]

Large-scale agriculture (California's second "Gold Rush"[133]) began during this time.[134]Roads, schools, churches,[135]and civic organizations quickly came into existence.[132]The vast majority of the immigrants were Americans.[136]Pressure grew for better communications and political connections to the rest of the United States, leading to statehood for California on September 9, 1850, in theCompromise of 1850as the31st state of the United States.

Between 1847 and 1870, the population ofSan Franciscoincreased from 500 to 150,000.[137]The Gold Rush wealth and population increase led to significantly improved transportation between California and the East Coast. ThePanama Railway,spanning the Isthmus of Panama, was finished in 1855.[138]Steamships,including those owned by thePacific Mail Steamship Company,began regular service from San Francisco toPanama,where passengers, goods and mail would take the train across the Isthmus and board steamships headed to the East Coast. One ill-fated journey, that of theS.S.Central America,[139]ended in disaster as the ship sank in ahurricaneoff the coast of theCarolinasin 1857, with approximately three tons of California gold aboard.[140][141]

Native Americans

Main articles:California genocideandUnfree labor in California
Protecting the Settlers,an illustration by JR Browne for his workThe Indians of California(1864)

The human and environmental costs of the Gold Rush were substantial. Native Americans, dependent on traditional hunting, gathering and agriculture, became the victims of starvation and disease, as gravel, silt and toxic chemicals from prospecting operations killed fish and destroyed habitats.[103][104]The surge in the mining population also resulted in the disappearance of game and food gathering locales as gold camps and other settlements were built amidst them. Later farming spread to supply the settlers' camps, taking more land away from the Native Americans.[142]

In some areas, systematic attacks against tribespeople in or near mining districts occurred.Various conflictswere fought between natives and settlers.[143]Miners often saw Native Americans as impediments to their mining activities.[144]Ed Allen, interpretive lead for Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, reported that there were times when miners would kill up to 50 or more Natives in one day.[145]Retribution attacks on solitary miners could result in larger scale attacks against Native populations, at times tribes or villages not involved in the original act.[146]During the 1852Bridge Gulch Massacre,a group of settlers attacked a band ofWintuIndians in response to the killing of a citizen named J. R. Anderson. After his killing, the sheriff led a group of men to track down the Indians, whom the men then attacked. Only three children survived the massacre that was against a different band of Wintu than the one that had killed Anderson.[147]

Historian Benjamin Madley recorded the numbers of killings of California Indians between 1846 and 1873 and estimated that during this period at least 9,400 to 16,000 California Indians were killed by non-Indians, mostly occurring in more than 370 massacres (defined as the "intentional killing of five or more disarmed combatants or largely unarmed noncombatants, including women, children, and prisoners, whether in the context of a battle or otherwise" ).[148]According to demographerRussell Thornton,between 1849 and 1890, the Indigenous population of California fell below 20,000 – primarily because of the killings.[149]According to the government of California, some 4,500 Native Americans suffered violent deaths between 1849 and 1870.[150]Furthermore, California stood in opposition of ratifying the eighteen treaties signed between tribal leaders and federal agents in 1851.[151]The state government, in support of miner activities funded and supporteddeath squads,appropriating over 1 million dollars towards the funding and operation of the paramilitary organizations.[152]Peter Burnett,California's first governor declared that California was a battleground between the races and that there were only two options towards California Indians, extermination or removal. "That a war of extermination will continue to be waged between the two races until the Indian race becomes extinct, must be expected. While we cannot anticipate the result with but painful regret, the inevitable destiny of the race is beyond the power and wisdom of man to avert." For Burnett, like many of his contemporaries, the genocide was part of God's plan, and it was necessary for Burnett's constituency to move forward in California.[153]TheAct for the Government and Protection of Indians,passed on April 22, 1850, by theCalifornia Legislature,allowed settlers to capture and use Native people as bonded workers, prohibited Native peoples' testimony against settlers, and allowed the adoption of Native children by settlers, often for labor purposes.[154]

After the initial boom had ended, explicitly anti-foreign and racist attacks, laws and confiscatory taxes sought to drive out foreigners—in addition to Native Americans—from the mines, especially theChineseandLatin Americanimmigrantsmostly fromSonora, Mexico,andChile.[67][155]The toll on the American immigrants was severe as well: one in twelve forty-niners perished, as the death and crime rates during the Gold Rush were extraordinarily high, and the resultingvigilantismalso took its toll.[156][157]

World-wide economic stimulation

Chilean wheat exports to Californiafrom 1848 to 1854 (inqqm)[158]
Year Grains Flour
1848 3000 n/a
1849 87,000 69,000
1850 277,000 221,000
1854 63,000 50,000

The Gold Rush stimulated economies around the world as well. Farmersin Chile,Australia, andHawaiifound a huge new market for their food; British manufactured goods were in high demand; clothing and even prefabricated houses arrived from China.[159]The return of large amounts of California gold to pay for these goods raised prices and stimulated investment and the creation of jobs around the world.[160]Australian prospectorEdward Hargraves,noting similarities between the geography of California and his home country, returned to Australia to discover gold and spark theAustralian gold rushes.[161]Preceding the Gold Rush, the United States was on abi-metallic standard,but the sudden increase in physical gold supply increased the relative value of physical silver and drove silver money from circulation. The increase in gold supply also created a monetary supplyshock.[162]

Within a few years after the end of the Gold Rush, in 1863, the groundbreaking ceremony for the western leg of theFirst transcontinental railroadwas held in Sacramento. The line's completion, some six years later, financed in part with Gold Rush money,[163]united California with the central and eastern United States. Travel that had taken weeks or even months could now be accomplished in days.[164]

Gender practices

As the California gold rush brought a disproportionate population of men and set an environment of experimental lawlessness separate from the bounds of standard society, conventional American gender roles came into question.[165]In the large absence of women, these migrant young men were made to reorganize their social and sexual practices, leading to cross-gender practices that most often took place ascross-dressing.Dance events were a notable social space for cross-dressing, where a piece of cloth (such as a handkerchief or sackcloth patch) would denote a 'woman.'[166]Beyond social events, these subverted gender expectations continued into domestic duties as well. Though cross-dressing occurred most frequently with men as women, the reverse also applied.[167]

These miners and merchants of various genders and gendered appearances, encouraged by the social fluidity and population limitations of the Wild West, shaped the beginnings ofSan Francisco's prominent queer history.[165]

Longer-term

External videos
video iconPresentation by H.W. Brands onThe Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream,September 19, 2002,C-SPAN

California's name became indelibly connected with the Gold Rush, and fast success in a new world became known as the "California Dream."[168]California was perceived as a place of new beginnings, where great wealth could reward hard work and good luck. HistorianH. W. Brandsnoted that in the years after the Gold Rush, the California Dream spread across the nation:

The old American Dream... was the dream of the Puritans, of Benjamin Franklin's "Poor Richard"... of men and women content to accumulate their modest fortunes a little at a time, year by year by year. The new dream was the dream of instant wealth, won in a twinkling by audacity and good luck. [This] golden dream... became a prominent part of the American psyche only after Sutter's Mill.[169]

Legacy
(1) State motto, "Eureka"on theSeal of California.(2) California state route shield, with the number 49 and shaped like a miner's spade. (3) The 1925 commemorativeCalifornia Diamond Jubilee half dollar.

Overnight California gained the international reputation as the "golden state".[170]Generations of immigrants have been attracted by the California Dream. California farmers,[171]oil drillers,[172]movie makers,[173]airplane builders,[174]computer and microchip makers, and"dot-com" entrepreneurshave each had their boom times in the decades after the Gold Rush.[175]

In addition, the standard route shield ofstate highways in Californiais in the shape of a miner's spade to honor the California gold rush.[176][177]Today, the aptly namedState Route 49travels through theSierra Nevadafoothills, connecting many Gold Rush-era towns such as Placerville,Auburn,Grass Valley,Nevada City,Coloma,Jackson,andSonora.[178]This state highway also passes very nearColumbia State Historic Park,a protected area encompassing the historic business district of the town ofColumbia;the park has preserved many Gold Rush-era buildings, which are presently occupied by tourist-oriented businesses.[179]

Cultural references

The literary history of the Gold Rush is reflected in the works ofMark Twain(The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County),Bret Harte(A Millionaire of Rough-and-Ready),Joaquin Miller(Life Amongst the Modocs), and many others.[38][180]

TheSan Francisco 49ers,a professionalAmerican footballteam based in theSan Francisco Bay Areaand competing in theNational Football League,are named after miners.[181]

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ANew Jerseynative, Marshall came to California in 1844, worked forJohn Sutter,and began farming. In 1846, he fought againstMokelumneIndians and participated in theBear Flag Revolt(an attempt to claim California as an independent republic). He then joinedJohn C. Frémont'sCalifornia Battalion,followed by further military service. When he returned toSutter's Fort,most of his livestock had vanished.[8]
  2. ^The gold hunter is loaded down with every conceivable appliance, much of which would be useless in California. The prospector says (in a caption on some versions): "I am sorry I did not follow the advice of Granny and go around theHorn,through theStraights,or byChagres[Panama]. "[48]

Citations

  1. ^"[E]vents from January 1848 through December 1855 [are] generally acknowledged as the 'Gold Rush'. After 1855, California gold mining changed and is outside the 'rush' era.""The Gold Rush of California: A Bibliography of Periodical Articles".California State University, Stanislaus.2002. Archived fromthe originalon July 1, 2007.RetrievedJanuary 23,2008.
  2. ^"California Gold Rush, 1848–1864".Learn California.org, a site designed for theSecretary of State of California.Archived fromthe originalon July 27, 2011.RetrievedAugust 22,2011.
  3. ^abcBlakely, Jim; Barnette, Karen (July 1985).Historical Overview: Los Padres National Forest(PDF).p. 31.
  4. ^Prudhomme, Charles J. (1922)."Gold Discovery in California: Who Was the First Real Discoverer of Gold in This State?".SCVHistory.com.Archivedfrom the original on March 10, 2015.RetrievedJune 25,2021.
  5. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),p. 3.
  6. ^Rolle, Andrew (1987), p. 164.
  7. ^Meares, Hadley (July 11, 2014)."In a State of Peace and Tranquility: Campo de Cahuenga and the Birth of American California".KCET.Archivedfrom the original on July 17, 2014.RetrievedJune 25,2021.
  8. ^Rolle, Andrew (1987), p. 165.
  9. ^Bancroft, Hubert (1888),pp. 32–34.
  10. ^"Gold Nugget".National Museum of American History.RetrievedJanuary 22,2021.This small piece of yellow metal is believed to be the first piece of gold discovered in 1848 at Sutter's Mill in California, launching the gold rush. James Marshall was superintending the construction of a sawmill for Col. John Sutter on the morning of January 24, 1848, on the South Fork of the American River at Coloma, California, when he saw something glittering in the water of the mill's tailrace. According to Sutter's diary, Marshall stooped down to pick it up and "found that it was a thin scale of what appeared to be pure gold." Marshall bit the metal as a test for gold.
  11. ^For a detailed map, seeCalifornia Historic Gold MinesArchivedDecember 14, 2006, at theWayback Machine,published by the State of California. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
  12. ^Bancroft, Hubert (1888),pp. 39–41.
  13. ^"Today in History – February 2".Library of Congress.Archivedfrom the original on July 15, 2017.RetrievedJune 25,2021.
  14. ^Bancroft, Hubert (1888),pp. 42–44.
  15. ^Holliday, J. S. (1999),p. 60.
  16. ^Bancroft, Hubert (1888),pp. 55–56.
  17. ^Starr, Kevin (2005),p. 80.
  18. ^Bancroft, Hubert (1888),pp. 103–105.
  19. ^Bancroft, Hubert (1888),pp. 59–60.
  20. ^Holliday, J. S. (1999),p. 51."800 residents"
  21. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),p. 187.
  22. ^Holliday, J. S. (1999),p. 126.
  23. ^Hill, Mary (1999), p. 1
  24. ^Brands, H. W. (2002),pp. 103–121
  25. ^Brands, H. W. (2002),pp. 75–85.Another route acrossNicaraguawas developed in 1851; it was not as popular as the Panama option. Rawls, James J. (1999),pp. 252–253.
  26. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),p. 5.
  27. ^Holliday, J. S. (1999),p. 101,p. 107.
  28. ^abStiles, T. J. (2009)
  29. ^Rohrbough, Malcolm. "No Boy's Play: Migration and Settlement in Early Gold Rush California."California History79, no. 2 (2000): 25–43. Accessed December 7, 2020.doi:10.2307/25463687.pp. 32–33
  30. ^Rohrbough, Malcolm. "No Boy's Play: Migration and Settlement in Early Gold Rush California." California History 79, no. 2 (2000): 25–43. Accessed December 7, 2020.doi:10.2307/25463687.p. 33
  31. ^abStarr, Kevin (2005),p. 80;"Shipping is the Foundation of San Francisco – Literally".Oakland Museum of California. 1998. Archived fromthe originalon December 27, 2011.RetrievedFebruary 26,2013.
  32. ^Bancroft, Hubert (1888),pp. 363–366.
  33. ^Dillon, Richard (1975),pp. 361–362
  34. ^Wells, Harry (1881),pp. 60–64.
  35. ^The buildings ofBodie,the best-known ghost town in California, date from the 1870s and later, well after the end of the Gold Rush.
  36. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),p. 9.
  37. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),p. 8.
  38. ^abMiller, Joaquin (1873).
  39. ^Brands, H. W. (2002),pp. 43–46.
  40. ^Moynihan, Ruth B., Armitage, Susan, and Dichamp, Christiane Fischer (1990).p. 3.
  41. ^Starr, Kevin (2000), pp. 50–54
  42. ^Brands, H. W. (2002),pp. 48–53.
  43. ^abcStarr, Kevin and Orsi, Richard J. (2000), pp. 50–54.
  44. ^Caughey, John (1975),p. 17
  45. ^Brands, H. W. (2002),pp. 197–202.
  46. ^Holliday, J. S. (1999),p. 63.Holliday notes these luckiest prospectors were recovering, in short amounts of time, gold worth in excess of $1 million when valued at the dollars of today.
  47. ^Starr, Kevin and Orsi, Richard J. (2000), p. 28.
  48. ^Gildenstein, Melanie; O'Donnell, Kerri (2015).A Primary Source Investigation of the Gold Rush.New York:Rosen Publishing.p. 36.ISBN978-1499435115.
  49. ^abcStarr, Kevin and Orsi, Richard J. (2000), pp. 57–61.
  50. ^Brands, H. W. (2002),pp. 53–61.
  51. ^abStarr, Kevin and Orsi, Richard J. (2000), pp. 53–56.
  52. ^Johnson, Susan (2001),p. 59.
  53. ^Brands, H. W. (2002),pp. 61–64.
  54. ^Magagnini, Stephen (January 18, 1998) "Chinese transformed 'Gold Mountain'ArchivedDecember 30, 2010, at theWayback Machine",The Sacramento Bee.Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  55. ^Brands, H. W. (2002),pp. 93–103.
  56. ^Starr, Kevin and Orsi, Richard J. (2000), pp. 57–61. Other estimates range from 70,000 to 90,000 arrivals during 1849 (ibid.p. 57).
  57. ^Starr, Kevin and Orsi, Richard J. (2000), p. 25.
  58. ^"Exploration and Settlement – John Bull and Uncle Sam: Four Centuries of British-American Relations – Exhibitions (Library of Congress)".loc.gov.July 22, 2010.
  59. ^Brands, H. W. (2002),pp. 193–194.
  60. ^Starr, Kevin and Orsi, Richard J. (2000), p. 62.
  61. ^"The Oregon Trail".isu.edu.Archived fromthe originalon May 13, 2008.
  62. ^abNeary, J. (2015), pp. 226–248
  63. ^Freguli, Carolyn (2008), pp. 8–9.
  64. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),p. 5.Another estimate is 2,500 forty-niners of African ancestry.
  65. ^African Americans who were slaves and came to California during the Gold Rush could gaintheir freedomArchivedMarch 24, 2012, at theWayback Machine.One of the miners was African AmericanEdmond Edward Wysinger(1816–1891), see alsoMoses Rodgers(1835–1900)
  66. ^Starr, Kevin and Orsi, Richard J. (2000), pp. 67–69.
  67. ^abcFaragher, John (2006), p. 411
  68. ^"The Gold Rush".The American Experience.2006.RetrievedOctober 4,2019.
  69. ^"Men: Women in Early San Francisco".FoundSF. August 26, 2016.RetrievedMarch 7,2017.
  70. ^"Key Points in Black History and the Gold Rush – Instructional Materials (CA Dept of Education)".Cde.ca.gov.RetrievedMarch 7,2017.
  71. ^Moynihan, Ruth B., Armitage, Susan, and Dichamp, Christiane Fischer (1990).pp. 3–8.
  72. ^Levy, Joann (1992).p. xxii,p. 92.
  73. ^By one account, in late 1850, the population of California was over 110,000, not including theCaliforniosor the California Indians. The surviving U.S. census counts in California add up to 92,600, not including the lost censuses ofSan Francisco(the largest city in California at that time),Contra Costa countyandSanta Clara County.Thewomenwho came to California in the early years were a distinct minority, consisting of less than 10% of the population.
  74. ^Taylor, 1895,pp. 103, 131-132
  75. ^Dictionary of African Christian Biography,Essay
  76. ^abcYoung, Otis (1970),pp. 111–112.
  77. ^Holliday, J. S. (1999),pp. 115–123.
  78. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),p. 235.
  79. ^abRawls, James J. (1999),pp. 123–125.
  80. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),p. 127.There were fewer than 1,000 U.S. soldiers in California at the beginning of the Gold Rush.
  81. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),p. 27.
  82. ^The federal law in place at the time of the California Gold Rush was thePreemption Act of 1841,which allowed "squatters" to improve federal land, then buy it from the government after 14 months.
  83. ^Paul, Rodman (1947),pp. 211–213
  84. ^abcClay, Karen and Wright, Gavin. (2005), pp. 155–183.
  85. ^abcClappe, Louise (1922),pp. 207–221."Dame Shirley" was the name adopted byLouise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappeas she wrote a series of letters to her family describing in detail her life in the Feather River goldfields. The letters were originally published in 1854–1855 byThe Pioneermagazine.
  86. ^The rules of mining claims adopted by the forty-niners spread with each new mining rush throughout the western United States. The U.S. Congress finally legalized the practice in the "Chaffee laws"of 1866 and the" placer law "of 1870. Lindley, Curtis H. (1914)A Treatise on the American Law Relating to Mines and Mineral Lands,San Francisco: Bancroft-Whitney, pp. 89–92. Karen Clay and Gavin Wright, "Order Without Law? Property Rights During the California Gold Rush."Explorations in Economic History2005 42(2): 155–183. See also John F. Burns, and Richard J. Orsi, eds;Taming the Elephant: Politics, Government, and Law in Pioneer CaliforniaUniversity of California Press, 2003ArchivedMay 25, 2010, at theWayback Machine
  87. ^Information Sharing During the Klondike Gold Rush, pp. 13–14.ArchivedDecember 27, 2011, at theWayback MachineDouglas W. Allen, Simon Fraser University
  88. ^Hill, Mary (1999), pp. 169–173.
  89. ^Hill, Mary (1999), pp. 94–100.
  90. ^Young, Otis (1970),pp. 106–108.
  91. ^Hill, Mary (1999), pp. 105–110.
  92. ^Young, Otis (1970),pp. 108–110.
  93. ^Brands, H. W. (2002),pp. 198–200.
  94. ^"goldrushtrail.net".Archived fromthe originalon May 14, 2006.
  95. ^Bancroft, Hubert (1888),pp. 87–88.
  96. ^Young, Otis (1970),pp. 110–111.
  97. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),p. 90.
  98. ^TheTroy weightsystem is traditionally used to measure precious metals, not the more familiaravoirdupois weightsystem. The term "ounces" used in this article to refer to gold typically refers to troy ounces. There are some historical uses where, because of the age of the use, the intention is ambiguous.
  99. ^abcdHayes, Garry "Mining History and Geology of the California Gold RushArchivedSeptember 8, 2018, at theWayback Machine",Modesto Junior College (accessed September 20, 2018).
  100. ^Starr, Kevin (2005),p. 89.
  101. ^Use of volumes of water in large-scale gold-mining dates at least to the time of theRoman Empire.(SeeRoman-era gold mines in Spain.ArchivedNovember 29, 2014, at theWayback Machine) Roman engineers built extensiveaqueducts and reservoirsabove gold-bearing areas, and released the stored water in a flood so as to remove over-burden and expose gold-bearing bedrock, a process known ashushing.The bedrock was then attacked using fire and mechanical means, and volumes of water were used again to remove debris and to process the resulting ore. Examples of this Roman mining technology may be found atLas Médulasin Spain andDolaucothiin SouthWales.The gold recovered using these methods was used to finance the expansion of the Roman Empire. Hushing was also used in lead and tin mining in NorthernBritainandCornwall.There is, however, no evidence of the earlier use of hoses, nozzles and continuous jets of water in the manner developed in California during the Gold Rush.
  102. ^Solnit, R. (September–October 2006)."Winged Mercury and the Golden Calf".Orion Magazine.Archivedfrom the original on 5 October 2007.Retrieved3 December2007.
  103. ^abRawls, James J. (1999),pp. 32–36.
  104. ^abRawls, James J. (1999),pp. 116–121.
  105. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),p. 199.
  106. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),pp. 36–39.
  107. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),pp. 39–43.
  108. ^Charles N. Alpers; Michael P. Hunerlach; Jason T. May; Roger L. Hothem."Mercury Contamination from Historical Gold Mining in California".U.S. Geological Survey.RetrievedFebruary 26,2008.
  109. ^Hausel, Dan."California – Gold, Geology & Prospecting".RetrievedFebruary 19,2013.
  110. ^abClay, Karen; Jones, Randall (2008). "Migrating to Riches? Evidence from the California Gold Rush".Journal of Economic History.68(4): 997–1027.CiteSeerX10.1.1.163.572.doi:10.1017/S002205070800079X.
  111. ^Rohrbough, Malcolm (1998)
  112. ^abHolliday, J. S. (1999),pp. 69–70.
  113. ^Holliday, J. S. (1999),p. 63.
  114. ^Zerbe, R. O.; Anderson, C. L. (2001). "Culture and fairness in the development of institutions in the California gold fields".Journal of Economic History.61(1): 114–143.doi:10.1017/S0022050701025062.JSTOR2697857.S2CID14379888.
  115. ^Sears, Clare (2014), p. 68. "In 1852 the California state legislature targeted Chinese residents for a 'foreign miners' tax [...]"
  116. ^Levi'sjeans were not invented until the 1870s. Lynn Downey,Levi Strauss & Co.(2007)
  117. ^James Lickmade a fortune running a hotel and engaging in land speculation in San Francisco. Lick's fortune was used to buildLick Observatory.
  118. ^Four particularly successful Gold Rush era merchants wereLeland Stanford,Collis P. Huntington,Mark HopkinsandCharles Crocker,Sacramento area businessmen (later known as theBig Four) who financed the western leg of theFirst transcontinental railroad,and became very wealthy as a result.
  119. ^Johnson, Susan (2001),pp. 164–168.
  120. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),pp. 52–68,pp. 193–197
  121. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),pp. 212–214.
  122. ^Young, Otis (1970),p. 109.
  123. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),pp. 256–259.
  124. ^Holliday, J. S. (1999),p. 90.
  125. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),pp. 193–97,pp. 214–215.
  126. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),p. 214.
  127. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),p. 212.
  128. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),pp. 226–227.
  129. ^Starr, Kevin and Orsi, Richard J. (2000), p. 50. Other estimates are that there were 7,000–13,000 non-Native Americans in California before January 1848. See Holliday, J. S. (1999),p. 26,p. 51.
  130. ^Historians have reflected on the Gold Rush and its effect on California. HistorianKevin Starrstated that for all its problems and benefits, the Gold Rush established the "founding patterns, the DNA code, of American California", and quotes fromThe Annals of San Franciscoin 1855 that the Gold Rush advanced California into a "rapid, monstrous maturity".SeeStarr, Kevin (2005),p. 80and Starr, Kevin (1973),p. 110.
  131. ^Davis, Joseph; Weidenmier, Marc D. (2017)."America's First Great Moderation"(PDF).The Journal of Economic History.77(4): 1116–1143.doi:10.1017/S002205071700081X.ISSN0022-0507.
  132. ^abStarr, Kevin (2005),pp. 91–93.
  133. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),pp. 243–248.By 1860, California had over 200 flour mills, and was exporting wheat and flour around the world.Ibid.at278–280.
  134. ^Starr, Kevin (2005),pp. 110–111.
  135. ^Starr, Kevin (1973),pp. 69–75.
  136. ^Caughey, 1975, p. 192
  137. ^Population of the 100 Largest Urban Places: 1870,U.S. Bureau of the Census
  138. ^"Monthly Record of Current Events".Harper's New Monthly Magazine.10(58):543.March 1855.FromCaliforniawe have intelligence to January 16. The railroad across the Isthmus of Panama is completed, and trains passed.. for the first time on the 28th of January.
  139. ^S.S. Central America informationArchivedNovember 24, 2016, at theWayback Machine;Final voyage of the S.S. Central AmericaArchivedFebruary 5, 2007, at theWayback Machine.Retrieved April 25, 2008.
  140. ^Hill, Mary (1999), pp. 192–196.
  141. ^Another notable shipwreck was the steamshipWinfield Scott,bound to Panama from San Francisco, which crashed intoAnacapa Islandoff theSouthern Californiacoast in December 1853. All hands and passengers were saved, along with the cargo of gold, but the ship was a total loss.
  142. ^"Focus On the West".apstudynotes.org.
  143. ^Castillo, Edward D. (1998)."California Indian History".Archived fromthe originalon March 12, 2010.RetrievedFebruary 26,2010.
  144. ^"Native History: California Gold Rush Begins, Devastates Native Population".Indian Country Today Media Network.com.January 24, 2014. Archived fromthe originalon April 18, 2015.RetrievedApril 7,2015.
  145. ^"Native History: California Gold Rush Begins, Devastates Native Population".Indian Country Today Media Network.com.Archived fromthe originalon April 18, 2015.RetrievedApril 7,2015.
  146. ^While theBloody Island Massacreoccurred during this time period, it did not occur in the Gold Rush era mining districts.
  147. ^"Trinity County California".visittrinity.com.August 10, 2013.RetrievedApril 7,2015.
  148. ^Madley, Benjamin (2016), pp. 11, 351
  149. ^Thornton 1987,pp.107–109.
  150. ^"Minorities During the Gold Rush".California Secretary of State.Archived fromthe originalon February 1, 2014.RetrievedMarch 23,2009.
  151. ^Norton, Jack (1979).pp. 70–73
  152. ^Smith, Chuck (1999)."Indians of California – American Period (Anthropology Class 6)".Cabrillo College.Archived fromthe originalon November 1, 2018.
  153. ^Lindsay, Brenden (2012),p. 231.
  154. ^Lindsay, Brenden (2012).p. 148.
  155. ^Starr, Kevin and Orsi, Richard J. (2000), pp. 56–79.
  156. ^Starr, Kevin (2005),pp. 84–87.
  157. ^Cossley-Batt, Jill (1928),ch. 16: "California Banditti"ArchivedMay 13, 2011, at theWayback Machine.Joaquin Murrietawas a famous Mexicanbanditduring the Gold Rush of the 1850s.
  158. ^(in Spanish)Villalobos, Sergio;Silva, Osvaldo;Silva, Fernando and Estelle, Patricio. 1974.Historia De Chile.Editorial Universitaria,Chile. pp 481–485.
  159. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),p. 286.
  160. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),pp. 287–289.
  161. ^Younger, R. M. 'Wondrous Gold' inAustralia and the Australians: A New Concise History,Rigby, Sydney, 1970
  162. ^Narron, James; Morgan, Don (August 7, 2015)."Crisis Chronicles–The California Gold Rush and the Gold Standard".New York Fed.Liberty Street Economics. New York: Federal Reserve Bank of New York.RetrievedAugust 8,2015.The gold rush constituted a positive monetary supply shock because the United States was on the gold standard at the time. The nation had switched from a bimetallic (gold and silver) standard to a de facto gold standard in 1834. Under the latter, the U.S. government stood ready to buy gold for $20.67 per ounce, a parity that prevailed until 1933. That commitment anchored prices, but the large gold discovery functioned like a monetary easing by a central bank, with more gold chasing the same amount of goods and services. The increase in spending ultimately led to higher prices because nothing real had changed except the availability of a shiny yellow metal.
  163. ^Rawls, James J. (1999),pp. 278–279.
  164. ^Historians James Rawls and Walton Bean have postulated that were it not for the discovery of gold,Oregonmight have been granted statehood ahead of California, and therefore the first "Pacific Railroad might have been built to that state."SeeRawls, James, J., and Walton Bean (2003), p. 112.
  165. ^abBoyd, Nan Alamilla (2003).Wide-open town.University of California Press.ISBN978-0520204157.RetrievedApril 12,2021.
  166. ^Sears, Clare (2008)."All that Glitters: Trans-ing California's Gold Rush Migrations".GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies.14(2): 383–402.doi:10.1215/10642684-2007-038.ISSN1527-9375.S2CID144533043.RetrievedApril 12,2021.
  167. ^Imbler, Sabrina (June 21, 2019)."The Forgotten Trans History of the Wild West".Atlas Obscura.RetrievedApril 12,2021.
  168. ^Starr, Kevin (1973)
  169. ^Brands, H. W. (2002),p. 442.
  170. ^A perception of lawlessness also was connected with California. SeeBurchell, Robert A. (1974). "The Loss of a Reputation; or, The Image of California in Britain before 1875".California Historical Quarterly.53(2): 115–130.doi:10.2307/25157500.JSTOR25157500.(stories about Gold Rush lawlessness deterred some immigration for two decades).
  171. ^Starr, Kevin (2005),p. 110."[A]griculture dominated the post-Gold Rush sequence of development, employing more people than mining by 1869... and surpassing mining in 1879 as the leading element of the California economy."
  172. ^See, e.g.,Signal Hill, California,Bakersfield, California;Los Angeles, California
  173. ^20th Century-Fox,MGM,Paramount,RKO,Warner Bros.,Universal Pictures,Columbia Pictures,andUnited Artistsare among the most recognized entertainment industry names centered in California;see alsoFilm studio
  174. ^Douglas Aircraft,Lockheed Aircraft,Hughes Aircraft,North American Aviation,Convair,andNorthropwere among the complex of companies in the aerospace industry which flourished in California during and after World War II.
  175. ^Gaither, Chris; Chmielewski, Dawn C (October 10, 2006)."Google Bets Big on Videos".Los Angeles Times.Archived fromthe originalon October 10, 2006.RetrievedOctober 10,2006.
  176. ^"Economic Development History of State Route 99 in California".Federal Highway Administration.RetrievedSeptember 7,2012.In the 1960s, green and white CA-99 signs that resemble miners' spades replaced the black and white U.S. 99 shields
  177. ^Papoulias, Alexander (January 4, 2008)."Car Sales Curbed Along El Camino".Palo Alto Weekly.Office of California State SenatorLeland Yee.Archived fromthe originalon October 19, 2012.RetrievedSeptember 7,2012.State routes can be identified by the green State Highway Route shield, which is in the shape of a spade in honor of the California Gold Rush, and bears the route's number
  178. ^"Your guide to the Mother Lode: Complete map of historic Hwy 49".historichwy49.com.RetrievedDecember 30,2008.
  179. ^Snell, Charles (April 8, 1964)."National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Columbia Historic District"(pdf).National Park Service.andAccompanying photos, exterior and interior(32 KB)
  180. ^Watson, Matthew (2005) looks atBret Harte's notion of Western partnership in such California gold rush stories as "The Luck of Roaring Camp"(1868),"Tennessee's Partner"(1869), and" Miggles "(1869). While critics have long recognized Harte's interest in gender constructs, Harte's depictions of Western partnerships also explore changing dynamics of economic relationships and gendered relationships through terms of contract, mutual support, and the bonds of labor.
  181. ^"San Francisco 49ers".

Works cited

Further reading

See also:Bibliography of California history

Maps

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