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Gold's turning point in modern history starts with the California Gold Rush and it ended with the discovery of another precious metal, silver.
When silver was discovered in Nevada in 1859, the miners headed for Nevada. This ended the California Gold Rush.
Here’s a brief account of what happened during California’s gold rush between 1849 and 1859.
The California Gold Rush was the largest migration of people to California, and started in California on the road to what it is today.
By 1849 the gold rush was on. People from all over the United States and the world were rushing to California. People caught "Gold Fever" in the hope of striking it rich. Many gold seekers arrived expecting to find rivers overflowing with gold. Unfortunately, most found riverbanks crowded with miners.
Most prospectors were previously storekeepers, cooks, carpenters, teachers, farmers or some other trade before heading to California in search of gold. By 1850, the mining country had become quite populated.
Many of the immigrants ended up started businesses, trading posts, importing goods to seel to miners, farming and ranching. They took advantage of the skills they brought with them.
In the mid-1850s gold was becoming very difficult to find. More people were making fortunes from selling supplies to miners, than the miners themselves.
Many people arriving in California thought the gold was just lying around on the ground waiting to be picked up. They were not ready for the hard work required in mining for gold. Particularly in later days of the Gold Rush.
In the early days gold was easy to find. All you needed was a knife, pick, shovel and a pan. Gold nuggets could be pried from rocks. Dirt shoveled from creeks and rivers could be swirled in a pan to find gold.
Gold is heavier than sand or gravel. Miners would swirl sediment from a river in a pan of water. The sand and dirt would float in the water and could be poured off leaving heavy rocks, and hopefully gold.
After the gold rush many mining towns became ghost towns, deserted by miners heading for Nevada. But, by this time California had established a growing economy of farming and industry.
Gold veins are often deep in high cliffs and remote areas of mountains. The gold can be found in river beds or creeks in sediment worn away by water.
Rivers would wash the gold from rocks and other deposits and carry it downstream. The heavy gold would sink to the bottom and could be found using pans.
Some miners decided that the riverbeds under flowing rivers have gold like the dried up creeks. They built dams to redirect the water so they could mine the river bottom.
Before the gold rush, California was largely populated by missionaries and Native Americans. The total population of California was about 2000 non-natives. By late 1849 there were about 15,000 people, and in 1850 about 20,000 people. By 1853 there were over 300,000 people living in California.
The gold rush brought economic prosperity to California. Farms, ranches, stores, restaurants and other businesses that grew to serve the miners continued to take advantage of California's rich agriculture and thriving industry and commerce.
The Gold Rush is solely responsible for the richness of the entire region and it remained as the strong foundation from which the glory of the State and that of the US is flying high thereafter.
