Cal Gold Rush

The California

Gold Rush

History through theCollections Series

PA RT I

The CaliforniaHistorical Society

GoldBro2 4/19/01 4:42 PM Page 1


hen James Marshall picked up ash iny bit of gold that cool Janu arymorn ing in 1848, he was not the

f irst pers on in California to ever find the prec ious met al . The NativeA merican peoples of California had known about the ex istence ofgold in the Sierra Ne vada Mou nt ains for years , and there is anaccou nt of gold being dis covered in southern California a full si xyears before James Marshall and his workers made their dis covery.

Perhaps what gave James Marshall’s dis covery import ance was the tim ing. The1840s was a decade of inc reasing change for Californ i a . Set tlers from the eastern Un itedSt ates had been moving into the California territory to take advant age of its rich land forf arm ing and cat tle. Set tlers , feeling resist ant to the rule of the dist ant Mex ican govern-ment , clashed with californios, native citi zens of Mex ican lineage , over land issues . By1 8 4 6 , the U. S . was at war with Mex ico, and in 1848, as part of the treaty that ended thewar, California became part of the Un ited St ates .

In the rest of the Un ited St ates there was a sense of ex pect ancy and cu riosity aboutthe new Western territories . California inc reasingly was looked to as a place of new

begin n ings , new possibilities . It would only take a sp ec i al moment or eventto turn that curiosity and hope into all - out exc itement . . .

W


On the morn ing ofJanu ary 24, 1 8 4 8 ,

James Marshall wastedno time get ting to workat his job as forem an ofJohn Sut ter’s Mill . Joh n

Sut ter, w ho had est ab-lished a successful fort -li ke commu n ity at thepres ent - d ay site ofSac r amento, wasplan n ing to use hislu mber mill toex pand his empire.The mill was beingbuilt along thebanks of theA merican River inthe scen ic, tree - cov-ered footh ills of the Sierr aNe vad a . On that coolJanu ary morn ing, howe v-er, Marshall took no

notice of the beautiful mou nt ain set-ting. His ga ze was focus ed downwardas he inspected the chan nel of riverwater. It was there , st anding at thechan nel , that Marshall saw the morn-ing li ght sparkle of f s ometh ing sh iny inthe water. He scooped up some tiny,gleam ing nugget s , not much more thanmere fleck s .

Marshall was fairly cert ain that he heldgold in his hand. Over the next few

d ays , he and his workers tested thenugget s . Marshall pou nded a nuggetand it flat tened out , just as gold should.He had Mrs . Wimmer, the camp cook ,

dip a nugget into a pot of lye.The nugget came out uns cathed,just as gold should. Su re beyonddoubt , Marshall hu rried to tellh is boss , John Sut ter, of therem arkable find.

Marshall and Sut ter tried at firstto keep the dis covery a sec ret .Sut ter knew that once the word

was out ,h is land would beoverrun with goldhu nters . Whena sec ret is asbig as a riverhowe ver, itis impossi-ble to hideit for long.Word of thef ind made it sway down themou nt ains allthe way to the sleepytown of San Fr anc is co.

W h a t

s t a r t e d

the Gold

R u s h ?

qLy e :

a harsh chem-ical madefrom woodashes and

used to makes o a p

2

Above: Artist unknown, “The World in California”. Hutchings’ CaliforniaMagazine, 1857. Library collection. Right: Maker unknown, John Sutter.Photography collection. Facing page, clockwise from top : John A. Todd,James Wilson Marshall, ca. 1884. Photography collection, FN-13223, VIP05409.Marshall in front of Sutter's Mill, gelatin silver copy photoprint from a daguerreo-type. Artistic Source: Carleton E. Watkins after an 1849 daguerreotype attributedto Robert Vance. Photography, Martin Behrman Collection, FN-12015, VIP01403.Gold Nugget. Fine arts collection.

John Sutter


bFrancisco Lopez

James Marshall was not the first person to findgold in California. The first recorded gold dis-

covery was in 1842. While gathering wildonions for his lunch in the Placerita Canyon inthe southern portion of California, Francisco

Lopez noticed glimmering flakes of gold stuckto the roots of the onions. Though his find didnot develop into a gold rush, there were miners

who came in search of gold in the PlaceritaCanyon. In fact, the first 20 ounces of Californiagold to be processed at the United States Mint

came from Francisco’s gold discovery.

3

Sam Br an nan ,w ho had a supplystore at Sut ter’s fort and wouldlater open a store at the millsite ,s aw the chance to makea fortu ne of h is own by sell-ing supplies to gold hu ntersas they headed up to thefooth ills . Br an nan publishedreports of the find in his SanFr anc is co newspaper, TheCalifornia Star, and visited sever alpopular gathering places in the city,waving a jar of “G old! Gold from theA merican River ! ’’ With in days SanFr anc is co was sei zed with gold fe verand the town emptied of c iti zens ase veryone rushed to the hills .

In the eastern Un ited St ates , ru morsand stories of California gold began toc irculate. Then , in his 1848 St ate of theUn ion speech , President James K. Polkconf irmed the ex istence of gold inCaliforn i a . If the president spoke ofgold, then the ru mors and stories mustbe true! Exc itement swept th roughoutthe nation and beyond. The sec ret wasa sec ret no longer. The world was onits way to California!

lThe Largest Nugget

The largest gold nugget found inthe California Gold Rush weighed195 pounds! Oscar Bennet, aminer, wrote a letter to his

brother report-ing that a 15

p o u n dnugget soldfor $3,250 in1850. Imagine

what a1 9 5 - p o u n d

nugget wouldbe worth today!

James Marshall


People came to Califor-nia in droves . They

came from nations all overthe globe : Fr ance , Austr a -li a , Ch ina , and Mex ico, toname a few. Ninety - thou-s and gold seekers came in1849 alone , fore ver earn-ing them the name “ 4 9 ers .”In the age before airplanesand automobiles , most ofthe gold seekers tr aveledone of th ree main routesto Californ i a :

1 From the Easternst ates and centr al

territories , people tr aveledthe Overland Route. Them aj ority followed theCaliforn i a - Oregon Tr ailout of Independence ,Miss ou ri ,w h ile othersheaded south along tr ailssuch as the Santa Fe. Theoverland jou rney was along, hard ordeal that tookfrom 5 to 7 months to

complete. Tr aveling byfoot , hors e , or wagon ,overlanders had toendu re ex trem ities ofweather, s carce water, dis-eas e , and acc ident s .

2 G old seekers livingwith in reach of

the Atlantic coast often

chose the Cape Horn Route, tr avelingby steam or sailing sh ip arou nd the tipof South A merica and north toCaliforn i a . The Cape Horn , li ke theOverland route , was a long jou rney (6to 8 months ) , and had its own set ofperils . Pass engers suf fered from over-c rowding, poor diet , and stormy seasthat sometimes sank the sh ips .

H o w

D i d

P e o p l e

Get to

the Land

o f

G o l d ?

4

Nathaniel Currier, The Way They Go to California, 1849. Lithograph. Fine arts collection, FN-00033.


zC a l i f o r n i a ’s Fi r s t

“Recycling Project“Photographs of San Franciscoduring the Gold Rush show awaterfront crowded with dozensof tall-masted ships. Most ofthose ships were sitting aban-doned. So great was the lure ofgold, as soon as a ship arrivedin the San Francisco harbor, theentire crew would often runaway to the gold fields!

Even back then, Californiansknew better than to waste agood resource. In SanFrancisco, abandoned ships were hauled up on land and turned into stores,warehouses, and hotels. The mast poles, lighting fixtures, and planking fromsome ships were even transported to Benicia, California, for the constructionof California’s first capitol building!

3 The most impatient gold seekerschose a th ird, and suppos edly

f aster route , th rough the Isthmus ofPanam a. A sh ip from the East Coast

would tr ansport pass engersto Panam a . Then , after cross-ing the isthmus, east to west ,tr avelers boarded a steamsh ipat Panama City and headednorth to San Fr anc is co. The

w hole jou rney took no more than acouple of months . In truth ,c rossingth rough miles of ju ngle and waterwaysoften proved more dif f icult than antic i-pated. Besides hardsh ips such as heat ,hu m idity, mosquitoes , and malari a ,tr avelers , upon reach ing Panama City,often had to wait weeks before findingspace aboard a sh ip.

Overland, by sea , or th rough ju ngles :w hate ver route they chos e ,w hate verdif f iculties they faced, gold seekerswere determ ined to reach Californ i aand mine the prom is es of wealth andwell - being.

5

tClipper Ships

These long narrow ships with extra large sails gottheir name from the term “clip’’ meaning “to move

swiftly.” Originally these fast ships carried teafrom China to the United States before the tea

spoiled. During the Gold Rush, clipper ships broughtmany passengers around the Horn in 100 days orless. The fastest trip around the Horn, from New

York to San Francisco took place in 1851 when theclipper ship the Flying Cloud completed the journey

in 89 days.

aIsthmus:

a narrowstrip

of land

Shreve, Treat, &Eacret, The ClipperShip "Flying Cloud."Calendar illustrationfrom a historicwood-cut. Printedby The Kennedy-tenBosch Company,San Francisco.Photography collec-t i o n .

Maker unknown, Panorama of SanF r a n c i s c o, Spring 1851. Taken fromFirst and Howard Sts. Five of sevenwhole plate daguerreotypes.Photography collection. FN-08429.


After the long, dif f icultj ou rney to reach

Californ i a , gold seekersarrived to dis cover that thehardest part of theiradventu re was about tobegin — f inding the gold !

In the early years of theG old Rush ,m iners lookedfor gold in the su rf ace dirtof riverbank s . Minerss oon figu red out thatwater, swirled over andth rough a qu antity of dirt ,would flush away theli ghter materi al , such ass and, w h ile the heavier

gold would set tle to thebot tom of the cont ainer.The first and most basiccont ainer us ed by minersfor th is process was ashallow pan or basket .Only a sm all amou nt ofdirt at a time , howe ver,could be sifted th is way.Miners invented largerbox cont ainers , called

rockers and long toms , that allowedthem to sift greater qu antities of dirt .

Most of the su rf ace gold had beenfou nd by the early 1850s, so minersbegan di gging deeper, using hydr aulicand hard - rock min ing. For hydr aulicm in ing, water was chan neled downf lu mes (long, wooden canals) intohos es at t ached to gi ant noz z les , calledmonitors. Water shot out of the mon i-

How did

p e o p l e

live and

mine in

the land

of gold?

6


tors at tremen-dous force , wash-ing away entireh illsides of s oiland releasing thegold with in .Hard - rock min inginvolved tu n nel-ing deep into theearth to find lay-ers of rockembedded withrich veins of gold.

Hu nting for goldby any method was hard work , and leftlit tle time for anyth ing els e. Yet minersdid try to create a life for thems elves inthe midst of their toils . Where ver morethan a few miners gathered to workclaims , a gold - rush town would springup. D wellings were canvas tents orroughly constructed shack s . Everytown had at least one camp store andone drinking and gambling est ablish-ment . Drinking, gambling, and fight-ing were the main forms of rec reationfor the weary miners . O ccasionallyentert ainers would tr avel to the larger

7

gold - rush towns to perform . Miners ,is olated for months from larger soc iety,would mob the perform ances , tossinggold to the performers as an ex pressionof apprec i ation .

Separ ated from their fam ilies , workinghard, and rarely get ting rich from theirlabors ,m any of the gold seekers fou ndthat the Gold Rush changed their livesfore ver, and in the process , changed thelife of an entire st ate as well !

Facing page: Left: C. Nahl, “Mining for Gold in California.” H u t c h i n g s ’ California Magazine, 1857. Library collection. R i g h t : I.W. Taber, M a n’dressed to the nines’ uses a rocker to mine for gold. Albumen photoprint. Photography collection. FN-19327, VIP01205.A b o v e: Maker unknown, Mining in Nevada City, 1850. From a daguerreotype showing a 30-foot shaft for gold mining. Photograpny collection.F N - 2 4 8 8 1 . B e l o w: M o n i t o r drawing. "Hydraulic Gravel Mines of California." Photography collection. FN-12748.


8

tOscar Bennet came to California

to mine for gold in 1849. In oneletter he reveals the lonely

reality of a miner’s life.“If the suffering among

the thousands thatare here laying sick destitute of

friends and money was onlyknown at home, my word

for it, the emigration to this countrywould be small to what it is now.’’

L e f t: Maker unknown, Group of Miners.Daguerreotype. Photography collection. FN-23581, VIP05302.A b o v e: Maker unknown, Lotta Crabtree.Photography, Clift Collection.

Facing page: Maker unknown, View ofDutch Flat, ca. 1860. Photographycollection. FN-1922.

iLotta Crabtree

As a child singer and dancer,Lotta became very well

known and much loved in themining towns. In 1852 she

moved to Grass Valley, in thegold country, and was soon

tutored in the performing arts byLola Montez, a glamorous,

eccentric and popular dancerduring the Gold Rush. Lotta

traveled all over the goldcountry performing for

enthusiastic miners. As an adult,she started her own touring

company and became the highestpaid American actress of her day.

In 1875 she presented SanFrancisco with a fountain, known

as Lotta’s Fountain, which stillstands at the intersection of

Market, Geary,and Kearny streets.


9

qA Town by Any Other Name

The gold-rush towns that often sprang up overnight were given imagi-native names by the miners. Some town names reflected the harsh-ness of mining life: Rough and Ready, Hangtown, Sucker Flat, and

Murderers Bar. Other towns were named after individuals, groups ofpeople, or geographic features of the region: Foster’s Bar, Knight’s

Ferry, China Camp, Dutch Flat, Dry Gulch, and Steep Hollow.

The towns often had reputations—true or not—as colorful as theirnames. Angels Camp became famous as the setting for Mark Twain’s

tale about a jumping frog contest. Hornitos was supposedly thehideout for the legendary bandit Joaquin Murieta. San Andreas earned

its fame when the elusive stagecoach robber, Black Bart, was finallycaptured, jailed, and tried in the town courthouse.

The miners of Coulterville gave their town an interesting identityby turning the town’s streets into trenches when a rainstorm

washed up gold in the road dirt!

eCost of Living

’’When the mines were first opened they were rich and those that were first on the mines made afortune – but those that work the mines now have got to work the whole day very hard and will

average from $5 to $20 per day. Board is $5 . . . Flour is worth $90 per lb. Pork $1.30 perpound – a small pie is worth $1 . . . a common pair of pegged shoes are worth $10.’’

Excerpted from Os car Ben net let ter from the North Fork of the A merican River, ca .1 8 4 9 . Manus c ript collection .

Most gold-rush miners did not find great quantities of gold, and what they did find often wentright out of their pockets into the hands of merchants and saloon keepers! The cost of living inCalifornia was outrageously expensive for its day. Basic foods such as butter and eggs, which inthe 1840s normally sold for a few cents each, often cost from $6 to $10 in gold-rush territory!Hotel owners in San Francisco charged hundreds of dollars to rent a room, and dinner in a good

restaurant could wipe out a miner’s entire pouch of gold. With the cost of everything so high, it isno surprise that the majority of gold-rush miners had very few riches to send back

home to their families!


10

The Gold Rushchanged California in

ways no one could haveim agined. Californ i a’spopulation soared fromless than 20,000 in 1846to over 200,000 by theend of the 1850s. Forthese new Californ i ans ,the Gold Rush was anopportu n ity to br anchout in new directions .Women who had cookedmeals and mendedclothes daily for theirf am ilies fou nd they coulds ell such services to min-ers and make as much or

more prof it than the mendi gging for gold. Onegold - rush imm i gr ant ,Le vi Str auss ,m ade hisfortu ne by tu rn ing tentcanvas into miners’ pant s ,w h ile another imm i gr ant ,Dom ingo Gh ir ardelli ,fou nd his wealth inchocolate bars rather thanbars of gold.

Sadly, the Gold Rush wasnot a time of opportu n ityfor everyone. WhenCalifornia became a st atein 1850, Californ ios’Mex ican land gr ants were

no longer honored and they losttheir lands and st atus . In thegold fields , greed led to dis c rim i-nation in the form of u nf air lawsand taxes that made it virtu allyimpossible for Ch ines e , Mex ican ,and other forei gn miners to ownor work gold claims . Californ i a’sNative A merican population ,already ravaged by the Span ishand Mex ican set tlers , fou nd their

How did

the Gold

R u s h

c h a n g e

C a l i f o r n i a ?

territories and cultu res fu rther en -c roached upon by hordes of m iners .

The Gold Rush changed Californ i aenviron ment ally as well . Hillsides werestripped of trees as miners us ed thelu mber to build towns and min ingtools . Rivers were dammed or diverted


11

from their chan nels in order to reachthe gold in river bot toms . Hydr aulicm in ing clogged rivers and bu ried ac resof good farmland under rocky sludge.So great was th is destructionthat it spu rred Californ i ans topass laws ban n ing the use ofhydr aulic min ing.

The changes , both good andbad, that shaped the Californ i aof the gold - rush years als ohelped to shape the Californ i awe know tod ay. Californ i acontinues to be a place of newideas , new begin n ings .G oldrushes still occu r, though the“gold’’ th is time arou nd maybe in the form of movies ,computers , medic ine , or auto-mobiles . Californ i ans contin-ue to speak out and pass lawsto protect their st ate’s natu r alenviron ment . And Californ i a’speople , still some of the most diverse inthe nation , continue to work towardequ al opportu n ity and ri ghts for all .

Facing page, lower left: Ludovik [Louis] Choris (1795-1828), Habitants de Californie, 1822. Engraving. Library, Templeton Crockercollection. FN-30510. Near left: Artist unknown, “The World in California.” H u t c h i n g s ’ California Magazine, 1857. Library collec-t i o n .

A b o v e: Carleton E. Watkins, Hydraulic Mining. Malakoff Diggins, North Bloomfield, Nevada Co. Photography collection. FN-29110.


12

People who lived du ringthe Gold Rush left us

m any clues about what lifewas li ke in the 1850s. Thes eclues can be fou nd in let-ters , paintings , dr awings ,photogr aphs , newspapers ,artif act s , costu mes , ande ven folklore. Tod ay, hu n-dreds of libr aries , mus e-u ms , and historical soc i-eties , including theCalifornia HistoricalSoc iety, pres erve and studythe objects and even thefolklore from the Gold Rushso that we can pass on thestories and inform ationabout th is exc iting time in Californ i ah istory.

There have also been many book s , forall ages , writ ten about the Gold Rush .Some of them are listed in the bibliog-r aphy on page 16.

How do

we know

about the

G o l d

R u s h ?

Harriet Booth Griswold (1814-1906). Overland Diary,April 25–October 19, 1859. Manuscript collection. Gift of Mrs.Charles A. Fletcher, Mrs. Annie Root Frost, and Mr. George Root, Jr.


13

Above left: Kelloggs & Comstock, California Gold Diggers. Mining Operations On The WesternShore Of The Sacramento River, n.d. (ca. 1849-52), lithograph. Fine arts collection. FN-0 4 1 0 8 .

A b o v e: Artist unknown, A View of the [Elephant], ca. 1850. Publisher Cooke & LeCount,San Francisco. Lithograph. Fine arts collection.

t

You might even havegold-rush stories that were

passed down in your family.Check with your family, look through family

scrapbooks and albums,and forage through those oldboxes in the attic (with your

family’s permission, of course).


There are many places to visitin the gold cou ntry.

Here are a few placesto st art your jou rney th rough

the Gold Rush .

Angels CampTh is sm all gold - rush town is located inCalaver as Cou nty and is probably mostknown for its Frog Ju mping Jubilee.Th is famous contest is held every yearin May in honor of Mark Twain . Helived nearby in 1864, and though hewas a successful writer, it was the pub-lication of “The Celebr ated Ju mpingFrog of Calaver as Cou nty” that madeh im famous .

The nei ghboring town of Mu rphys isone of the most popular towns in gold -rush cou ntry. Visitors can stroll downthe main street to see many historicbuildings including the Mu rphys Hotelw here Mark Twain , U. S . Gr ant , ande ven Black Bart had once been guest s .

More inform ation can be fou nd atht tp : / / w w w. angels camp. com/ andht tp : / / w w w. mu rphyshotel . com / .

Benicia CapitolState Historic ParkThe Ben icia City Hall building wasCaliforn i a’s first st ate capitol . It wasonly us ed from 1853-1854, but it is the

oldest su rviving ori ginal Californ i ast ate capitol . Many elements of thebuilding were constructed using part sfrom abandoned sh ips in the SanFr anc is co Bay du ring the Gold Rush .The pillars in the chambers room arefrom mast poles . Even the whale oillamps and the floor planking are fromgold - rush era sh ips . Next door to thecapitol is the Fis cher- Hanlon Hous ethat is an ex ample of gold - rush arch i-tectu re and fu rn ish ings . Both sites areopen daily for tou rs .

Visitor inform ation can be fou nd atht tp : / / park s . ca . gov / north / silver ado / bcshp 2 2 1 . htm or by calling (707) 745-3 3 8 5 .

Bod ie State Historic ParkOri ginally filled with 10,000 resident sm in ing for gold and silver, Bodie istod ay a ghost town . It was known asone of the wildest and wickedest citiesof the California Gold Rush . The build-ings that rem ain have been a st ate parksince 1962 and are kept in a st ate of“arrested decay.” Inform ation on BodieSt ate Historic Park can be fou nd on

D i s c o v e r

the Gold

Rush for

y o u r s e l f !14


their website at ht tp : / / ceres . ca . gov /sierr adsp / bodie. html or by writing toBodie St ate Historic Park , P. O. Box 515,Bridgeport , CA 93517.

Columbia State Historic ParkIn 1945 the St ate of California pu r-chas ed Colu mbia and created theColu mbia St ate Historic Park . It is thebest pres erved of the old min ing townsin California where visitors can ridest agecoaches , pan for gold, and visit theh istorically re - c reated fire st ations ,shops , and bank s . Costu med docent soper ate all of the business es to rec reatethe gold - rush town .

For more inform ation visit their web-site at ht tp : / / w w w. sierr a . park s . st ate.ca . us / cshp. htm .

Empire Mine State Historic ParkLocated in Gr ass Valley of f Hwy 49 inNe vada Cou nty is the Empire MineSt ate Historic Park . Th is was one of thelargest gold mines in the world andwas in oper ation from 1850-1957. TheEmpire Mine of fers visitors a glimps einto the life and industry of qu art z

m in ing. You can tr avel parti ally into ashaft and peer into about 100 feet ofthe 367 miles of tu n nel that run belowthe su rf ace. Visitors can also tour them ine owner’s mansion and gardens .

In the nearby town of Gr ass Valley youcan also visit the sites of Lotta Cr abtreeand Lola Montez’s homes .

Please visit the California St ate Park swebsite for more inform ation atht tp : / / park s . ca . gov / north / goldrush / em3 4 3 / emshp. htm .

Malakof f DiggingsState Historic ParkTh is 3,000-ac re park serves as arem inder of the de vast ating environ-ment al dam age done by hydr aulic min-ing. Thous ands of ac res of mou nt ain-sides were washed away with water asm iners tried to get beneath the rock tothe gold deposit s . Th is pr actice wase ventu ally ban ned in 1884, but thes e vere destruction can still be seen .

More inform ation is available by call-ing the Ne vada City Chamber ofCommerce at (530) 265-2692 or toll -

free (800) 655-NJOY.

Marshall Gold Dis coveryState Historic ParkLocated in the town of Colom a , th istr anquil set ting was the site of Joh nSut ter’s Mill where James Marshallspot ted those historic gold nuggets inJanu ary 1848. Th is st ate park , est ab-lished in May 1890, was Californ i a’sf irst historic monu ment . Visitors cans ee a replica of Sut ter’s Mill , JamesMarshall’s cabin , and his memori aloverlooking the A merican River, w herehe made a dis covery that changedCalifornia fore ver.

For more inform ation please visit theirwebsite at ht tp : / / park s . ca . gov/ north /american / m gdshp / m gdshp. htm or call(530) 622-3470.

15


16

Bibliography

Armento, Be verly J. et al . Oh Californi a. Boston , Mass . Houghton Mif f lin Co. ,1 9 9 1 .

Br aas ch , Barbar a . Californi a’s Gold Rush Country: A Guide to the Best of the MotherLode. Medina , Wash . Joh nston Ass oc i ates International ,1 9 9 6 .

The California Gold Rush. Cobblestones , vol .1 8 . December 1997.

Gold ! California Cobblestones . Charter Issue.

Hollid ay, J. S . Rush for Riches : Gold Fever and the Making of Californi a.Oakland, Calif. Oakland Mus eum of California & Un iversity of California Press ,1 9 9 9 .

Hollid ay, J. S . The World Rushed In : The California Gold Rush Ex p erience , anEyewitness Account of a Nation Heading West. New York ,N . Y. Touchstone – Simon &S chuster, 1 9 8 1 .

Kelly, Leslie A . Californi a’s Gold Rush Country, 1 8 4 8 - 1 9 9 8. Hu ntington Beach , Calif.Les Kelly Publications ,1 9 9 7 .

Le v y, Jo An n . They Saw the Elephant : Women in the Gold Rush. Norm an , Okla .Un iversity of Oklahoma Press ,1 9 9 0 .

Martin , Don & Bet ty Woo Martin . The Best of the Gold Country. Colu mbi a , Calif.Pine Cone Press ,1 9 9 2 .

Stein , R. Con r ad. Cornerstones of Freedom : The California Gold Rush. Ch icago, Ill .Ch ildren’s Press ,1 9 9 5 .


Front cover: Artist unknown, A Gold Hunter on His Way to California, via St. Louis, ca. 1849. Henry R. Robinson, New York, Publisher. Hand colored lithograph, 17 x 13 in. Fine arts collection. FN-16057.

Inside front cover: Detail. John Haven, Map of the United States and Mexico, Including Oregon, Texas, and the Californias, 1846. Published by Haven and Emerson, No. 3 Broul St., N.Y. Map collection.


T h e Ca l i f o r n i a Hi s t o r i c a l So c i e t y is a statewide membership based org a n i z a t i o n .Its mission is to engage the public’s interest and participation in collecting, pre s e r v i n g ,and presenting art, artifacts and written materials relevant to the history of California

and to support historical re s e a rch, publication and educational activities.

The California Historical Society’s museum, bookstore, andthe North Baker Research Library are located in San Francisco, California.

This booklet was written by Diane Barclay for the California Historical Society,with contributing text by Chelsea Pickslay; graphic design, Marian Ueki.

All images are from the California Historical Society collections. Special thanks to the Fine A r t s ,Photography and North Baker Research Library staff for their assistance.

This project was made possible by theSilver Giving Foundation and The Pacific Foundation Services.

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Cal Gold Rush