-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Archives
Categories
- Before the gold
- Books
- Comstock
- Gold discoveries
- Gold mining gear
- Gold rush businesses
- Gold rush entertainment
- Gold rush justice
- Gold rush people
- Gold rush places
- Government
- Mining Law
- Modern gold mining
- Movies
- Music
- Noted gold rush people
- Stories
- The gold rush is on
- The War with Mexico
- The way west
- Uncategorized
Meta
Category Archives: The gold rush is on
The rush to Fraser River
By 1858 most of the placer gold in California had been mined, leaving underemployed a large number of men who had lived by the placers. These men were now ready to believe any story that would continue the life they … Continue reading
Posted in Gold rush places, The gold rush is on
Tagged California gold rush, Fraser River, gold rush
Leave a comment
Hangtown and the Blue and Gray Channels
One of the most important mining locations to arise after Coloma and Mormon Island was about eight miles southeast of the sawmill. Discovered by William Daylor, whose land grant along Deer Creek Slough and the Consumnes River was south of … Continue reading
How gold mining spread across California
As gold mining spread from the sawmill at Coloma, first down the American River to Mormon Island, east from the sawmill along the south fork, and up the north and middle forks of that river, a pattern was set. Within … Continue reading
Mining a coyote hole
The gold deposits in many places, especially in dry diggings, could be very deep, reaching down to the bedrock, and a well or shaft had to be dug to reach the pay dirt. When these holes were too deep for … Continue reading
Posted in Gold discoveries, Modern gold mining, The gold rush is on
Tagged California gold rush, gold rush, Nevada City
Leave a comment
What are wet and dry gold diggings?
In the early days of the gold rush miners worked the gravel bars and streambeds where water to wash the gold from the ore was plentiful and readily available. But soon some of the richest deposits were found in ravines … Continue reading
The great variety in mining gear
Because of the vast scope of the gold country and the wide variety of conditions in which gold would be found, there could be no standard methods or equipment for mining. What worked in Mokelumne Hill might not work in … Continue reading
Posted in Gold mining gear, The gold rush is on
Tagged California gold rush, gold rush, Sacramento, San Francisco
Leave a comment
Gold mining gear, long toms and sluices
As mining operations became more complex, the long tom and the sluice came into widespread use. The long tom was a shallow trough 15 feet long and 15 inches high and often increasing in width near the low end and … Continue reading
Posted in Gold discoveries, Gold mining gear, The gold rush is on
Tagged California gold rush, gold rush, long tom, Sluice
Leave a comment
Gold mining gear, the rocker
Panning gold was slow work and very early in 1848 Isaac Humphrey, a miner who’d been at the gold finds in the mountains of Georgia in the 1830’s, introduced a new device that sped things up a great deal. Called … Continue reading
Posted in Gold discoveries, Gold mining gear, The gold rush is on
Tagged California gold rush, cradle, gold rush, rocker
Leave a comment
The basic gear for a gold miner
The early gold miner who traveled by foot required little more than a single suit of clothes consisting of a wool shirt, thick pants, heavy boots and a slouch hat. He carried a pistol, a knife, and a roll of … Continue reading
Exploding gold rush steamboat service
Before the discovery of gold, and the mad rush to California that followed, the tiny 37-foot long steamboat Sitka left San Francisco on November 28, 1847 and docked on December 4 at the embarcadero near what would soon become Sacramento. … Continue reading
Posted in The gold rush is on
Tagged California gold rush, gold rush, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Rafael, Steamboat, Stockton, Yosemite
Leave a comment
