Tag Archives: Downieville

The town that lynched a woman

Posted on November 7, 2011 by John Putnam

It was July 4th, 1851 and John B. Weller, soon to be a United States Senator and later the Governor of California, was scheduled to give a speech in Downieville. Miners flooded into town from camps all over the area. … Continue reading →

Share|
Posted in Gold rush justice, Gold rush people, Gold rush places | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Gold rush life changed miners

Posted on September 13, 2011 by John Putnam

Every period in world history has its own unique characteristics which are examined in minute detail by historians and scholars throughout the ensuing years, but nowhere else in the world has there been a time such as the early days … Continue reading →

Share|
Posted in Gold rush people | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A con man hits Downieville

Posted on September 7, 2011 by John Putnam

It was May of 1850 when the honest, hard working miners around Downieville realized the ethical days of the early gold rush had come to a sudden, and expensive, end. It was a lesson that would stay with them for … Continue reading →

Share|
Posted in Gold rush people, Gold rush places | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Honesty in the early gold rush

Posted on August 26, 2011 by John Putnam

For some time after the initial discovery of gold in California, and while the supply of gold appeared inexhaustible, everyone was honest. This seeming unique situation was not just because there were few bad characters as yet in the mines, … Continue reading →

Share|
Posted in Gold rush people, Gold rush places | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The scarcity of gold rush women

Posted on August 23, 2011 by John Putnam

In 1848 and 1849 there were very few women in the gold country of California, and in many of the more remote camps there were no women at all for years after the discovery of gold. But the miners in … Continue reading →

Share|
Posted in Gold rush people | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tales of gold finds that didn’t pan out

Posted on August 9, 2011 by John Putnam

The great wealth pulled from the earliest of mining sites had all been along rivers or in gravel deposits thought to be the remains of ancient rivers and gave rise to the common idea that there were enormous hordes of … Continue reading →

Share|
Posted in Gold discoveries, Gold rush places | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Downieville and the North Yuba River

Posted on July 2, 2011 by John Putnam

French Corral, on a ridge near where the Middle Yuba merges with the main stream, was at the lower edge of the gold bearing gravel and soon became valuable mining territory. Other places along the Middle Fork of the Yuba, … Continue reading →

Share|
Posted in Gold discoveries, Gold rush places, Noted gold rush people | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The first stagecoach robbery in the gold rush

Posted on June 13, 2011 by John Putnam

Soon after gold was discovered in California it was so plentiful and easy to mine that there was no need to steal. But the situation changed quickly as more and more men poured into the mining country from all over … Continue reading →

Share|
Posted in Gold rush justice | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment