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Events/Rush · 1848

California gold rush

Rush, 1848 to 1855, United States.

What happened

Non-Indian population was about 14,000 when gold was found, nearly 100,000 by the end of 1849 and about 250,000 by 1852. The 1850 census counted 92,597 people. The Census Bureau estimates 750,000 pounds of gold were recovered in 1848 to 1855.1,2,3,4

Why it matters

The rush filled California, brought statehood in 1850 and set the pattern for later rushes.1,2,3,4

How this rush compares

California gold rush

  • Discovery1848-01-241Marshall at Sutter's mill
  • Population before rush (1848)14,000 people (non-Indian)3State population estimate when gold was found
  • Population end 1849 (1849)100,000 people3"nearly 100,000"
  • Population 1852 (1852)250,000 people3"some 250,000"
  • Census population (1850)92,597 people21850 US census count
  • Gold recovered (1855)750,000 pounds2Estimated recovered 1848 to 1855. About 340 tonnes at 0.4536 kg per pound (computed).
  • Value recovered then (1900)25,000,000,000 US dollars, modern equivalent3Mother Lode and Klamath fields together, "modern-day equivalent of more than $25 billion" by the turn of the century
  • News reached san francisco1848-032Rumours reached San Francisco in March 1848
  • Population after 50 years (1900)1,485,053 people2California census 1900

Klondike gold rush

  • Discovery1896-08-165Parks Canada; staking on 17 August per its history text
  • News to outside world1897-076SS Portland reached Seattle with over a ton of gold
  • People who set out (1900)100,000 people6Set out for the Klondike 1897 to 1900 ("more than")
  • People who came (1900)40,000 people6"No more than 40,000" reached Dawson City
  • Canada gold value before (1897)1,240,000 pounds sterling (assumed)7Canada national gold yield, ABS table; Klondike share not separated
  • Canada gold value peak (1900)5,742,000 pounds sterling (assumed)7Canada national gold yield, ABS table
  • World gold value (1900)52,086,000 pounds sterling (assumed)7World gold yield 1900, ABS table
  • Canada share of world gold (1900)11 percent7Computed from the two ABS values (5.742 / 52.086)

Witwatersrand gold rush

  • Discovery1886-078Harrison, Langlaagte; his affidavit date is not on the opened page
  • Camp population (1886)3,000 people8About 3,000 inhabitants by August 1886, mostly White
  • Public diggings proclaimed (1886)9 farms8Proclaimed 8 September 1886
  • Towns founded (1886)1 town8Johannesburg named 3 October and declared 4 October 1886
  • Transvaal gold value (1897)11,654,000 pounds sterling (assumed)7ABS table, Transvaal
  • Transvaal gold value war low (1900)1,481,000 pounds sterling (assumed)7Output collapsed during the South African War
  • Transvaal gold value later (1909)30,988,000 pounds sterling (assumed)7ABS table, Transvaal
  • Transvaal share of world gold (1909)33.7 percent7Computed: 30.988 / 91.91

Victorian gold rush

  • First discovery clunes1850-037Hon. W. Campbell at Clunes, "probably" first
  • Rush notification1851-07-057Gold notified in the Yarra Ranges and the Pyrenees
  • Commonwealth population 1851 (1851)437,665 people7Australia end of 1851
  • Commonwealth population 1861 (1861)1,168,149 people7Australia end of 1861
  • People who came (1861)40,000 people per year, average7"Over 40,000" a year reached Victoria 1851 to 1861
  • Years as top australian producer (1898)47 years7Victoria led until Western Australia passed it in 1898
  • Victoria gold 1901 (1901)730,450 fine ounces7ABS table
  • Deaths at the Eureka Stockade (1854)28 people9Six police and troopers and at least 22 diggers, State Library Victoria
  • Peak year18567Victoria's highest yearly gold output

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Paddy Hannan born

    Paddy Hannan born (date from Wikidata).10

  2. Bathurst and Ophir gold rush

    It was the first publicised Australian gold rush and prompted the Victorian discoveries.11,12

  3. Alfred Beit born

    Alfred Beit born (date from Wikidata).13

  4. Eureka Rebellion

    Eureka Rebellion.14

  5. Welcome Nugget found at Ballarat

    It shows how rich the Victorian deep leads were.11,15

  6. Otago gold rush

    It financed the early growth of Dunedin and the colony.16,17

  7. General Mining Law of 1872

    The law remains the basis for claims to locatable minerals on US federal land.18,19

  8. Black Hills gold rush

    The expedition went ahead although the 1868 treaty had made the Black Hills part of a Sioux reservation. Homestake became a long-lived mine that closed in 2001.20,21

Open the full timeline

Where next

People

Worked hereMifflin Wistar GibbsHe left California after the vote was refused to Black residents.22

Mines

Located inSutter's Mill (Coloma)See the mine at the heart of this story: Sutter's Mill (Coloma).1

Events

Led toFraser River gold rushMany of the Fraser River miners were American, says the BC Legislature.23

Places

Located inColomaSee the place where this happened: Coloma.1

Trade routes

Shipped throughSan Francisco to Panama gold (Pacific Mail steamers)From 1849 steamers ran between San Francisco and Panama on the gold route.24Shipped throughSan Francisco treasure to eastern US portsSan Francisco sent US$462,088,066 of treasure to eastern ports in 1854-69.25

Sources

  1. The California Gold Rush (California National Historic Trail) US National Park Service
  2. History and the Census: The 1848 California Gold Rush (Jan 2018) US Census Bureau
  3. Gold Rush Overview California State Parks
  4. Coloma (item Q1110351), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  5. Discovery Claim National Historic Site Parks Canada
  6. Skagway: Gateway to the Klondike (Teaching with Historic Places) US National Park Service
  7. Year Book Australia 1911, gold chapter Australian Bureau of Statistics
  8. Discovery of the Gold in 1884 South African History Online
  9. Eureka Stockade (Golden Victoria, ErgoSlv) State Library Victoria
  10. Wikidata item Q2057649 (Paddy Hannan)
  11. Australian Mineral Facts: Gold Geoscience Australia
  12. Ophir (item Q7097979), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  13. Wikidata item Q77802 (Alfred Beit)
  14. Wikidata item Q2164870 (Eureka Rebellion)
  15. Ballarat (item Q17856), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  16. History of Gabriels Gully NZ Department of Conservation
  17. Gabriel's Gully (item Q5515501), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  18. Mining Claims and Sites on Federal Lands (PDF) US Bureau of Land Management
  19. Washington, D.C. (item Q61), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  20. Mining in South Dakota: Education Kit (PDF) South Dakota State Historical Society
  21. Black Hills gold rush (item Q3453700), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  22. GIBBS, MIFFLIN WISTAR Dictionary of Canadian Biography
  23. Fort Langley National Historic Site: History Parks Canada
  24. Shipwrecks: The Winfield Scott US National Park Service, Channel Islands
  25. Peabody A., Early voyages to California (treasure shipped from San Francisco 1854-1869) Library of Congress (Essex Institute Historical Collections)

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0; Underground mining equipment by Kaupo Kikkas, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Gold prospectors constructing a long box with a filter for panning gold. Process print after H.M. Paget, 1899., Henry Marriott Paget (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Pangkalpinang. Mijn 3b. Een reeks koelies bezig met het transporteeren van grond, Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).