Drag to turn the globe

Events/Discovery · 1873

Alluvial gold found at Pilgrim's Rest

Discovery, 1873, South Africa.

What happened

In 1873 Alec 'Wheelbarrow' Patterson found alluvial gold near what is now Pilgrim's Rest. He tried to keep it secret, but William Trafford made a similar find.1,2

Why it matters

It began the gold rush in the eastern Transvaal.1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. California Gold Rush begins

    California Gold Rush begins.3

  2. Alfred Beit born

    Alfred Beit born (date from Wikidata).4

  3. Pikes Peak (Colorado) gold rush

    Most of the early finds were far from Pikes Peak, yet the rush took its name and led to the founding of Colorado Territory.5,6

  4. Welcome Stranger nugget found

    It is the heaviest gold nugget on record.7,8

  5. Herbert Hoover born

    Herbert Hoover born (date from Wikidata).9

  6. Gold found in the Kimberley (Halls Creek)

    It was the first Western Australian gold excitement, before the 1890s rushes.10,11

  7. Bayley and Ford strike gold at Coolgardie

    Arthur Bayley and William Ford made the first big Goldfields strike.12

  8. Ashanti Goldfields listed and Obuasi opened

    It marks the start of Ashanti Goldfields' operations at Obuasi.13,14

Open the full timeline

Where next

Mines

Located inPilgrim's Rest goldfieldSee the mine at the heart of this story: Pilgrim's Rest goldfield.1

Events

Led toBarberton gold rushPilgrim's Rest began the Transvaal rush in 1873. Barberton followed in 1884.1

Places

Located inPilgrim's RestSee the place where this happened: Pilgrim's Rest.1

Sources

  1. Mpumalanga South African History Online
  2. Pilgrim's Rest (item Q2992348), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. Wikidata item Q17550 (California Gold Rush begins)
  4. Wikidata item Q77802 (Alfred Beit)
  5. Colorado Gold Rush Colorado Encyclopedia
  6. Denver (item Q16554), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  7. Australian Mineral Facts: Gold Geoscience Australia
  8. Moliagul (item Q6896150), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  9. Wikidata item Q35236 (Herbert Hoover)
  10. The Rush for Gold (WA Goldfields) Western Australian Museum
  11. Halls Creek (item Q992686), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  12. Gold is discovered and Coolgardie is born Shire of Coolgardie
  13. Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited Encyclopedia of Company Histories (Reference for Business)
  14. Obuasi (item Q1020901), coordinate location P625 Wikidata

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.

Keep exploring

Stories with these minerals

The Super Pit gold mine at Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, at sunsetMining historyGold rushes, then and nowGold and lithium · WorldwideAn underground loader carrying a full bucket of rock through a dark mine roomEquipmentUnderground mining equipmentUnderground · FleetLessons from historyPrice shocks and the supply response1893-2025Lessons from historyThe deposits that made fortunes, and who kept them1485-2008

All mining storiesThe world runs on rockAll mineralsMining by country

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: Pangkalpinang. Mijn 3b. Een reeks koelies bezig met het transporteeren van grond, Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Kimberley, South Africa: miners and washing gear at the Bultfontein diamond mine. Woodburytype, 1888, after a photograph by Robert Harris., Harris, Robert, active 1881-1888. (Public Domain Mark 1.0).