Mining
June 1841 - Francisco Lopez discovered gold in San Feliciano placers, Placerita Canyon, hills above the Mission San Fernando, 35 miles north of the Pueblo de Los Angeles, near Newhall, CA, Los Angeles County; first "documented" discovery of gold in California. The date of March 9, 1842 had been cited as the date of the first authenticated gold discovery but was disputed in a September 8, 1895 letter to the Historical Society of Southern California,
July 8, 1843 - First package of 1,834 ounces of placer gold discovered by Francisco Lopez, shipped by Abel Stearns in 1842, deposited in the Philadelphia Mint by Alfred Robinson; first recorded shipment to the U.S. Mint of California gold; assayed at .926 fine gold, worth $19 an ounce
March 1846 - Thomas O. Larkin, vice consul at Monterey, CA, notified Secretary of State James Buchanan, in an official communication, of the existence of gold in California.
January 24, 1848 - James W. Marshall and Peter L. Wimmer discovered a gold nugget at Sutter's Mill on banks of Sutter's Creek in northern California (South Fork of American River in Sacramento Valley east of San Francisco), sparked gold rush of '49 (John Augustus Sutter had come to Mexican California in 1839, won grant of nearly 50,000 acres in lush Sacramento Valley, hoped to create thriving colony; hired millwright James Marshall in January 1848 to build sawmill along South Fork of American River; supervised excavation of shallow millrace); Marshall found that much of millrace was speckled with what appeared to small flakes of gold; gold rush was disaster for Sutter - brought thousands of men to California who overran his property, slaughtered his herds for food, trampled his fields; 1852 - Sutter was nearly wiped out.
August 19, 1848 - News of gold discovered in California in January of 1848 made it to the East Coast; New York Herald published news of discovery; confirmed officially by President James Polk.
February 28, 1849 - The ship California arrived at San Francisco, carried first of the gold-seekers.
June 12, 1859 - Two miners, Pat McLaughlin and Peter O'Reilly, discovered silver at the head of Six-Mile Canyon south of Reno, NV (eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, 40 miles from the Truckee Meadows); fellow miner, Henry Thomas Paige Comstock, stumbled upon their find, claimed it was on his property (sold his mining interests for $10,000); "Comstock Lode" - richest known U.S. silver deposit; 1859-1878 - yielded $400 million in silver and gold; 1877 - peak production: over $14,000,000 of gold and $21,000,000 of silver; 1880 - considered exhausted; 1898 - virtually abandoned.
August 11, 1860 - Nation's first successful silver mill, Virginia City, Nevada.
July 26, 1866 - Congressional Act of July 26, 1866 (The Mineral Estate Grant of 1866 ) recognized local mining customs and rules of miners when not in conflict with the laws of the United States and acknowledged and confirmed the miners' rights to their properties; confirmed local usages and prescribed rules to protect the rights of miners, but it also established, and this was its primary object, a method by which patents from the United States granting mineral lands might be obtained. It provided that a claimant who had previously occupied and improved a vein or lode of quartz or rock- bearing gold, silver, or other valuable deposits, and had spent a specified minimum sum in actual labor and im- provements, could file a diagram of his mine in the local land office and receive a patent giving him absolute ownership and the right to follow the vein or lode to any depth. Subsequent acts of Congress, principally the Congressional Mining Act of May 10, 1872, defined the entire subject of mining law, and court decisions followed the lines laid down by these acts. The Act of 1872, amending that of 1866 and actually codifying the common law of the miners, has retained its essential features to the present.
1869 - John W. Mackay, James G. Fair, James C. Flood, and William S. O'Brien formed partnership, Bonanza Firm; developed Comstock Lode; 1873 - struck one of the richest veins in history, Big Bonanza; produced more than $180 million in ore in just over four years.
April 9, 1876 - Fred and Moses Manuel (Quebec) discovered Homestake Ledge (or Lead, pronounced "Leed") in Northern Black Hills of Dakota Territory; staked 4 1/2 acre claim, built crude mil, took out $5,000 worth of gold; June 1877 - acquired by George Hearst (father of William Randolph Hearst) for $70,000; began operations to develop Homestake mine; 1879 - went public; 8,000-foot deep underground mine, open-pit mine, mill, gold refinery; has produced more than 39 million ounces since 1876, company's largest producer.
1894- Mountain Mines Ltd. of London, England acquired Iron Mountain Mine (Shasta County); changed name to Mountain Copper Co.; developed into only big copper producer on Pacific Coast.
1898 - Edward Dickinson Bullard established company in San Francisco, CA to supply carbide lamps, other mining equipment to gold, copper miners in California, Nevada and Arizona; 1919 - introduced “Hard Boiled” protective headgear for miners, designed by E. W. Bullard (son) from his experience with doughboy army helmet in WW I; 1930 - designed Company’s first fire helmet; 1930s - supplied hard hats to workers constructing Golden Gate Bridge; 1947 - introduced first fiberglass fire helmet; 1983 - introduced first NFPA-approved thermoplastic fire helmet; 1986 - introduced first ratchet headband used in fire helmet; 1998 - introduced its first thermal imager; leading manufacturer of high quality personal protective equipment and systems for industrial, emergency response applications.
(Comstock Lode), George D. Lyman (1934). The Saga of the Comstock Lode; Boom Days in Virginia City. (New York, NY: Scribner, 309 p.). Mines and mineral resources--Nevada--History; Mineral industries--Nevada--History; Comstock Lode (Nev.); Virginia City (Nev.).
--- (1937). Ralston’s Ring; California Plunders the Comstock Lode. (New York, NY: Scribner, 368 p.). Ralston, William Chapman, 1826-1875; Sutro, Adolph, 1830-1898; Comstock Lode (Nev.); California--History.
(Comstock Lode), Grant H. Smith; with new material by Joseph V. Tingley (1998). The History of the Comstock Lode, 1850-1997. (Reno, NV: Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, 328 p.[rev. 1943 ed.]). Gold mines and mining--Nevada--Virginia City Region--History; Silver mines and mining--Nevada--Virginia City Region--History; Mineral industries--Nevada--Virginia City Region--History; Comstock Lode (Nev.)--History; Virginia City (Nev.)--Social life and customs.
(Empire Mine), Ferol Egan (1998). Last Bonanza Kings: The Bourns of San Francisco. (Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press, 289 p.). Bourn, William, b. 1813; Bourn, William, 1857-1936; Bourne family; Pioneers--California--San Francisco--Biography; Businessmen--California--San Francisco--Biography; San Francisco (Calif.)--Biography; San Francisco (Calif.)--History.
(Gold), Rodman L. Paul (1947). California Gold; The Beginning of Mining in the Far West. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 380 p.). Gold mines and mining--California; Frontier and pioneer life--California; California--Gold discoveries.
(Gold), J.S. Holliday (1981). The World Rushed In: The California Gold Rush Experience. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 559 p.). Swain, William, 1821-1904; California -- History -- 1846-1850; California -- Gold discoveries; Overland journeys to the Pacific; Pioneers -- California -- Biography; California -- Biography.
(Gold), Paula Mitchell Marks (1994). Precious Dust: The American Gold Rush Era, 1848-1900. (New York, NY: Morrow, 448 p.). Gold mines and mining--North America--History--19th century; North America--Gold discoveries.
(Gold), Gary F. Kurutz; introduction by J.S. Holliday (1997). The California Gold Rush: A Descriptive Bibliography of Books and Pamphlets Covering the Years 1848-1853. (San Francisco, CA: Book Club of California, 771 p.). Gold mines and mining--California--History--19th century--Sources--Bibliography--Union lists; Catalogs, Union--United States; California--Gold discoveries--Sources--Bibliography--Union lists.
(Gold), Malcolm J. Rohrbough (1997). Days of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the American Nation. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 353 p.). Professor of History (University of Iowa). California--Gold discoveries. Most significant event in first half of nineteenth century; produced vast movement of people; called into question basic values of marriage, family, work, wealth, leisure; led to so many varied consequences; left such vivid memories among its participants; touched lives of families, communities everywhere in United States.
(Gold), Peter J. Blodgett (1999). Land of Golden Dreams: California in the Gold Rush Decade, 1848-1858. (Berkeley, CA: UC Press, 144 p.). H. Russell Smith Foundation Curator of Western American Manuscripts at the Huntington Library. Companion piece to Huntington exhibit; Gold Rush era in vivid anecdotes taken from actual journal entries, newspaper articles, letters of period.
(Gold), J.S. Holliday (1999). Rush for Riches: Gold Fever and the Making of California. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 355 p.) Director Emeritus of the California Historical Society, Former Director of the Oakland Museum of California; Associate Professor of American History (California State University, San Francisco), Assistant Director of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. California --Gold discoveries; California --History --1846-1850; California --History --1850-1950. Birth of modern California; gold rush years within context of state's transformation from quietude of Mexican hinterland in 1840s to forefront of entrepreneurial capitalism by 1890s; 1883 - California hailed as "America, only more so"; masculine world of mining camps, rough; gold mining's swift evolution from treasure hunt to vast industry; prodigal plunder of California's virgin rivers, abundant forests, improvised feats of engineering, breathtaking in scope, execution; ruthless Californians' rush for riches rapidly changed state (Silver Kings of Comstock Lode, timber barons of Sierra forests, Big Four who built first transcontinental railroad, lesser profit-seekers who owned steamboats, pack mules, gambling dens, bordellos, farmers who prospered by feeding rapidly growing population; laissez-faire economy created California's image as risk-taking society, unconstrained by fear of failure; miners finally reined in by farmers, how their once mutually dependent relationship soured into hostility; led to dramatic courtroom decision in 1884 that shut mighty hydraulic mining operations
(Gold), Editors James J. Rawls and Richard J. Orsi; associate editor Marlene Smith-Baranzini (1999). A Golden State: Mining and Economic Development in Gold Rush California. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 313 p.). Instructor of History (Diablo Valley College); Professor of History (California State University, Hayward). Gold mines and mining --California --History --19th century; California --Economic conditions --19th century. Economic impact of epoch-making event; how Gold Rush precipitated veritable economic revolution; relationship between technology and society, environmental impact from mining, sudden increase in California's population, influence of Gold Rush on agriculture, manufacturing, banking, transportation; impact on peoples, economies of Latin America, Europe, Asia; economic forces, for good or ill, that transformed California forever into Golden State.
(Gold), Susan Lee Johnson (2000). Roaring Camp: The Social World of the California Gold Rush. (New York, NY: Norton, 464 p.). Professor of History (University of Colorado). Mining camps--Sierra Nevada (Calif. and Nev.)--History--19th century; California--Gold discoveries--Social aspects; California--Social life and customs--19th century; Sierra Nevada (Calif. and Nev.)--Gold discoveries--Social aspects; California--Ethnic relations. Cosmopolitan, multicultural event - Mexicans, French, Chinese, African-Americans, Chileans, Miwok Indians, WASPs panned for gold in foothills of the Sierra Nevadas Mountains, around town of Stockton; dynamic social world in which conventions of ethnic, national, sexual identity were reshaped (all-male households of diggings, mines where men worked, fandango houses where they played).
(Gold), Brian Roberts (2000). American Alchemy: The California Gold Rush and Middle-Class Culture. (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 328 p.). Assistant Professor of History (California State University in Sacramento). Frontier and pioneer life--California; Frontier and pioneer life--West (U.S.); Pioneers--California--History--19th century; Pioneers--Northeastern States--History--19th century; Middle class--California--History--19th century; Middle class--Northeastern States--History--19th century; California--Gold discoveries--Social aspects; California--Social conditions--19th century; Northeastern States--Social conditions--19th century. Long-neglected truth of gold rush: many of northeastern forty-niners who ventured westward were middle-class in origin, status, values; did not turn their backs on middle-class culture; overlooked chapter in history of formation of middle class - rebellion against standards of respectability.
Eds. Kevin J. Starr and Richard J. Orsi (2000). Rooted in Barbarous Soil: People, Culture, and Community in Gold Rush California. (Berkeley, CA, University of California Press, 364 p.). California State Librarian and University Professor (University of Southern California); Professor of History (California State University, Hayward). Frontier and pioneer life --California; California --Gold discoveries --Social aspects; California --Social conditions --19th century; California --Civilization --19th century. Volume 3 in four-volume California History Sesquicentennial Series; only book to examine gold rush society and culture, to present modern interpretations, to gather up-to-date bibliographies of its topics; range of topics: migration and settlement, ethnic diversity, assimilation, cooperation, and conflict the dispossession of Indians and Californios, founding of schools and universities urban life, women in early California, sexual frontier, development of religion, art, literature, popular culture.
(Gold), H. W. Brands (2002). The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the Birth of Modern America. (New York, NY: Doubleday, 547 p.). California--Gold discoveries; California--Gold discoveries--Social aspects; United States--Civilization--1783-1865; United States--Social conditions--To 1865.
(Gold), Albert L. Hurtado (2006). John Sutter: A Life on the North American Frontier. (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 416 p.). Paul H. and Doris Eaton Travis Chair of Modern American History (University of Oklahoma). Sutter, John. First fully documented account of John Sutter in broader context of America’s rush for westward expansion.
(Gold), James P. Delgado (2009). Gold Rush Port: The Maritime Archaeology of San Francisco’s Waterfront. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 238 p.).President of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology. Former Executive Director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum in Vancouver, BC. Waterfronts --California --San Francisco --History; Harbors --California --San Francisco --History; Archaeology and history --California --San Francisco; Urban archaeology --California --San Francisco; San Francisco (Calif.) --Antiquities; San Francisco (Calif.) -- Commerce --History. "Forest of masts"; San Francisco's Gold Rush waterfront was a floating economy of ships and wharves, dazzling array of global goods traded and transported; San Francisco's unique maritime landscape, new light on the city's remarkable rise from a small village to a boomtown of thousands in the three short years from 1848 to 1851; fascinating picture of how ships and global connections created the port and the city of San Francisco; city’s history into the wider web of international relationships, developments in the Pacific that led to a world system of trading.
(Lime Industry), Frank A. Perry, Robert W. Piwarzyk, Michael D. Luther, Alverda Orlando, Allamn Molho, and Sherra L. Perry (2007). Lime Kiln Legacies: The history of the lime industry in Santa Cruz County, California. (Santa Cruz, CA: The Museum of Art & History, 253 p.). Lime --California --Santa Cruz --History; Lime industry --California --Santa Cruz --History. History of lime making in Santa Cruz County, CA, from 1791 to 1946.
(Merrill Company), David W. Ryder (1958). The Merrill Story: (being a record of the life and achievements of Charles Washington Merrill, and a history of the Merrill Company and subsidiaries). (San Francisco, CA: Merrill Co., 147 p.). Merrill, Charles W.; Mining--gold; metallurgy--Merrill-Crowe Process.
(Pacific Coast Borax Company), George H. Hildebrand (1982). Borax Pioneer: Francis Marion Smith. (San Diego, CA: Howell-North Books, 318 p.). Smith, Francis Marion, 1846-1931; Pacific Coast Borax Company; Businesspeople--United States--Biography.
(Pacific Coast Borax Company), N.J. Travis and E.J. Cocks (1984). The Tincal Trail: A History of Borax. (London, UK: Harrap, 311 p.). Smith, Francis Marion, 1846-1931; Pacific Coast Borax Company; Borax mines and mining--History; Borax mines and mining--United States--History; Businesspeople--United States--Biography.
(Silver), Oscar Lewis; new foreword by James J. Rawls (1986). Silver Kings: The Lives and Times of Mackay, Fair, Flood, and O’Brien, Lords of the Nevada Comstock Lode. (Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press, 286 p. [orig. pub. 1947]). Mackay, John William, 1831-1902; Fair, James Graham, 1831-1894; Flood, James Clair, 1826-1888; O’Brien, William Shoney, 1825 or 6-1878; Pioneers--Nevada--Biography; Mines and mineral resources--Nevada--History--19th century; Comstock Lode (Nev.); Nevada--Biography.
(Silver), Remi Nadeau (1999). The Silver Seekers: They Tamed California’s Last Frontier. (Santa Barbara, CA: Crest Publishers, 328 p.). Frontier and pioneer life --California; Silver mines and mining --California --History --19th century; California --History --1850-1950.
(Silver), Dennis Drabelle (2009). Mile-High Fever: Silver Mines, Boom Towns, and High Living on the Comstock Lode. (New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 288 p.). Contributing Editor (The Washington Post Book World). Silver mines and mining --Nevada --Comstock Lode; Mines and mineral resources --Nevada --Virginia City --History; Comstock Lode (Nev.); Virginia City (Nev.) --History. Silver-mining in late-19th-century American West - wealth extracted from Lode spurred growth of San Francisco, Virginia City (brought ruthless treatment of Native Americans); risks, expenses of deep mining lent themselves to stock-market manipulations, fraud on grand scale; innovations in Comstock mining (use of underground "cubes" to avoid cave-ins, elevators to bring ore to surface) made possible modern skyscraper; characters (Twain, as William M. Stewart, mining lawyer, future U.S. Senator).
Robert Wilson (2006). The Explorer King: Adventure, Science, and the Great Diamond Hoax, Clarence King in the Old West. (New York, NY: Scribner, 320 p.). Editor (American Scholar). King, Clarence, 1842-1901; Geologists--United States--Biography; West (U.S.)--Intellectual life. Collision of science and business. Portrait of Clarence King, first director of the United States Geological Survey; groundbreaking land survey of the American West.
Mark Wyman (1979). Hard Rock Epic: Western Miners and the Industrial Revolution, 1860-1910. (Berkeley, CA, University of California Press, 331 p.). Professor of History (Illinois State University, Normal). Miners --West (U.S.) --History; Miners --Labor unions --West (U.S.) --History; Mines and mineral resources --West (U.S.) --History. Western metal miners, struggle for unpaid wages, for industrial safety legislation, for corporate liability in event of mine accidents, for workmen's compensation; impact of technology on life of miners of West.Western metal miners, struggle for unpaid wages, for industrial safety legislation, for corporate liability in event of mine accidents, for workmen's compensation; impact of technology on life of miners of West.
Business History Links
The California Gold Country: Highway 49 Revisited
http://www.malakoff.com/goldcountry/
Gold Rush
Compilation of stories and related material to honor the sesquicentennial of the discovery of gold in northern California in 1848. Includes information about how gold was discovered, maps about how miners traveled to California by land and sea, details about life in mining camps, some types of people during the Gold Rush era (such as Latinos, black miners, Chinese workers, and women), the legacy of the Gold Rush, and more. From The Sacramento Bee.
The Gold Rush
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldrush/
Companion to a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) American Experience program that "tracks the evolution of the [California] Gold Rush from the easy riches of the first few months to the fierce competition for a few good claims." Features a map with major "strikes," timeline, background about people (such as Mexicans and Chinese immigrants) and events, a special feature on Native Americans, and an online role playing game. Also includes a teacher's guide.
Gold Rush Trail: An Outdoor Museum of San Francisco Heritage
The Gold Rush Trail is the San Francisco equivalent of the Freedom Trail of Boston. It was founded as such, and with a focus on education as its top priority. The Gold Rush Trail Foundation, a non-profit public-benefit corporation, offers educational experiences in the City's historic districts to residents and visitors via a clearly marked walking trail. This goal is supported by The Mechanics' Institute, The California Historical Society, and The Society of California Pioneers. Working with the San Francisco Unified School District, the Foundation has helped create state-certified history programs for the fourth and seventh grades. This mission is made possible through sponsorship by corporations with historical roots in the City.
The Gold Rush of California: A Bibliography of Periodical Articles
http://wwwlibrary.csustan.edu/bsantos/goldrush/GoldTOC.htm
By Robert LeRoy Santos, California State University, Stanislaus Librarian, University Archivist. This bibliography consists primarily of articles from scholarly journals and local history periodicals. There are no magazine articles per se, except for those written last century and early this century which have been included to give a sense of the historical treatment of the topic. This compiler sifted through every issue of the listed periodicals looking for articles "surrounding" the California Gold Rush. Included are articles directly on the Gold Rush, and also on relevant California topics of the era, such as law, mail service, politics, law, race relations, transportation, water, and others. The articles cover events from January 1848 through December 1855 which is generally acknowledged as the "Gold Rush moment." After 1855, California gold mining changed and is outside the "rush" era.
Gold Rush Chronicles
http://comspark.com/goldminer-mall/chronicles
History of the California Gold Rush, including a chronology beginning when Swiss-born John Sutter arrived in the California territory and covering the 1848 discovery of gold by James Marshall and California's admission to the United States in 1850. Features information about towns, mines and mining camps, people, the Pony Express, and more. From a company in the gold country that created a website for El Dorado County, California.
The Goldrush and Mining Industry
http://www.bookmine.com/inventory/inventory.html
Gold Rush Books. Mining in the West, Prospecting, Assaying, Booms and Busts.
Gold Rush Timeline
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldrush/timeline.
PBS: "American Experience".PBS: "American Experience"
The Gold Rush Trail
http://www.sfgate.com/news/special/pages/1998/08/goldtrail/arcbin/arcdex_0731.shtml
Collection of articles about a "month-long trek [in 1998] across the West retracing the steps of the emigrants along the Gold Rush Trail." Features maps, photos, and stories about the overland trail to California and the trails used by miners following the January 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in California. From the website for the San Francisco Chronicle.
