Goldrush Migrations and
Goldfield Populations in the
American West 1848-1880
Rand E. Rohe
University of Wisconsin
Center-Waukesha County
The discovery of placer gold initiated
some of the most spectacular migrations ever to occur in the American West.
The discovery of gold in California in
1848, of course, touched off the first of
the western mining rushes. More importantly, its backwash led to the development of the rest of the mountain West.
From California, the mining frontier
moved eastward and subsequently enveloped most of the West. The background of the discovery of gold in Cal ifornia needs but cursory attention here.
On January 24, 1848, in the course of
constructing a sawmill on the American
River, James Marshall noticed flecks of
gold along the tailrace. Gradually, news
of the discovery spread throughout California and then to the eastern United
States and Europe. Extension of the gold
region coincided with the arrival of the
heavy immigration of 1849-1850.
For the most part in the decade after
1848, gold mining in the West was extensively carried on only in California.
Contrastingly, the decade following 1858
was characterized by the expansion of
mining into many parts of the West. Major movements took place to British Columbia, Colorado, Idaho, and Montana,
with lesser migrations to Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, and Wyoming. For
almost a generation, these areas held
center place in the mining West. Then
came the discovery of gold in the Black
Hills. Rumors of gold in the Hills had circulated for years. In 1874 a military expedition finally confirmed its presence
in the Hills and signaled the beginnings
of yet another mining stampede. The
verification of gold in the Coeur d'Alene
region of Idaho in the early 1880's
brought the last rush of importance. It
did not, however, mark the end of the
mining movement. Scattered discoveries of placer gold continued into the
twentieth century, and each occasioned
more or less of a rush.
A number of works deal with individual gold rushes. Most, unfortunately, are
of little value in a geographic analysis.
American geographers and to a great
degree historians and sociologists have
neglected the analysis of the characteristics of a gold rush population. 1 Most
5
existing studies present and examine
facts in their historical context with little
or no attention to geographical interpretation. No study systematically investigates the various geographical characteristics of the mining rushes. Yet, such
an analysis is essential to a full understanding of the gold rushes.
What were the distinguishing characteristics of the Western gold rushes?
What are the best available estimates as
to the size of these migrations? Most
works on the gold rushes offer only
highly generalized statements on the dimension of the western mining rushes.
Further, these statements are often contradictory. What can be assessed as to
the origin of the participants of these
rushes? What changes did time bring to
the ethnic composition of the goldfield
and was it everywhere the same? The
cosmopolitan nature of the goldfields,
perhaps even California, has been overstated . More importantly, the reasons
one or more regions dominated in a
given rush need discussion. Were the
post-1849 rushes simply smaller-scale
facsimiles of the California rush?
INFLUX OF POPULATION
A huge and rapid influx of population
perhaps best characterizes the American
goldrushes. The California gold rush amply illustrates these characteristics. Within
a few months of the discovery of gold
in 1848, the vanguard of the rush appeared . Less than 10,000 people migrated to the California goldfields that
year.2 The combined total for the rush of
1849-50, however, probably approached 200,000.3 Whatever the exact
dimensions of the California gold rush, it
produced a dramatic increase in population. California contained a poulation
of perhaps 14,000 in 1848.4 From this
figure, the population increased to more
than 100,000 by January 1,1850. 5 Unlike
many states founded on mining , the
population of California continued to
grow. The population perhaps num bered as high as 250,000 by the latter part
of 1852. 6
The population of California as a
whole continued to increase largely as a
result of the development of agriculture
6
and other economic activities. The mining counties, however, experienced the
characteristic decline that followed the
flush production period. In most cases,
however, the decline proved less severe
than that experienced in other mining
regions of the West. A comparison of the
censuses for 1850, 1860, and 1880 shows
a gain in the agricultural counties and a
declining or stable population in the
mining counties. The mining counties
which held three-fifths of the population
in 1852 contained only one-fifth in 1880.7
The unstable conditions characteristic
of a gold rush account in part of the discrepancies between the number involved in the rush and those later enumerated by the census or estimated by
contemporary observers. Not all those
who rushed to California made it. Of
those who set out for California in 1849
perhaps not one in ten ever reached the
mines. Many left soon after reaching
California . In the latter part of 1849, the
rush eastward matched that westward
earlier in the year. Wright gave the departures by sea as 26,600 (1850) ; 23,196
(1852) and 30,000 (1853) . In 1853 an estimated 34,000 returned home by sea and
15,000 by land. Recent research reveals
that the overwhelming majority of the
gold rushers left home with the fullest.
intention and ultimate purpose of returning . Nearly two-thirds of the 4gers
from Connecticut, for example, re turned-three times the number that remained in California.
Many died on their way to California
or after just a short residence there.
Cholera tooks perhaps 1,500 to 2,000
victims in 1849 and 1,000 to 5,000 in 1850.
Perhaps one-fifth as many as got through
to California died along the way. One
estimate stated that of those who came
to California during the last six months
of 1849, one-fifth died. s
Following the California rush, almost
ten years lapsed before another major
rush occurred. Like most goldrushes, that
to Fraser River in 1858 left behind few
precise statistics of its dimensions. Contemporary estimates vary from just over
15,000 to almost 30,000 from California,
plus perhaps 5,000 to 6,000 from Oregon and Washington. 9 The total for the
whole rush probably approached 35,000
or 40,000. Unlike California, the Fraser
River area failed to hold or to continue
to gain population. By November, 1858,
less than 4,000 of the migrants re mained with only some 2,000 miners still
along the Fraser. lO Followi ng the Fraser
rush, British Columbia experienced a series of goldrushes during the 1860s. The
most important of these, that to the Cariboo in 1862, attracted some 15,000 persons. 11 Like the Fraser rush , these subsequent rushes to British Columbia failed
to hold the majority of the population so
attracted. In 1865, British Columbia con-
tained a population still estimated at only
between 6,000 to 7,000. 12
The same year as the Fraser River rush
came the discovery of gold in Colorado.
That year the rush only numbered between 1,000 and 1,500.13 The next year,
1859, however, brought a rush that rivaled that of California a decade earlier.
(Fig. 1) Contemporary as well as recent
estimates of the Colorado rush vary
greatly. The estimates range from 40,000
to as high as 120,000 for 1859.14 Few estimates of the rush of 1860 exist, but
available information suggests that between 50,000 and 60,000 persons partic-
Figure 1. One of the thousands of Pike's Peakers is shown leaving St. Joseph, Mo.
for the Colorado goldfields in 1859 (Courtesy : Kansas State Historical Society)
7
ipated.15 The total Colorado rush , 185860, probably involved over 150,000 people w ith two -thirds of them actually
reach in g Colorado.16 In June of 1859,
most esti mates put the pORulation at between 25,000 and 30,000. 7 A year later
some placed the po~ulation as high as
100,000 or 125,000.1 Like Fraser River,
Colo ra do failed to hold the great population increase occasioned by the discovery of gold . In late summer of 1860,
the Rocky Mountain News noted a decre ase i n the population w ith many
leavi ng for the States. In October the
same paper reported "For the past six
weeks t here has been a wave of eastern
trave l wh ich added to the 'stampeders'
of early summer, has taken full one-half
of the emigrants of the spring [sic)".19
Fossett estimated that some 1 00,000
people resided in Colorado at various
times between 1858 and 1870. 20 Yet, the
census of 1860 gave Colorado a P9Pulation of less than 35,000 and that of 1870
under 40,000.21
Almost co incident with the end of the
Colo rado rush began a series of rushes
farther north . The first of these rushes
took place to northern Idaho. The discovery of gold occu rred in 1860 and the
following year perhaps 8,000 to 10,000
people arrived .22 In 1862 the rush intensified. As early as May of that year, the
Oregon Statesman estimated the passage of between 20,000 and 24,000 persons through Walla Walla for the mines. 23
In early summer, a government official
noted that the min ing regions already
conta ined a population of more than
20,000 and that three times that number
were making preparations and were then
in route from Oregon, California, and the
eastern states.24
His statistics appear excessive. The
rush of 1862 probably involved some
30,000. 25 The Idaho rush continued in
1863 with between 25,000 and 30,000
people rushing to the Boise Basin alone. 26
The years 1862- 1863 marked the peak
of th e Idaho rush. After 1863 migration
to the Idaho goldfields slackened, the result of declining production and the
Montana discoveries . Despite its reduced nature, the rush continued for another year or twO. 27 .
8
Almost simultaneously with the mining excitement of Idaho, came discoveries in Montana, starting in 1862. From
ava ilable statistics, the rush to Montana
remained small during 1862- 1863.28 In
1863, the U.S. marshall estimated the
population of the mines at just 12,000;
but arrivals from Colorado and else where afterward increased the total noticeably. 29 In 1864, the Montana rush intensified . According to some estimates,
75 ,000 to 150,000 people rushed to
Montana that year.3D These estimates are
exaggerations no doubt. The Montana
Post gave a more likely figure. It re ported in late August that " not less than
15,000 people already arrived and more
are yet on their way.,,31 In 1865, the rush
to Montana continued unabated . The
Blackfoot mines alone attracted some
16,000 that year.32
The intensification of the rush to
Montana coincided closely with the
weakening of the rush to Idaho . The
Montana rush, in fact, drew many from
Idaho .33 In 1866, an Idaho paper an nounced that "the depopulation of Idaho
is being rapidly accomplished-the mass
going the way of all miners-to Montana ."J4 Though the Montana rush continued through 1866, its peak probably
occurred in 1864-1865. Between 1862
and 1866, the Montana mines attracted
at least 40,000 ~ eople and perhaps as
many as 60,000. 5
Like most goldfields, those of the
Northwest failed to hold the increase in
population brought by the goldrushes.
From 1861 to the spring of 1863, the territorial population of Washington, which
included the Northwest goldfields, expanded from 11 ,000 or 12,000 to over
60,000. An expansion due almost entirely to the rushes in Idaho and Montana .36 The rushes of 1863-65 undoubtedly caused as great, if not greater,
increase in population. Yet the census of
1870 recorded a population of just under
15,000 for Idaho and slightly more than
20,000 for Montana?7 In aggregate, these
figures represent only a fraction of the
total number of people involved in the
Northwest rushes.38
After the Northwest gold rushes, the
American West experienced one final
major gold rush. It came in 1875, with
verification of gold in the Black Hills of
South Dakota . That year an estimated
15,000 rushed into the Hills.39 The followin~ year brought perhaps 7,000 or
8,000. 0 The total for the Black Hills rush
from 1875-1877 perhaps approached
30,000 or 40,000. 41 A dramatic increase
in population resulted. By mid-January,
1876, the Hills contained an estimated
population of 3,000 to 4,000, which in creased to between 8,000 and 10,000 that
summer.42 Estimates of the population
increased to 15,000 and more in early
summer of 1877 and reached 25,000 by
mid-summer. 43 Like the other Western
goldfields, the Black Hills displayed a
typical post goldrush populat ion decline. In the fall of 1877, the already decreasing population totaled between
17,000 and 18,000. The census showed
only 16,000.44
Besides the major well-known goldrushes, numerous lesser rushes took
place to the American West between 1851
and 1882. Among others, rushes of historical importance occurred in 1851 to
Rogue River, Oregon ; in 1855 to Ft. Col ville, Washington; in 1858 to Gila River,
Arizona ; in 1860 to Pinos Altos, New
Mexico ; in 1867 to Elizabethtown, New
Mexico ; and 1882 to Coeur de'Alene,
Idaho. Most of these rushes drew less
than 10,000 participants, generally only
a few thousand .
Whichever estimates one accepts for
the various rushes, it is clear that the
discovery of gold brought a dramatic influx of population. More important than
the exact numbers involved in the
American goldrushes is why these great
movements of population occurred. The
first requisite, of course, was the discovery, real or alleged, of gold. The discovery alone, however, did not precipitate a
rush . The presence of gold, in fact, was
known in many areas of the West long
before a rush occurred . Widespread
publication of the discovery combined
with supporting factors, especially economic, proved the necessary stimulus to
foster a rush. 45 Characteristically, the
American gold rushes occurred during
periods of national instability, turbu lence or tension. Accompanied by eco-
nomic depression, an abundant and mobile labor force characterized these
periods. Placer gold, worked with relatively simple techniques that required
little training or capital, offered the possibility of qu ick returns for large numbers. With unemployment relatively high,
it is easy to see why gold attracted disproportionate numbers. The wages of
common labor in the East averaged perhaps $1.00 to $1.25 per day. Mining offered $5.00 to $10.00 per day and the
possibility of more. In California, for example, wages averaged $20.00 in 1848,
$16.00 in 1849, $10.00 in 1850 and $8.00
in 1851 .46
INSTABILITY OF POPULATION
Time after time the placer deposits
proved too limited for the large numbers brought by the goldrush. A fact reflected in the characteristic mobility displayed by a goldrush population . One
recent historian estimates that up to
eighty percent of the maximum population of a new mining district consisted
of drifters.47 Contemporary writers gave
a comparable picture. 48 Men who had
never earned more than a dollar a day
before were dissatisfied with twenty dollars a day in California, "and they were
always ready to start off on some expedition in search of distant diggings reported to be rich ." 49 The mining popu lation of the Northwest proved similarly
unstable. In a memorable simile, Hugh
H. Bancroft described the fluidity of the
mining population of Idaho :
The miners of Idaho were like quicksilver. A mass of them dropped in any
locality, broke up into individual globules, and ran off after any atom of gold
in their vicinity. They stayed nowhere
longer than the gold attracted them .50
In each successive rush, the mining
population displayed a great restlessness.51 From 1859 to 1869, the Rocky
Mountain goldfields supposedly contained a f loating population of approximately 250,000. 52 The Black Hills rush
proved no different. The Dakota Herald
near the peak of the rush to the Hills
noted that "Pilgrims are arriving at the
9
rate of one thousand a week, and leaving at the rate of nine hundred and fifty
during the same."53
SEX-AGE STRUCTURE
The characteristic mobility of a mining population corresponded to a distinct sex-age structure. As might be expected of a highly mobile population,
young males dominated to an ex treme. 54 Partial records for 1849 indicate
that males formed approximately 97
percent of the rush overland and more
than 98 percent of the rush by sea.55 The
majority of women who arrived in 1849
resided outside the goldfields. As a result, male dom in ance reached an extreme in the mining towns. Some mining towns contained no women at al l and
few in their immediate vicinity.56
The rush of 1850 saw a slight increase in the number of female participants. That year females accounted for
almost seven percent of the rush by sea
and perhaps five percent of the overland
rush. 57 The census of 1850 for California
placed the female population at less than
eight percent; in mining counties the
proportion fell below two percent. 58 Each
year females accounted for an increasing portion of the California migrations. 59 The census of 1852 revealed that
females accounted for approximately
thirteen percent of the population . The
mining counties continued to contain
considerably fewer females than the rest
of the state. In most of the mining counties, females accounted for five percent
or less of the population. 60 In 1853, perhaps twenty percent of the population of
California consisted of females. 61 The
mining counties continued to contain a
relatively small number of females. As
late as 1858, the remote mining districts
of northwestern California still contained few females. 62 Each census year
the proportion of females rose in California; yet as late as 1880 they represented only one-third of the total population, graphically illustrating the lon~­
term population effects of a gold rush. 3
Like the California rush, the charac-
Figure 2. This group headed for the Colorado goldfields in 1860 emphasizes the male
dominance of the Western gold rushes (Courtesy : Western History Department Denver Public Library).
10
teristic male dominance occu rred in each
success ive gold rush. Partial records of
th e Fraser River rush indicate that males
accounted for approximately 97 percent
of the migration .54 The Colorado rush
perhaps drew an even larger percentage
of males. (Fig . 2) The New York Daily
Tribune reported that in mid-June " the
weaker sex does not number over a
hundred representatives in this locality
and the various digg ings." About the
same t ime the goldfields contained a
population estimated at 25 ,000 to
30,000.65 Available information suggests
that males constituted 98 percent or more
of the Colorado rush. 66 The census of
1860 placed the female population at less
than five percent. In many of the mining
districts, the percentage dropped to less
than two percent. 67
The overwhelming male dominance
of the goldrushes continued with the
goldrushes to the Northwest. (Fig . 3) In
June, 1861, before the effects of the
goldrush, Washington Territory contained a population in which females accounted for five percent of the total. A
year later, after the Idaho rush was well
underway, the £roportion of females fell
to two percent. Fewer statistics exist for
the Montana rush , but like that to Idaho,
males prevailed to an extreme. In 1863,
just after the beginning of the Montana
rush , females accounted for approximately only two percent of the population .69 As late as 1867, Taylor reported,
" that women and children are but just
beginning to form an appreciable percentage of the population.,,70 The cen sus of 1870 revealed that females ac-
Figure 3. The long, difficult journey to the goldfields and the hard and dangerous
conditions associated with mining resulted in a largely young , male population . The
young age of most of the miners shown in this photo of the Canyon City district,
Oregon is obvious. (Courtesy: Oregon Historical Society)
11
counted for almost nineteen percent of
the population of Idaho and eighteen
percent of the population of Montana.71
The rush to the Black Hills apparently
attracted more females than previous
goldrushes. In July, 1876, women accounted for some five percent of the
population. 72 The census of 1880 recorded almost one-fourth of the population of the Hills as female. 73 Several
factors account for the greater percentage of women in the Black Hills during
the gold rush period. Compared to previous goldfields, the Black Hills was more
accessible. Rail lines were within a few
hundred miles of the mining operations.
The long, dangerous, and arduous journey characteristic of most goldrushes was
absent. Further, the placer era in the Black
Hills passed quickly. The lode mining that
followed was more conducive to permanent settlement and family life.
Besides being dominantly male, the
participants of the goldrushes generally
were below middle age. "Both because
the venture had appealed originally to
young men and because the trip to Cal ifornia and the life in the mines were too
trying to be endured by those who no
longer possessed the recuperative powers of youth .,,74 A contemporary thought
that perhaps two-thirds of those in volved in the California rush between
1849 and 1851 averaged between twenty
and thirty-five yea rs of age.75 According
to the census of 1850, more than half the
white males ran~ed between twenty and
th irty years old. 6
The post-California rushes displayed
a similar age distribution. Over 50 percent of the total population of Colorado
in 1860 was between twenty and thirty
years of age and almost 85 percent was
between twenty and forty years of age.77
Similarly, some 75 percent of the population of Montana and Idaho in 1870
consisted of males from eighteen to fortyfive years of age.78 The goldfield population of South Dakota, too, tended to be
young . Briggs felt the average age was
twenty-five and few were over thirtyfive. 79 In 1880, according to the census,
almost 75 percent of the male population of the Hills was eighteen to fortyfour years of age. 80
12
NATIONALITY
Each goldrush, to a greater or lesser
degree, possessed a cosmopolitan quality. Of the American goldrushes, the Cal ifornia rush attained the greatest degree
of ethnic diversity. The discovery of gold
in California attracted people from al most every part of the world.
Sonorans
According to the 1850 census , the
foreign element, not including Spanish
Californians, accounted for some twentyfour percent of the population of Cal ifornia ; a figure over twice as great as for
the United States as a whole. Within the
twenty-four percent, Latin Americans
formed both the largest and most noticeable element. 81 The first Latin Ame ricans outside of California to reach the
mines came from the northern prov inces of Mexico. The majority came from
Sonora, with lesser numbers from Sinaloa, Chihuahua , and Durango . The
movement began in the latter part of
1848.82 About 1,300 Mexicans worked the
mines in 1848.83 These Mexicans probably consisted largely of persons al ready in California at the time of the gold
discovery. They first settled in the area
between the Stanislaus and Tuolumne
Rivers and subsequently spread
throughout the Southern Mines. Interestingly, according to both contemporary writers and the census, the southern mining region of California contained
the majority of foreigners. The census of
1852 showed that in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties the foreign element accounted for over one-half the total population. 84
According to the best contemporary
estimates, 4,000 to 6,000 persons left
Sonora between October 1848 and March
1849. The other provinces of northern
Mexico undoubtedly sent several thousand more. Between January 1 and June
20, 1849 the Alta California estimated that
six thousand Mexicans "from Sonora and
other northern departments of Mexico"
reached the goldfields. 85 For nearly eight
months, the Sonoran migration northward continued-caravan after caravan
of thirty to sixty Sonorans, often includ-
ing their families, started for the mines.
The movement did not begin to reverse
itself effectively before August, 1849. A
combination of factors caused this reversal . The most persuasive of these
factors was probably the hostility toward foreigners . The general success
achieved by Sonorans during the first
mining season , however, assured another movement northward the following year. In fact, the pull of gold in Califo rnia accompanied by adverse
conditions in Sonora, including Indian
problems, a cholera epidemic, high
prices, and an unstable government,
caused the Sonoran migration of 1850
to exceed that of the previous year. 86
The arrival of Sonorans became almost annual pronouncements in the
Californian newspapers. Apparently an
average of at least 10,000 Sonorans
passed to the mines each spring and returned to Mexico in the autumn. 87 The
annual Sonoran migration continued until
1854 when it ceased almost entirely .88
Apparently, the pressure of a tax on foreign miners and other discriminative acts
re sulted in the end of the Sonoran
movement. The near exhaustion of the
rich surface placers in the Southern
Mines along with improved conditions
in Sonora played an important role as
well. The maximum population of Sonorans probably reached upwards of
15,000.
Chileans
South Americans formed the second
major group of Latin Americans involved in the California gold rush. During
1849, some 5,000 South Americans came
to California. 89 By 1852, the total reached
an estimated 50,000. 90 Chileans comprised the majority of the South America ns taking part in the rush. Within a
year of the gold discovery, estimates of
their numbers in California ranged all the
way from 3,000 to 60,000.91 The census,
however, gave less than 1,000 migrants
in Cal ifornia from South America .92 A
maximum of 20,000 seems a reasonable
figure for the number of Chileans present in California in 1850. 93 Faced with the
same discriminati on and tax as other
Latin Americans, many Chileans left Cal-
ifornia after only a short residence. On
August 14, 1850, the San Francisco Picayune reported that "from 15 to 20,000
Mexicans and perhaps an equal number
of Chileans are now leaving or pre~ar­
ing to leave for their own country." 4
French
Aside from Latin America, Europeans
accounted for the vast majority of the
foreign element. By far the largest number of Europeans came from the British
Isles, the second largest from Germany,
and the third largest from France. 95 In
spite of their lesser numbers, the French
proved by far the most distinct of the
Northwest Europeans.
Unlike the British and Germans, the
French tended to keep to themselves, in
groups of their own kind. Especially in
the Southern Mines, the French formed
a noticeable portion of the population.
According to Rathgeber, the French distributed as follows : 8,000 around Marysville, 6,000 around Mokelumne Hill and
4,000 on the Merced and Mariposa Rivers.96
The French population in California
rose from less than one hundred in 1849
to several thousand in the early 1850s.
The first arrivals came from South
America or various Pacific islands. The
immigration directly from France did not
arrive until September, 1849. 97 By the end
of 1853, estimates gave California between 25,000 and 30,000 French. 98 Recent historians generally give notably
lower figures than contemporary observers for the French population of California during the goldrush. Wyllys feels
it totaled not more than 10,000 in 1851,
and Chinard thinks that at its peak during the gold rush hardly reached 25,000,
of which not more than 10,000 came directly from France.99
American
While the foreign element, led by Latin
Americans, formed a noticeable portion
of the California gold rush, Americans
composed the primary element. At mid1848, before the effects of the goldrush,
the population consisted of 7,500 Californians, 6,500 Americans, and a sprinkling of foreigners. lOo At the end of 1848,
13
out of an estimated population of 20,000,
Americans still accounted for only some
6,000 or 8,000. '0' As the rush took effect,
the ratio of Americans, especially in the
mines, increased. In April , 1849, the Alta
California stated : "The most reliable accounts state the number of persons actually engaged in the mines at about
eight thousand and probably one-half of
these are Americans and an additional
eighth Californians. ",02 With the arrival
of the overland migration, the number
of Americans in California jumped noticeably. By November, Americans comprised approximately 66 percent of the
population .,03 A fi~ure corroborated by
the 1850 census .'o Like the foreig n element, the native born displayed a broad
origin. 105 Most came from the North eastern part of the United States. The
Middle West, however, followed closely.
The Southern states, especially the deep
South, contributed considerably less. The
largely unsettled West, Northwest, and
Southwest sent relatively few. ,06
The rushes following that to California proved considerably less cosmopol itan . The Fraser rush drew participants
from as far away as Hawaii, Central and
South America .,07 Americans, however,
constituted the great majority, with most
from California and lesser numbers from
Oregon and Washington . Surprisingly,
few British participated. In January, 1859,
an observer stated that the great bulk of
the mining p0Poulation on Fraser River
was American . 08 As late as 1861 , British
subjects accounted for only one-sixth of
the population of British Columbia. '09 In
1862, the American consul estimated the
total mining population of British Columbia at 15,000. Americans still dominated. Miners from California, Oregon,
and Washington alone accounted for
three-fourths of the population. 110 The
Cariboo rush brought immigrants from
Canada , Australia , New Zealand , and
Great Bri tain . After the opening of the
Cariboo fields , the English, Cornish ,
Scotch and Welsh became more common elements of the population. Perhaps two-th irds of the Cariboo rush con sisted of British subjects. '" Several
factors help expla in the greater presence of the British in the Cariboo gold-
14
fields. First, the creation of the Colony of
Brit ish Columbia in 1858 brought in creased British immigration with each
year. Second, surface m ining quickly
gave way to drifting in which the Cornish and Welsh excelled. At the same
time, the decline of copper mining and
the stagnation of tin mining in Cornwall
produced a restless population. The Civil
War, too , played a role. Many British
came from older mining areas of the U.S.
to avoid the draft. The hard times brought
on by the War, likewise, depressed at
least init ially the mining economy of
some of these areas.
The Colorado rush , likewise, drew
participants from almost every land.
Again, however, Americans accounted
for the vast majority. According to the
census of 1860, the foreign element represented only 7.7 percent of the population of Colorado. Of this foreign element, Europeans formed the majority,
with the British Isles dom inating, fol lowed by Germany and France. The Latin
American element, so prominent to the
California rush, was largely lacking. British America contributed notable numbers, forming the second largest foreign
group.ll2 The majority of Americans involved in the Colorado rush came from
the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys. As
contemporary writers described the rush
of 1859 :
All the Slave States except Missouri
contributed less than one thousand
persons; all the Free States east of the
Ohio, hardly five hundred . ... The
heaviest immigration comes from the
States in the order herein named :
Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio,
W i sconsin , Michigan, and Kentucky.ll3
The census of 1860 further emphasized
the dom inance of the Middle West. Four
Middle Western states : Ohio, Illinois,
Missouri and Indiana accounted for forty
percent of the total population of Colorado .ll4 The censuses of 1860, 1870, and
1880, in fact, all show a preponderance
of midwesterners in Colorado. Colorado,
of course, had natural ties to the Midwest and th is partially expla ins the prev-
alence of midwesterners in the Colorado
rush . Further, the Middle West was
harder hit than any other region by the
panic of 1857. A "collapsed real estate
bubble, poor crops , decline in grain
prices, a degenerate currency , and a
heterogeneous banking structure" combined to bring hard times to the Middle
West that lasted at least into 1859 and
in some respects to 1861. 115 These adverse cond itions incited many to join the
rush to Colorado.
The goldrushes to the Northwest continued the pattern of American dominance. The majority of Americans involved in the rush to Idaho came from
the West, especially from California and
Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, Washington ,
and British Columbia provided lesser
numbers. 116 A correspondent of the Rocky
Mountain News estimated the population of the Salmon River mines in June
1862 at 15,000, p,rincipall y from California and Oregon. 17 In contrast, the Montana rush drew more of its participants
from the East. Montana attracted perhaps two-thirds of all the miners bound
for the Northwest goldfields from east
of the Rockies. 118 The population of many
of the mining districts reflected the
dominance of the East. A description of
the Grasshopper Mines in 1863 stated
that " few of the miners are from California or Oregon. Most of them are from
Pike's Peak and the States."119 Subsequently, however, the Montana mines
drew many from the West, especially
from California.
The basic pattern repeated itself again
in the Black Hills rush. As the previous
rushes, that to the Black Hills drew participants from almost everywhere. The
population of Deadwood and vicinity in
1877 probably represented the rush as a
whole. "Here you find people from all
parts of the globe, Australia, China, California, Mexico, all of the countries of
Europe and from every state in the
Union.,,120 Americans again comprised
the majority. The Bismarck Weekly Tribune noted men " coming from all parts
of the country; Idaho, Colorado, California, Mexico, Utah, Montana, and from
eastern cities. "121 The greatest number
probably came from the West. Colorado,
Nevada, Utah and particularly Montana
sent large delegations.122 A description
of the major mining district of the Hills
suggest the prominence of the Western
states in the Black Hills rush :
There are at present eight thousand
people in the Deadwood district, about
3/ 4 of whom are old Colorado, Ut ah,
and Montana miners . The rest are
" tender feet" or eastern immigrants. 123
None of the minor goldrushes
achieved more than a regional importance-a fact clearly reflected in the
makeup of their population. The rush to
Pinos Altos in 1860 offers a typical example. " The news of it spread, and in
June of the same year, people from Chihuahua, Sonora, Texas, and California
commenced pouring into the new EIdorado."124 Like the other gold rushes,
Americans generally dominated. In the
Southwest, Mexicans, however, often
formed a considerable portion of the
mining population . Occasionally, in fact.
Mexicans formed the dominant element. 125
" Old Californians"
After the Californ ia rush , anothe r
component became common to the
American goldrushes. The exhaustion of,
the rich surficial placers of California resulted in a large surplus of miners. The
combination of declining production and
new gold discoveries started the ever
restless population on the move. Each
successive rush drew its contingent of
California trained miners. The "Old Californians," in fact, became a conspicu ous element of almost every new mining region. 126
In the 1850s, the discovery of gold in
southwestern Oregon attracted several
thousand " Old Californians. " The Fraser
River rush in 1858, however, initiated the
first really important movement of " Old
Californians ."127 A contemporary description of the Fraser rush noted that
"the great majority of the emigrants were
men who had gained a thorough knowledge of mining by years of experience
in California. ,,128 Perhaps, as many as
15
•
30,000 in all left California for Fraser River
in 1858. A year later, another segment
of "Old Californians" invaded Colorado.
The available evidence suggests -that
direct migration from California never
amounted to much. 129 The existence of
gold, however, assured the presence of
"Old Californians. " Many who left California in the early fifties to return home,
again moved West. The exact number of
"Old Californians" involved in the Colorado rush remains uncertain . Greeley,
however, provided some insight to their
relative abundance :
... you cannot enter a circle of a
dozen persons of whom at least three
will not have spent some years in
California. 130
The yield of gold in California continued
its successive decline during the early
1860s. At the same time, a number of
important gold discoveries occurred in
the Northwest. The combination sustained the exodus of California miners.
Several thousand "Old Californians"
rushed to the Cariboo mines of British
Columbia. 131 The mines of Oregon, Idaho,
and Montana, however, proved the real
magnet. In 1862, contemporary newspapers expected a migration of 15,000
to 25,000 California miners.132 Perhaps
10,000 to 15,000 Californians left for the
Northwest goldfields that year.1 33 Up to
1863, a generally reliable observer felt
that no less than 150,000 California
trained miners left the state for the various mining regions of the West. 134
In 1863, the movement of miners out
of California continued. The exodus that
year was probably between 10,000 and
20,000. 135 The goldfields of the Northwest drew the majority of these "Old
Californians." For several years , the
movement of California miners to the
Northwest continued . A note in the Idaho
World in February of 1865 is typical of
the pronouncements that appeared in the
papers of the period :
California is about to experience another one of those depopulating
stampedes, some estimating that
16
25,000 to 30,000 people will go north
in the Spring, mostly to Idaho.136
A year later a Montana paper estimated
that "n ot less than ten, and perhaps as
many as fifteen, thousand practical miners will enter Montana this spring, from
California.',137 According to Raymond, the
Montana goldfields attracted some 5,000
" Old Californians" in 1866.138 Almost
every mining area of the Northwest felt
the presence of " Old Californians." As
described by Trimble :
.. . whatever elements of population
prevailed in one or the other place,
there was one everywhere present,
everywhere respected, everywhere
vital-the Californian. To Fraser River,
Cariboo, Kootenay, John Day, Boise,
Alder Gulch, Helena, went the adopted
sons of California . . . 139
Like the Northwest. the Southwest attracted its share of " Old Californians.,,140
Many of the most important placer areas
of the Southwest. in fact. owed their discovery and early development to former
California miners. Characteristically, the
Southwestern rushes were largely regional affairs and not uncommonly California miners dominated the American
contingent. Even the last major gold rush,
that to the Black Hills, drew miners from
California ; a few of which were even
bona fide survivors of the original California rush.141
Heterogeneous perhaps best describes a mining population. Yet certain
elements proved more conspicuous in
some areas than others. Regardless of
whatever element predominated, however, " Old Californians" proved ubiquitous. Their presence helps explain the
similarity in the development of mining
areas widely separated in time and space.
Foremost, "Old Californians" acted as the
agents through which the inexperienced
learned the basics of mining. In contemporary newspapers, most descriptions of
neWly-opened mining areas invariably
mentioned "Old Californians," and gave
wide acceptance to their opinions. "Old
Californians," in fact, played a singular
role in the origin and diffusion of mining
methods.
nadians, and later south Europeans generally replaced the original miners.
Post Gold Rush Changes
The Chinese
The American dominance of the goldfields often ended or considerably lessened with the end of the flush production period. With the exhaustion of the
rich surface placers came an increasing
necessity for the employment of capital
on a large scale and corporate methods
to work the deep diggings. As a result,
hired labor became the rule in most types
of mining. Many of the original miners
turned to other occupations or moved to
new mining regions. Almost ritually, in
area after area, men of foreign birth replaced the original miners after the flush
production period. In the placer areas,
Chinese usually supplanted the original
miners. (Fig. 4) In lode mining areas, the
Irish or Cornish with some German, Ca-
Of all the ethnic groups represented
in the placer areas of the West, perhaps
none proved more ubiquitous and significant as the Chinese.142 The Chinese
excelled in saving gold, especially fine
gold, under difficult conditions. They
complimented rather than competed with
white miners. As the rich, surface placers declined and the original miners
moved on, the Chinese almost without
fail replaced them. (Fig . 5)
In the 20 years, 1820- 1840, only
eleven Chinese immigrated to the United
States; and from 1840-1850 but 335. Of
the latter, 300 arrived in California during 1849. In the 1850s and 60s the
Chinese population of the United States
was concentrated almost entirely in Cal-
Figure 4. The Chinese appeared in almost every placer area after the flush production period. By 1852 the date of this photo of Chinese miners at Auburn Ravine, Ca.,
the Chinese were already entering the California mines in significant numbers (Courtesy : California State Library).
17
•
250.000
225.000
BOISE BASIN
G
200.000
L
0
175.0 0 0
P
150.000
0
R
0
0
U
C
T
I
125.000
100.000
75.000
0
N
50.000
25.000
(oz .)
-----11--
----1'------'----'----'---'----'-----''---'------'----'----'-- 1STAl EY. GO l DIN I DA HOI
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
20.000
18.000
BOISE COUNTY
16 .000
P
0
P
U
L
A
T
I
0
14 .000
WHITE
12.000
10.000
8 .000
N
6 .000
4 .000
2.000
'--_----''---'--:-~~<::L_
1863
1864
1865
_l...__L__L_----1_---l._~_....L_ I C AP I TA l CHRO N IC l E. U.S. CE NSU s l
186 6
GOLD PRODUCTION
1867
AND
1868
1869
POPULATION
1870
187 1
1872
IN CENTRAL
IDAHO
Figure 5. This graph dramatically illustrates how Chinese replaced white miners after
the flush produ ction period.
ifornia w ith approx imately 80 percent of
that in the gold fields.143 Du ri ng their first
decade in the West, most Chinese worked
in the mines, about 75 percent of them
by the early 1860s.144 The Ch inese, by the
1870s, had sp read to almost every major
placer area of the West. (Fig. 6) The late
18
1860s and early 1870s, in fact, probably
marked the near peak of Chinese mining . In 1870, mining employed less than
a th ird of the Chinese population, but the
Chinese rep,resented over 25 percent of
all miners. 45 In some individual states,
the Ch inese accounted for one-half to al-
CHINESE AND THE MINING
1848
FRONTIER
1879
UTAH
CALIFORNIA
COLORADO
rUt(
"
CAN YON
'.
\
:--- ..
,
,
-'-- j -: - •.1
'. !
.j
,
\
.!~.~.:.~.~~lfS
1---------=--,\
CHINESE MINING
1848 ·18\9
---
1860-1869
1810 - 1819
...... ,..
...
r. . . . . .· ··· ·
.J
".
!•••
••.••••••, .,......
...
ARIZONA
NEW
"'''0'3, '.,,,
G aUG
MEXICO
•• - -- _ _ ~,,"i
.f>-... . "
-------
,.-----------RER18
I-- - --~ ·
Figure 6. By the 1870's the Chinese had spread to almost every major placer area
of the West.
19
Figure 7. A notable concentration of Cornish miners occurred in the Grass Valley
district of California which contained well over a thousand "Cousin Jacks" by 1870.
This photo shows a crew of Cornish miners at the Empire Mine at Grass Valley.
(Courtesy: State of California Division of Mines and Geology)
20
most two-thirds of all miners. In the
1880s and 1890s the West as a whole
showed a notable decline in the number
of Chinese involved in mining. In 1890
Chinese probably represented less than
a tenth of all miners. By the end of the
19th century, the Chinese had for the
most part abandoned mining. In fact, by
this date, most had died, returned to
China, moved east, or settled in the larger
cities of the West Coast.
The number of Cornish never ap proached that of the Chinese. Despite
their lesser numbers, however, the Cornish appeared on almost every mining
frontier and played a significant role in
the development of the mining West.146
Unlike the Chinese who were often the
targets of prejudice and discrimination
and were barred from mining, the Cornish were generally held in great esteem . With a long experience in lode
mining, the Cornish contributed much to
the improvement of mining methods.
When they first came into the quartzmining districts it was usually con ceded that neither Americans, Germans, nor Irish could equal them in
anything connected with hard-rock
mining. 147
The Cornish were adept at sinking shafts
and driving tunnels, at timbering and
blasting , at rock drilling and mine dra inage.
Among the hard rock miners, the native-born American was in the minority.
Typically, there was a tendency for the
foreign born to undertake the manual labor and underground work, while Americans specialized in the operation of the
machinery and other complicated equipment. The most experienced miner in any
deep mine before the 1860s was likely
to have been a Mexican who had previously worked in the mines of northern
Mexico. Starting in the mid 1860s, the
Cornish and Irish made up the majority
of the miners in the most important lodes
districts. 148
During the 1860s, mining in Cornwall
fell on hard times that became a severe
depression during the 70s. At least a
quarter and perh aps a th ird of the min ing populat ion left Cornwall between
1871-1881 .149 Many of them migrated to
the mining districts of the American West.
The peak of Cornish participation in
mining occurred during the late 1880s
and early 1890s. The first Cornish on the
Western mining frontier consisted of individual miners from the iron and coal
mines of New Jersey and Pennsylvania,
the lead mines of Wisconsin, the iron and
copper region of Michigan and Cornwall
itself. Later, some Cornish came under
contracts arranged by British mining
companies or by British firms connected
with Eastern U.S. mining enterprises. 1so
Typically, the Cornish presence was
most noticeable in the first major lode
mining district in each of the principal
mining regions. Possibly the greatest
concentration of Cornish in California by
1860 and definitely by 1870 was at Grass
Valley, the site of the first important discovery of lode gold and the subsequent
center of quartz mining in the state. (Fig .
7) By 1870 the Grass Valley district con tained well over a thousand Cornish .1s1
From California, the Cornish moved to
the mines of Nevada.
At least a tenth of the mining popu lation of Nevada during the 1860s and
1870s was Cornish, with notable concentrations along the Comstock at Virginia City, Gold Hill, and Silver City. Almost everywhere there was a lode mine,
however, there would be at least some
Cornish. " Wherever a pit was found , a
cousin Jack would be there digging away
at the bottom of it.,,1s2 After the decline
of the Comstock, the majority of the
Cornish there "sought new fields to conquer, scattering in all directions: Butte,
Montana; Leadville, Colorado; Tombstone, Arizona; Bodie, California .. .',1S3
On the Comstock, the Cornish and
Irish each made up one third of the
hard rock miners, which was fairly representative of most of the silver districts
in the Great Basin during the latter half
of the 19th century. In the surrounding
lode gold districts, however, the ethnic
make-up of the mining population
sometimes differed significantly. In Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Califor-
21
Figure 8. In the goldfields of the Southwest, the Mexican typically constituted a significant proportion of the mining population. They were often employed by others
as manual laborers in the mines. This appears to be the case with these Mexican
miners near Socorro, New Mexico (Author).
nia, Mexicans occasionally represented
a good portion of the population and in
the Rocky Mountains southern and eastern Europeans were often present in
notable numbers. 154 (Figs. 8, 9)
Typically, the gold rushes brought a
large and sudden influx of population,
whose characteristics strongly reflected
the special conditions of a gold rush. The
phenomenal growth rate and often
equally rapid decline, the high mobility,
the predominance of young adult males,
22
and the degree of ethnic diversity, all
contributed to the uniqueness of the
goldrush population.
The best available statistics suggest
that the major gold rushes attracted from
10,000 to 100,000 persons per year. Each
gold rush clearly reflected its importance, world or regional, in the number
and the origin of its participants. While
the foreign element formed a noticeable
portion of some gold rushes, Americans
invariably composed the primary com-
Figu re 9. In the later years of the mining era, Southern Europeans began to replace
the Corn ish in many lode mining areas. This crew in Utah cons isted mainly of Italian
miners. (Courtesy : Western History Departm ent : Denver Publ ic Library) .
pon ent of any goldfi eld population . The
American dom inance of the goldfields
often ended or cons iderably lessened
with th e end of the flush production peri od. In the placer areas, Ch inese usually
supplanted the original m iners; and in
t he lod e d ist ricts , the Corn ish dom inated.
FOOTNOTES
1. One interesting exception is Sherman l. Ricards. Jr., "A
Demographic History of the West·Bune County, Cali·
fornia, 1850," Papers of the Michigan Academy of Sci·
ence, Arts and Leiters, XLV (19611. pp. 469- 91.
2. Doris Marion Wright, "The Making of Cosmopolitan
California : An Analysis of Immigration, 1848-1870."
California Historical Society Quarterly, XIX (December,
1940), p. 342. On the rush of 1848, see also Remi Nadeau. " The Forty-Eighters," Westways (March, 1958).
pp. 16-17, and T. Bulter King, " T. Bulter King 's Report
on California," 31 st Cong o 1sl. Sess., Ex. Doc. no. 58
serial 577, (Washington: Government Printing Office,
1850), especially pp. 25- 26.
3. The numerous estimates of the California rush vary
widely from an average of 70,000 a year to as high as
140,000 a year. Bateson (Charles Bateson, Gold Fleet
for California, (East Lansing: Michigan State University
Press, 1963), p. 18 gives the average annual immigration for 1849-1851 as over 140,000 a year. Wright (op
cil. pp. 341-342) gives an average roughly half that for
the same period. From available contemporary statistics, the estimate of Wright appears closer to the real
average. For some contemporary estimates of the rushes
of '49- '51 see : Alta California, September 6, 1849; November 29, 1849; September 23, 1850; Marysville Herald, September 3, 1850; Placer Times, September 15,
1849; Hunt's Merchant's Magazine, XLI (July- December, 1859), p. 44; Willard B. Farwell, "Cape Horn and
Cooperative Mining in '49," Century Magazine, XXIV
(August, 1891) p. 593 ; American Quarterly Register,
(May-December 1849). p. 385; John S. Hinell , " Remi·
niscences of the Plains and Mines in '49 and '50," Over·
land Monthly IX, (1887). p. 195; Theodore H. Hittell,
History of California, Volume 1 (San Francisco: Pacific
Press, 1885), p. 700; " Report of the Quartermaster Gen·
eral," 31 st Cong., 2d Sess., Ex. Doc. no. I, serial 587,
(Washington : Government Printing Office, 1850), p. 148;
23
" Report of Chief Engineer No. 12," 31st Cong., 1st Sess.,
House Ex. Doc. no. 5, (Washington : Government Printing OHice, 1850) p. 225; 31 st Cong., 1sl. Sess., Senale
Misc. Doc. no. 68, (Washington : Government Printing
OHice, 1850), pp. 15-17; Missouri Republican, May 26,
1850; 51. Joseph Adventure, December 2, 1850.
4. Rodman, W. Paul, California Gold-The Beginning of
Mining in Ihe Far Wesl(Uncoln: University of Nebraska
Press, 1967), p. 23; see also King , op. cit., p. 7.
5. The census of 1850 records 92,597 and a semi-official
estimate of 117,538 (Seventh Census, 1850, p. 969) ; Paul,
op. cil., p. 24 taking into account the loss of returns
from San Francisco and two other counties gives
118,597. The AlIa California, November 29, 1849 reports
over 100,000. King, op. cil. , uses the figure of 115,000
at the beginning of 1850. " Memorial of the Senators
and Representatives Elect from California, " 31st Congo
Senate Misc. Doc. no. 68, serial 563 (Washington : GPO,
1850), p. 16, states there were 107,069 as of January 1,
1850.
6. The federal and state censuses recorded 224,435 and
264,435 respectively. The San Francisco Daily Evening
News, December 30, 1853 estimated 300,000 at the end
of 1852 and 322,200 at the end of 1853. The Daily AlIa
California, December 23, 1853, reported a census total
of 264,436, a government estimate of 308,507 and its
own estimate of 311 ,500. See also, George Sabaugh,
"A Critical Analysis of Californian Population Statistics,
with Special Emphasis on Census Data, 1850-1870"
(unpublished M.A. Thesis, University of California,
Berkeley, 1943).
7. Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of California, Volume VII,
1860-1890 (San Francisco : The History Company, 1890),
p.702.
8. E. B. Osborn, Grealer Canada : The Pasl, Present and
Future of the Canadian North-West (London : Chano and
Windus 1900), p. 7; Wright, op. Cil., p. 341 ; R. Guy
McClellan, The Golden Slale: A Hislory of the Region
West of Ihe Rocky Mounlains, (San Francisco, 1874), p.
137; John H. Kemble, "The Panama Route 1848- 1869,"
University of California Publicalions in History, XXIX
(1943), p. 130; Frances Alida Hoxie, "Connecticut's FortyNiners," Weslern Hislorical Quarterly, V (January, 1974),
p. 27. See also Missouri Statesman, April 27, 1649. Dale
L. Morgan, The Humboldt, Highway of Ihe West, (New
York: Farrar & Rineha rt, 1943), p. 164. Merrill J. Mattes,
The Greal Plalle River Road (Uncoln : Nebraska State
Historical Society, 1969), p. 64. J. Ross Browne, " A Report Upon the Mineral Resources of the States and Territories West of the Rocky Mountains," 39th Cong., 2d.
Sess., House Ex. Doc. no. 29, serial 1289, (Washington :
Government Printing OHice, 18671. p. 38. See also :
Georgia Willis Read, "Diseases, Drugs, and Doctors on
the Oregon-California Trail in The Gold-Rush Years, "
Missouri Hislorical Review, XXXVIII (19441. pp. 260-276,
and PAM. Taylor, " Emigrant's Problems in Crossing
the West, 1830-70," Universily of Birmingham Hislorical Journal, V (1955), pp. 83-102 ; Jean Webster, " The
Myth of Pioneer Hardships on the Oregon Trail," Reed
College Bulletin, XXIV (1946), pp. 27- 46.
9. Sacramento Daily Union, December 1, 1858; Oregon
Slatesman, July 26, 1859; "Vancouver's Island and British Columbia," 35th Cong ., 2d. Sess., Senale Ex. Doc.
no. 29, serial 964, (Washington: Government Printing
OHice, 1859), p. 2; John S. Hittell, Mining in Ihe Pacific
Slales of North America (San Francisco: H. H. Bancroft
& Company, 1861), p. 29; "Frazer River Emigration,"
Hunl's Merchanl's Magazine, XL (January-June, 1859),
p. 132; and Harper's Weekly, August 7, 1858, p. 502.
10. Sacramento Daily Union, November 25, 1858.
24
E
11 . " Commercial Relations 1862," Annual Report on Foreign Commerce for Ihe Year Ended Seplember 3D, 7862
(Washington: Government Printing Office, 18631. p. 149.
"Commercial Relations 1864," Annual Report on Foreign Commerce for the Year Ended Seplember 3D, 7964
(Washington : Government Printing OHice, 1865) p. 156;
" Commercial Relations 1865," Annual Report on Foreign Commerce for Ihe Year Ended Seplember 3D, 7865
(Washington : Government Printing Office, 1866), p. 115.
12. "Commercial Relations 1865 .. .," p. 115. Two years
later the population still only totaled 6,000. ("Commercial Relations, 1867," Annual Report on Foreign Com merce for Ihe Year Ended Seplember 3D, 7867 IWash ington: GPO, 18681. p. 204).
13. Herald of Freedom, January 1, 1859; January 15, 1859;
February 5, 1859; and the Rocky Mounlain News, November 10, 1859.
14. Henry Willard (The Pasl and Present of Ihe Pike's Peak
Gold Regions 1St. Louis: Sutherland & McEvoy, 1860),
p. 117) believed not more than 40,000 reached Colorado and of that only 25,000 ever penetrated the mountains. He felt the gold regions never contained more than
15,000 at anyone time. Albert D. Richardson in the
Lawrence Republican, March 29, 1860 estimated 40,000;
Frank Fossen (Colorado, lIS Gold and Silver Mines INew
York: C.G. Crawford, 1880), p. 120) reports 50,000; Horace Greeley estimated 72,000 (Oregon Slalesman, October 4, 1859) and after publication of Greeley's verifi cation of gold, the Daily Missouri Democral, August 15,
1859 felt an additional 20,000 left for Colorado. LeRoy
R. Hafen (Colorado: The Slory of a Western Common weallh IDenver: Peerless Publishing, 1933), p. 117) felt
100,000 departed for Colorado of which half actually
reached the state; Rodman Wilson Paul (Mining Fron liers of the Far Wesl, 7848- 7880 INew York : Hold, Rinehart and Winston, 1963), p. 40) accepted a figure of
50,000 for the whole rush. The most common figure
given by contemporary sources is 100,000 (New York
Herald, May 26, 1859; May 30, 1859; June 20, 1859;
New York Daily Tribune, May 31, 1859; June 27, 1859;
August 17, 1859; Herald of Freedom, February 26, 1859;
May 21 , 1859; Nebraska Cily News, April 16, 1859).
15. Rocky Mounlain News, May 30, 1860; September, 7,
1860; October 24, 1860; November 1, 1860; " Commerce of the Prairies," HUn/'S Merchant's Magazine and
Commercial Review, XLIV (January, 1861). p. 24; Ovando
J. Hollister, The Mines of Colorado, (Springfield, Mass :
Samuel Bowles Company, 18671. p. 107. Several writers
contend the rush of 1860 surpassed that of '59 (Frank
Hall, Hislory of Ihe Slale of Colorado, IChicago : Blakely
Printing Co .. 1889) , p. 250; Charles W. Henderson ,
" Mining in Colorado: A History of Discovery, Development and Production, " U .S. Geological Survey
Professional Paper no. 138 IWashington : GPO 19261. p.
30; State of Colorado Mineral Resources Board, MineraI Resources of Colorado Firsl Sequel IDenver: Publishers Press, 1960), p. 5).
16. Numerous contemporary newspapers reported an early
return of emigrants, some before ever reaching Colorado. Daily Missouri Democral, May 19, 1859; June 1,
1859; July 8, 1859; Sacramento Daily Union, July 27,
1859; Kansas City Daily Weslern Journal of Commerce,
June 7, 1859; New York Herald, May 25, 1859; May 30,
1859; Oregon Argus, June 25, 1859; Lawrence Repub lican, July 7, 1859; Rocky Mounlain News, May 14, 1859;
June 6, 1860; New York Daily Tribune, July 11 , 1859;
May 25, 1859.
17. Daily Missouri Democral, June 11 , 1860; July 8, 1859;
Sacramento Daily Union, August 8, 1859.
18. Nebraska City News, June 23, 1860; July 14, 1860.
19. Rocky Mountain News, July 4, 1860; August 27, 1860;
August 29, 1860; October 24, 1860.
(William J. Trimble, "The Mining Advance into the Inland Empire ...," University of Wisconsin, Bulletin 638,
History Series, III (1914], p. 130).
20. Fossett, op. cil., p. 147.
21. Popularion of the United States in 1860 compiled from
the Original Rerurns of the Eighth Census (Washington:
Government Printing Office, 1864), p. 547 and A Compendium of the Ninth Census (June 1, 1870) (Washington : Government Printing Office, 1872), p. 106. The
Lawrence Republican, September 6, 1860 states "The
Census returns are nearly all in and show the population of the Gold Region to be about sixty thousand."
The Rocky Mountain News, September 10, 1860 likewise gave a figure of 60,000. Jerome C. Smiley (SemiCentennial History of the State of Colorado (Chicago :
Lewis Publishing, 1913], p. 466) felt the population at
the beginning of the summer of 1860 was three times
as great as recorded by the census. Colin B. Goodykoontz ("The People of Colorado," Colorado Magazine,
XXIII (September, 1946), p. 242) repons a population of
38,500 for Colorado in 1860.
22 . Repon of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs Accompanying the Annual Repon of the Secretary of the Interior for the Year, 1861, (Washington : GPO, 1861 ), p.
26; Oregonian, August 31 , 1861 ; Oregon Argus, July 27,
1861; November 9, 1861; Puget Sound Herald, September 19, 1861 . The Oregon Statesman, November 27, 1865
stated that 10,000 passengers traveled up the Columbia
by steamboat during 1861 and the Puget Sound Herald,
September 5, 1861 gave the Nez Perces Mines a population of 12,000. Apparently only about 2,500 persons
wintered in the mines (Morning Oregonian, March 20,
1862; March 26, 1862).
23. Oregon Statesman, June 2, 1862.
24. " Repon of the Secretary of the Interior," 37th Cong .,
3d. Sess., Ex. Doc. no. 1, serial 1157, (Washington: GPO,
1862), p. 165.
25. Huben Howe Bancroft, History of Washington, Idaho and
Montana 1845-1889 (San Francisco : The History Company, 1890), p. 256. Morning Oregonian, June 27, 1862;
San Francisco Daily Bulletin, June 13, 1862; Ro ssiter
Raymond, "Mineral Resources of the States and Territories West of the Rocky Mountains," 40th Cong ., 2nd
Sess" House Ex. Doc. no. 202, serial 1342 (Washington:
GPO, 1868), p. 579; "Repon of the Secretary of the Interior .. .," (Washington, 1862) pp. 541, 566. The number of passengers carried by steamboat up the Columbia indicates the dimensions of the rushes to the
Nonhwest goldfields from the Pacific Coast. " The Repan of Secretary of War pI. II , "40th Cong" 2d. Sess.,
House Ex. Doc. no. 1, serial 1325, (Washington : GPO,
1867), p. 510 uses the following figures: 10,500 (1861) ;
24,500 (1862); 22,000 (1863); and 36,000 (1864). The
population of the territory of Washington east of the
Cascades increased from 6,152 in June, 1861 to 21 ,796
a year later ("Repon of the Secretary of the Interior. . .,"
(Washington, 1862) p. 169). Apparentl y one-third of th e
overland (eastern) migration of 1862 or 10,000 people
went to the Salmon River mines (Morning Oregonian,
July 28, 1862; October 9, 1862; Oregon Argus, July 26,
1862; Oregon Statesman, August 18, 1862; November
3, 1862; Weekly Oregonian, October 25, 1862).
26. Morning Oregonian, July 23, 1862; Bancroft, History of
Wash ington, Idaho, and Montana . . ., p. 413, " Repon
of the Secretary of the Interior, 38th Cong ., 1st. Sess.,
House Ex. Doc. no. 1, serial 1182, (Washington : GPO,
1863), p. 14.
27 . Nebraska Republican, May 20, 1864. According to one
observer some 16,000 already had left for Idaho with
three-founhs of the year's immigration yet to come
28. Nebraska City News, July 19, 1862 reponed 8,000 to
10,000 passed through Omaha on their way to the
Nonhwest goldfields. The majority apparently went to
Idaho. See: Weekly Oregonian, August 16, 1862; Au gust 28, 1862; Morning Oregonian, April 8, 1863.
29. " Expedition of Captain Fisk to the Rocky Mountains,"
38th Cong " lsI. Ses" Ex. Doc. no. 45, serial 1189,
(Washington : Government Printing Office, 1864), p. 30.
30. J. S. Campbell, Six Months in the New Gold Diggings
(New York, 1864), pp. 4-5. " Repon of the Secretary of
the Treasury," 38th Congo lsI. Sess., Senate Ex. Doc.
no. 55, serial 1176 (Washington : GPO, 1863), pp. 211212.
31. Montana Post, August 27, 1864; see also : Bancroft, History of Washington , Idaho, and Montana. . ., p. 729.
32. Owyhee Avalanche, September 16, 1865.
33. Daily Mountaineer, December 7, 1865.
34. Idaho World, May 26, 1866.
35. Bancroft, History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana
.. ., p. 728.
36. The Oregon Argus, November 9, 1861 ; Puget Sound
Herald, September 19, 1861 stated that by the recent
census the population of Washington totaled 11.578 but
after its enumeration, the influx of miners swelled the
population to at least 18,000; or an increase of some
7,000 which fell below the number as ascenained by
persons in the mines. James W. Watt, "Experiences of
a Packer in Washington Territory Mining Camps during
the Sixties," William S. Lewis (ed.), Washington Historical Ouanerly, XIX (June, 1928), p. 290.
37. A Compendium of the Ninth Census (June 1, 1870), pp.
562, 576.
38. The territorial census of Idaho in 1863 gave a total of
34,125. Of this 11 ,252 resided in what later (1864) became Montana (Decius S. Payne (camp.), " First Census
Repon of the Marshall of Idaho Territory," (unpublished manuscript, Montana Historical Society, Helena,
1863; see also Oregon Statesman, October 12, 1863;
Morning Oregonian, October 3, 1863). Estimates of the
population of Idaho from 1863 to 1867 ranged from
20,000 to 30,000 and for Montana between 1863 and
1868 were from 12,000 to 65,000. ("Repon of the Secretary of the Treasury . . .," {Washington, 1863], p. 217;
R. W. Raymond, " Mineral Resources of the States and
Territories West of the Rocky Mountains," 40th Cong .,
2d. Sess" House Ex. Doc. no. 202, serial 1342, (Wash ington : GPO, 1868), pp. 487, 512; Morning Oregonian,
June 5, 1865; Walla Walla Statesman, September 8,
1867 ; Daily Mountaineer, March 23, 1866; Helena Herald, November 7, 1867 and May 14, 1868; R. W. Raymond, "Mineral Resources of the States and Territories
West of the Rocky Mountains," 40th Cong o 3d. Sess.,
Ex. House Doc. no 45, serial 1374, (Washington: GPO,
1869], p. 318). Dan E. Clark, " The Movement to the Far
West During the Decade of the Sixties," Wash ington
Historical Quanerly, XVII (April, 1926). pp. 106, 108 estimated that more than 300,000 people moved West
during the 1860s and gave mining as the main attraction.
39. Black Hills Weekly Times, May 6, 1877.
25
•
40. Black Hills Journal, August 24, 1878; Black Hills Central,
March 30, 1879.
52. Frank A. Root and William E. Connelley, The Overland
Stage to California (Topeka, 1901). p. 14.
41 . Watson Parker ("The Black Hills Gold Rush : 1874-1879,"
lunpublished Ph .D. dissertation, University of Okla·
homa, 19651, p. 291) estimated that from 1874-1880
more than 30,000 people passed through the Hills. The
Mining and Scientific Press, June 17, 1905, p. 391 gave
40,000 for the Black Hills rush. Hyman Palais ("Some
Aspects of the Black Hills Gold Rush Compared with
the California Gold Rush," Pacific Historical Review, XV
119461, p. 59) characterized the Black Hills rush as a trek
53. Dakota Herald, June 2, 1877.
unrivaled since the rush to California ; a statement not
supponed by available statistics. Of the major post·Californ ia rushes the Black Hills undoubtedly attracted the
fewest number.
42. Press and Dakotian, January 13, 1876; Omaha Daily Bee,
July 28, 1876; Edwin A. Curley, Glittering Gold: The True
Story of the Black Hills (New York: 1876), p. 80; Dakota
Herald, August 12, 1876.
43. Press and Dakotian, February 1, 1877; Dakota Herald,
March 10, 1877; also : Edwin A. Curley, Guide to the
Black Hills, Comprising the Travels of the Author and
His Special Anist (Chicago: 1877), p. 130; Harold C.
Briggs, "The Black Hills Gold Rush," Nonh Dakota Historical Ouanerly, V (January, 1931), p. 97. The Dakota
Herald, June 23, 1877 reponed 30,000 to 40,000 people
in the Hills. Engineering and Mining Journal, February
17, 1877, p. 108; June 30, 1877. p. 451 .
44. Briggs, op. cit., p. 97 ; Compendium of the Tenth Census (June 1, 1880). Pan I (Washington : GPO, 1883). pp.
339-40.
45. An interesting anicle is Watson Parker, " The Causes of
American Gold Rushes," Nonh Dakota History, XXXVI
(Fall, 1969), pp. 337-45. Other works that offer more
detail on some of Parker's themes include : Ralph P.
Bieber, " California Gold Mania," Mississippi Valley Historical Review, XXV (June, 1948), pp. 3-28; Richard H.
Peterson, "The Frontier Thesis and Social Mobility on
the Mining Frontier," Pacific Historical Review, XLIV
(February, 1975), pp. 52-67 ; Duane A. Smith, " Colorado's Urban-Mining Safety Valve," Colorado Magazine, XLVIII (April, 1971), pp. 299- 318, and James F.
Willard, " Spreading the News of the Early Discoveries
of Gold in Colorado," Colorado Magazine, IV (May, 1929),
pp.98-104.
54. The agricultural frontier characteristically did not display the overwhelming male dominance found on the
mining frontier. In two largely agricultural states, Oregon and Utah, females accounted for 30 and 40 percent
of the total population, respectively in 1850 (The Seventh Census of the United States ; 1850, p. XLII).
55. Alta California, July 2, lB49; August 2, lB49; August 31 ,
1849; October I , lB49; November 29, lB49; January 31 ,
1850; April 17, 1850; " Statistics-California," American
Ouanerly (December, lB49)' p. 386; Frank Soule, John
H. Gehon, James Nisbit, The Annals of San Francisco
(San Francisco: D. Appleton and Company, 1854), p. 242;
San Francisco Bulletin, April 11, 1896; Mattes, op. cit. ,
p. 62 gave an average of two percent females for the
overland rush of lB49-1850. George R. Steward (The
California TraillNew York: McGraw-Hili, 19621. p. 296)
states that 99 percent to 98 percent of th e 4ger overland rush were males. Archer B. Hulben (Fony-niners:
the Chronicle of the California TraillBoston : Little, Brown
& Company, 19311, p. 22 felt females comprised six
percent of th e overland rush of 1849. Johnny Faragher
and Christine Stansell ("Women and Their Families on
the Overland Trail to California and Oregon, lB42-1867,"
Feminist Studies, II 119751, p. 162) using period figures
offered these percentages of women involved in the
overland rush : 6 percent (1B49). less than 3 percent
11850), and 13 percent (1852) . Georgia Willis Read
("Women and Children on the Oregon-California Trail
in th e Goldrush Years," Missouri Historical Review,
XXXIX 10ctober, 19441, p. 6) estimated that 10 percent
of the overland rush of lB49 wa s female. The contemporary sources, however, just do not justify a figure that
high.
56. Hittell, "Reminiscences of the Plains and Mines in '49
and '50. .." p. 202.
57. Farewell, op. cit., p. 593; Alta California, September 15,
1850; J. M. Guinn, History of the State of California
(Chicago : Chapman Publishing, 1904), p. 161 .
58. A Compendium of the Seventh Census (Washington,
1854). p. 48: The Seventh Census of the United States:
1850, pp. 970-71.
46. Paul, California Gold . . .. pp. 349- 352; Rodman Paul,
"An Interpretation of California's Gold Era," Westerners
Brand Book, Los Angeles, (1948), p. 28.
59. Daily Alta California, September 14, 1852 gave the immigration of 1852 by way of Fon Kearny to July 13 as
25,855 men, 7,021 women and 8,270 children.
47. D. E. Livingston-Little, An Economic History of Nonh
Idaho, 1800-1900 (Los Angeles: Morrison Printing &
Publishing , 1965), p. 39.
60. "Population and Industry of California by the State Census for th e Year 1852," in The Seventh Census of the
United States: 1850, p. 982.
48. Jacques A. Moerenhout, The Inside Story of the Gold
Rush, trans. and ed. by Abraham P. Nasatier (San Francisco : California Historical Society, 1935). p. 68. P. T.
Tyson, et aI., " Information in Relation to the Geology
and Topography of California," 31st Cong., 1st. Sess.,
House Ex. Doc. no. 47, serial 558 (Washington : GPO,
1850), p. 33.
61. Daily Alta California, December 23, 1853.
49. J. Ross Browne, " A Repon Upon the Mineral Resources
of the States and Territories West of the Rocky Mountains," 39th Cong .. 2d. Sess., House Ex. Doc. no. 29,
serial 1289 (Washington : GPO, 1867), p. 18.
50. Bancroft, History of Washington, Idaho and Montana
..., p. 427.
51 . Campbell, op. cit., pp. 4-5; David Lavender, The Rockies (New York: Harper & Row, 1968), p. 174.
26
62. Issac Cox, The Annals of Trinity County (Sa n Francisco :
Commercial Book and Job Steam Printing, 1858; reprinted and annotated Oakland: Harold C. Holmes, 1940),
pp. 35, 93.
63. Compendium of the Tenth Census (June I, 1880), pan
1 (Washington : GPO, 1882), pp. 2, 563- 564.
64. " Frazer River emigration . . .," p. 132.
65. New York Daily Tribune, July 9, 1859; July 11, 1859.
66. New York Daily Tribune, August 17, 1859.
67 . Population of the United States in lB60, p. 548.
68. " Report of th e Secretary of the Interior . . . ," (Washington: 1862), p. 167. A census taken in 1863 indicated
females represented almost four percent of th e population . Undoubtedly, the census taker missed many
miners, but few women.
69. " Voters at the First Territorial Election of Montana Territory, October, 1864," unpublished manuscript, Montana Historical Society, Helena, no pagination.
70. " Report of James W. Taylor on the Mineral Resources
of th e United States East of the Rocky Mountains," 40th
Congo 2d. Sess" House Ex. Doc. no. 273, serial 1343
(Washington: GPO 1868), p. 40.
71. A Compendium of the Ninth Census (June I, 1870), pp.
563, 576.
72. Curley, Glillering Gold . .. , p. 80.
73. Compendium of the Tenth Census (June I, 1880). pp.
565-66.
74. Paul, Mining Frontiers .
., p. 26.
75. Quoted in Warren F. Webb and Stuart A. Brody, "The
California Gold Rush and the Mentally III," The Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly, L (1968),
p. 46.
76. The Seventh Census of the United States: 7850, p. XLII.
77 . Population of the United States in 7860, pp. 546- 57.
78. A Compendium of the Ninth Census (June I , 1870) pp.
562-576.
79. Briggs, op. cil., p. 94.
SO. Compendium of the Tenth Census (June I , 1880), p. 567.
81. The Seventh Census of the United States, 7850, p. XXXVI.
82. J. M. Guinn, " The Sonoran Migration," Historical Society of Southern California Annual Publication, VIII
(1911), p. 33. Common usage grouped all Mexica ns and
often South Americans under the term Sonorans.
83. Robert F. Heizer and Alan F. Almquist, The Other Californians (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971),
p. 143; Dale l. Morgan and James R. Scobie (Three
Years in California, William Perkin 's Journal of Life at
Sonora, 7849-7852 (Berkeley: University of Californ ia
Press, 1964(, pp. 20-21) states that Sonorans did not
reach the mines in any number before February 1849.
84. J. D. Borthwick, Three Years in California, (Edinburgh :
William BlacJdord & Sons, 1857), pp. 249-250, and King,
op. cil., p. 26.
85. Alta California, July 2, 1849.
86. M. Colette Standart, " The Sonora Migration to California 1848-1856; A Study in Prejudice," Historical Society of Southern California Quanerly, LVIII (Fall, 1976),
pp. 337, 340-343.
87. Alta California, April 21, 1851.
88. Gu inn, op. cil., p. 33.
91. Abraham P. Nasatier, " Chileans in California During the
Gold Rush Period and the Establishment of the Chilean
Consulate," California Historical Quarterly, LIII (Septem ber, 1974), pp. 52-53; Wright, op. cil., p. 326; Alta Californian, June 30, 1849; Richa rd Malcolm MacKin non,
" The Historical Geography of Settlement in the Foothills of Tuolumne County, California" (unpublished M.A.
Thesis, Un iversity of California, Berkeley, 1967). p. 52.
92 . The Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, p.
XXXVI.
93. William Robert Kenny, "History of the Sonora Min ing
Region of California 1848- 1860" (unpublished Ph.D.
Dissertation, Un iversity of California, Berkeley, 1955), p.
217. However, Edwin A. Beilharz and Carols V. Lopez
(We Were 4gersl Chilean Accounts of the California Gold
Rush (Pasadena : Ward Ritchie Press, 19761, p. XIII) estimated the peak Chilean population in California at
7,000.
94. San Francisco Picayune, August 14, 1850 quoted in Na satir, op. cit., p. 68.
95 . The Seventh Census of the United States : 7850, p .
XXXVI.
96. Hilda Jean Rathgeber, "Early French Trade and Settlement in California" (unpublished M.A. thesis, Un iversity of California, Berkeley, 1940), p. 83.
97. Ralph J. Roske, "The World Impact of the California Gold
Rush : 1849-1857," Arizona and the West, (Autumn,
1963), p. 220. For estimate of the French population in
California see: Rathgeber, op. cit., p. 83 ; Marysville
Herald, December 3, 1850; The Seventh Census of the
United States: 1850, p. XXXVI ; Abraham P. Nasatir,
" Guillaume Patrice Dillon," California Historical Society
Quarterly, XXXV (December, 1956), p. 316; Rufus Kay
Wyllys, " The French of California and Sonora," Pacific
Historical Review I (1 932), p. 340 ; Joseph Schafer (ed.),
California Lellers of Lucius Fairchild (Madison : State
Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1931), p. 99; Rodman
W. PaUl, " Cradle of th e West : The Evolution of Mining
and Mining Society in California, 1848-1873 . .," (unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, 1942),
p.57.
98. Alta California, November 30, 1853; Daily Alta California, December 23, 1853; W. P. Morrell, The Gold Rushes
(Chester Springs, Penn: Dufour Editions, 1968), p. 187;
Roske, op. cit., p. 221 .
99. Wyllys, op. cit., p. 340; Gilbert Chinard, 'When the French
Came to California: An Introductory Essay," California
Historical Society Quarterly, XXII (December, 1943), p.
313.
100. Bancroft, History of California Volume VI 1848-1859 .
p. 71.
101 . Paul, "Cradle of the West : The Evolution of Mining and
Mining Society in California, 1848-1873 . .. ," p. 48. Alta
California, July 2, 1849. Estimate as of 1 Jan. 1849: 9,000
Californians, 5,000 Americans, 1,000 foreigners. " Memorial of the Senators and Representatives Elect From
California .. .," (Washington, 1850). p. 16 for the same
date recorded 13,000 Californians, 8,000 Americans, 5,000
foreigners .
89. Leonard Pitt, The Decline of the Californios (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1969), p. 52.
102. Alta California, April 26, 1849.
SO. Jay Monaghan, Chile, Peru, and the California Gold Rush
of 7849 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973),
p. 250.
103. Ibid., October I , 1849; "Statistics-California," The
American Quarterly Register, (May-December, 1849),
p. 386; Alta California, November 28, 1849.
27
104. The Seventh Census: 1850, p. XXXVI. " Memorial of the
Senators and Representatives Elect from California . . .,"
(Washington : 1850), p. 16 states that Americans accounted for over 70 percent of the population as of
January 1, 1850.
105. A number of works deal with the role of specific states
in the Cal iforn ia goldrush, w ith the quality varying
greatly. Some which are well done are Fred W. Lorch,
"Iowa and the California Gold Rush of 1849" Iowa
Journal of Hisrory and Polirics, XXX (July, 1932), pp.
307- 376 and Francile B. Oakley, " Arkansas' Golden Army
of '49," The Arkansas Hisrorical Quarterly, VI (Spring ,
1947); p. 1-85.
106. The Seventh Census of rhe Unired States: 1850, p.
XXXVI. Of the Western States, Oregon proved an exception.
107. Morrell, op. cil., p. 121.
108. " Vancouver's Island and British Columbia," pp. 2-3, 18.
109. Bancroft, Hisrory of Bri rish Columbia, 1782- 1887 . . . ,p.
468.
110. "Foreign Relations, 1862," Annual Report of Foreign
Commerce for rhe Year Ending Seprember 30, 1862,
(Washington, GPO, 1863), p. 149.
111. Morrell, op. cil., p. 129; Trimble, op. cil., p. 147.
112. Popularion of rhe Un ired Srares in 1860, p. 549.
113. New York Daily Tribune, August 17, 1859; New York
Herald, May 26, 1859. Other writers presented only
slightly different descriptions. (Oregon Sraresman, October 4, 1859; The Herald of Freedom, May 21 , 1859).
114. Popularion of rhe Unired Srates in 1860, p. 549.
115. George W. Van Vleck, The Panic of 1857, An Analyrical
Srudy (New York, 1943), p. 83.
116. Oregon Sraresman, June 23, 1862; Morning Oregonian,
April 26, 1862, September 2, 1862; January 29, 1863;
July 28, 1863; Washingron Sraresman, May 8, 1862; Oregon Argus, June 15, 1863; Idaho World, March 18, 1865;
Campbell, op. cir., p. 22; Bancroft, Hisrory of Washing ton, Idaho, and Montana . . ., p. 242; "Commercial Relations 1865," Annual Report on Foreign Commerce for
rhe Year Ended Seprember 30, 1865 (Washington, GPO,
1866), p. 113; " Commercial Relations lB64," Annual
Report on Foreign Commerce for rhe Year Ended September 30, 1864 (Washington: GPO, 1865), pp. 157-58.
117. Rocky Mountain News, September 4, 1862.
118. Daily Mountaineer, March 21 , 1866.
119. Washingron Sraresman, April 18, 1863; Owyhee Avalanche, September 16, 1865. On Colorado, see also Rocky
Mountain News, April 23, 1863; Fisk, op. cir., p. 31; Oren
Sassman, " Metal Mining in Historic Beaverhead" (unpublished MA Thesis, Montana State University, 1941).
p. 61 .
120. Press and Dakotian, May 24, 1877.
124. Rossiter W. Raymond, " Statistics of Mines and Mining
in the States and Territories West of the Rocky Mountains," 41st Congo 2d. Sess .. House Ex. Doc. no. 207,
serial 1424 (Washington : GPO, 18701. p. 397.
125. Rio Abajo Weekly Press, September 29, 1863; " Report
of the Secretary of the Interior," 38th Cong., 1st. Sess.,
House Ex. Doc. no. I, serial 1182 IWashington : GPO,
1863), p. 27.
126. The only works devoted specifically to "Old Californians" is Rodman W. Paul "Old Californians in British Gold
Fields," Huntington Library Quarterly, XVII (February,
1963), pp. 161-172, and Frances S. Williams, " The Influences of California Upon the Pike's Peak Mining Re gion, 1858- 1861" (unpublished M.A. Thesis, University
of California, Berkeley, 1941).
127. John S. Hinell, "The Mining Excitements of California: '
Overland Monthly, II (May 1869) p. 415 and Mining in
the Pacific States of North America. . ., p. 30, Harper's
Weekly, July 24, 1858, pp. 466, 471.
128. " Vancouver's Island and British Columbia . . .. " p. 3.
129. Robert H. Bahmer, " The Colorado Gold Rush and California," Colorado Magazine, VIII (19301. p. 227.
130. Horace Greeley, An Overland Journey from New York
10 San Francisco in the Summer of 1859 INew York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1964), p. 132.
131. Charles Howard Shinn , Mining Camps : A Study in
American Frontier Government (New York : Harper &
Rowe, 1889, reprinted 1965), p. 289.
132. Mining and Scientific Press, May 8, 1862.
133. Washington Statesman, January 25, 1862 ; Oregon
Statesman, December 23, 1861 ; Morning Oregonian,
December 31 , 1861.
134. Wm . H. Brewer, Up and Down California in 1860-1864,
edited by Frances P. Farquhar (Berkeley : University of
California Press, 1966), p. 497.
135. San Francisco Daily Bulletin, June 13, 1862.
136. Idaho World, February 25, 1865.
137. Montana Radiator, April 7, 1866.
138. Browne and Taylor, op. cil., (1867), p. 36.
139. Trimble, op. cil., p. 141 .
140. Raymond, " Statistics of Mines and Mining , ..
(Washington: 1870), p. 397 ; Bancroft, History of Ari·
zona and New Mexico 1530-1880, p. 580; San Fran·
cisco Bulletin, May 18, 1863; July 2, 9, 31 , 1863.
141. Bismarck Weekly Tribune, February 23, 1876; Mining and
Scientific Press, June 17, 1905, p. 391 ; Briggs, op. cil.,
p. 93; PaUl, Mining Frontiers of the Far West 1848-1880,
p. 178.
142. See : Randall E. Rohe, " After the Gold Rush : Chinese
Mining in the Far West, 1850-1890," Montana, The
Magazine of Western History, Vol . 32, (Autumn, 1982),
pp. 2-19.
121 . Bismarck Weekly Tribune, February 23, 1876.
122. Watson Parker, Gold in the Black Hills (Norman : University of Oklahoma, 1966), p. 95.
123. Press and Dakotian, May 24, 1877.
28
143. R. Guy McClellan, The Golden State: A History of the
Region West of the Rocky Mountains. (San Francisco :
Flint & Co .. lB741. p. 421 ; Thomas W. Chinn, led.), A
History of the Chinese in California, (San Francisco:
Chinese Historical Society of America, 1969), p. 22.
144. Robert V. Hine, The American West (Boston: Little, Brown
& Co., 1973), p. 215.
145. 9th Census, Volume I, 1870, pp. 722-723, 730, 744, 746,
749, 753, 759, 762, 765.
146. Norman Harris, " Corn ish and Welsh Mini ng Settlements in California" (unpublished M.A. thesis, University of California, Berkeley, 1956); A.K. Hamilton Jenkin,
The Cornish Miner (London: George All en & Unwin Ltd.,
1927) deals largely with Cornwall ; Lynn I. Perrigo, "The
Cornish Miners of Early Gilpin County," Colorado Magazine, XIV (1937), pp. 92-101 ; John Rowe, The HardRock Men, Cornish Immigrants and the North American
Mining Frontier (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1974); A.
L. Rowse, The Cousin Jacks: The Cornish in America
(New York : Scribner's Sons, 1969); Arthur Cecil Todd,
The Cornish Miner in America (Truro: C. Bradford Ltd.,
1968); Ronald Conklin Brown, " Hard-Rock Miners of the
Great Basin and Rocky Mountain West, 1860- 1920,"
(unpublished Ph .D. Dissertation, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, 1975). Of these studies, that of Rowe
provides an excellent overview of Cornish mining ae·
tivities in America, and those of Brown and Perrigo are
useful studies on specific localities. In addition to the
above works, a number of articles discuss Cornish mining prior to the California gold rush in the lead mines
of Wisconsin, th e copper and iron mines of Michigan,
etc.
147. Rowe, op. cit., pp. 118- 119.
148. Richard E. Lingenfelter, The Hardrock Miners, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974), pp. 4-6.
149. Paul, Mining Frontiers . . ., p. 69.
150. Paul, California Gold . .. , pp. 47-48, op. cit., p. 32.
151 . Rowe, op. cit., p. 113.
152. Ibid., p. 184.
153. T. H. Watkins, Gold and Silver in the West, (Palo Alto :
American West Publishing, 1971 ), p. 200.
154. Lingenfelter, op. cit., p. 7.
29