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61-519: The California Cantonese call their home state " Gold Mountain " ( Cantonese : Gāmsāan , 金山), and differentiate themselves as Gāmsāan jān (金山人) "Gold Mountain people", from foreign Chinese immigrants who they refer to as "Gold Mountain guests" ( Cantonese : Gāmsāan hāak , 金山客). California was annexed by the United States from Mexico after the Mexican–American War in 1848. At the same time

122-456: A gold-bearing vein may be oxidized, so that the gold occurs as native gold, and the ore needs only to be crushed and washed (free milling ore). The first miners may at first build a simple arrastra to crush their ore; later, they may build stamp mills to crush ore at greater speed. As the miners venture downwards, they may find that the deeper part of vein contains gold locked in sulfide or telluride minerals , which will require smelting . If

183-555: A large number of Cantonese workers were recruited from the silver mines, as well as later contract workers from China. The idea for the use of Cantonese labor came from the manager of the Central Pacific Railroad, Charles Crocker , who at first had trouble persuading his business partners of the fact that the slender Cantonese workers were suitable for strong physical work. The well organized Cantonese teams still turned out to be highly industrious and exceedingly efficient; at

244-645: A patron of military valor and fidelity; today, especially policemen and businessmen still continue to venerate Kuan Yu. The Cantonese built the first temple dedicated to him in California in 1882, called Kwan Tai Miu . The word Kung Fu comes from the Cantonese who came to California during the Gold Rush, and they popularized it in American society. In Cantonese, Kung Fu means "accomplishment through great effort", and it became

305-809: A simple pan or equipment that may be built on the spot, and only simple organisation. The low investment, the high value per unit weight of gold, and the ability of gold dust and gold nuggets to serve as a medium of exchange, allow placer gold rushes to occur even in remote locations. After the sluice-box stage, placer mining may become increasingly large scale, requiring larger organisations and higher capital expenditures. Small claims owned and mined by individuals may need to be merged into larger tracts. Difficult-to-reach placer deposits may be mined by tunnels. Water may be diverted by dams and canals to placer mine active river beds or to deliver water needed to wash dry placers. The more advanced techniques of ground sluicing , hydraulic mining and dredging may be used. Typically

366-578: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold —sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals —that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia , Greece , New Zealand , Brazil , Chile , South Africa , the United States , and Canada while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere. In

427-660: Is called the Dance of the Dragon, the Lion of Buddha usually serves in place of the dragon, unless events worthy of it happened in the previous year. The Lion of Buddha is brought down Grant Avenue on the shoulders of between 10-50 people. When the Dragon is brought, who since 1850 has been adopted as the protector of San Francisco by the community, homes are decorated with green vegetables and red packages so that he can turn his attention to them, and so that he can make his dance to give prosperity for

488-617: Is consumed. This day is dedicated to the worship of Ta'ai Shen , the patron of wealth. On the third day, food restrictions are lifted, and merrymaking and feasting commence again. Pastries, sweet cakes, and candies are set aside for the Kitchen God . On the seventh day, known as the Day of Human beginnings , the Lunar New Year celebrations end with the Dance of the Dragon . Although the ending celebration

549-500: Is debated. Some say it was Macau and Woosung, while others cite Canton Restaurant. Both unphotographed establishments were founded in 1849 in San Francisco. Either way, these and other such restaurants were central features in the daily lives of immigrants. They provided a connection to home, particularly for the many bachelors who did not have the resources or knowledge to cook for themselves. When new Chinese immigrants began coming to

610-571: The California Gold Rush brought hundreds of thousands of settlers from the Eastern U.S. in search of gold, allowing California to become a state in 1850. The United States saw its first major wave of Chinese immigrants as a result of the gold rush. Most of these immigrants entered the country through the port of San Francisco , and by 1860 Cantonese immigrants had settled in all but 5 of California's counties. In total, about 70,000 gold miners from

671-595: The California Gold Rush . Chinese people historically referred to California and British Columbia as Gold Mountain, as evidenced by maps and returned Overseas Chinese . However, as a gold rush subsequently occurred in Australia, Bendigo in the then-colony of Victoria was referred to as "New Gold Mountain" ( Cantonese : Sān Gāmsāan , 新金山), and California became known as Old Gold Mountain ( Cantonese : Gāu Gāmsāan , 舊金山); although "Old Gold Mountain" now specifically refers to San Francisco. As considerable time has passed since

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732-663: The Cariboo district and other parts of British Columbia, in Nevada , in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado , Idaho , Montana , eastern Oregon , and western New Mexico Territory and along the lower Colorado River . There was a gold rush in Nova Scotia (1861–1876) which produced nearly 210,000 ounces of gold. Resurrection Creek , near Hope, Alaska was the site of Alaska's first gold rush in

793-786: The Chinatown in Victoria , on the Colony of Vancouver Island , to obtain supplies. Victoria was the dominant political and economic centre before the economic ascendancy of Vancouver (which has its own Chinatown ), and remains the official seat of political power in British Columbia today. Following the California Gold Rush , Australian gold rushes began in 1851, making Australia the 'New Gold Mountain', also refers to Melbourne ; Sydney became 'Sydney Gold Mountain' ( Cantonese : Syūtlèi Gāmsāan , 雪梨 金山). This Asian American–related article

854-459: The Lunar New Year and Autumn Moon festivals, which have taken place since 1850. In San Francisco's Lunar New Year, the first day, called Yuen Jih , or "Three Beginnings" celebrates the start of the year, the month, and the season. Colorful lanterns are lit everywhere, and firecrackers are lit throughout the night. Incense is burned on this day to invite good spirits. This day is also known as

915-509: The Pacific coast. Construction began in 1863 at the terminal points of Omaha, Nebraska and Sacramento, California , and the two sections were merged and ceremonially completed on May 10, 1869, at the famous " golden spike " event at Promontory Summit, Utah . It created a nationwide mechanized transportation network that revolutionized the population and economy of the American West . In 1865

976-604: The Pearl River delta and Guangdong province came to California during the Gold Rush period. The California gold rush (1848–1855) was a period of California history in which the most gold was discovered. The goldfields in California were in the public domain, so miners were operating on federal land. However, Congress passed no legislation regulating property rights for miners until 1866. Miners could hold their own assemblies and pass rules surrounding claims, this technicality paved

1037-622: The US Federal Government enacted the Chinese Exclusion Act , prohibiting all further immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law made exceptions for merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplomats. To circumvent the Federal Exclusion Act for Chinese menial labor, Hong Kong Cantonese companies known as "Gold Mountain firms" ( Cantonese : Gāmsāan jōng , 金山莊) appeared. Several of them came into existance in

1098-465: The 1850s California Gold Rush, foreign Cantonese speakers from Modern China don't refer to California as Gold Mountain anymore, but rather Gāazāu (加州); only the California Cantonese maintain the historic Gold Mountain name for California. The name "Gold Mountain" was initially applied to California. Ships full of immigrants docked in San Francisco to disembark passengers, initially bound for

1159-469: The 1850s which operated similarly to larger-scale companies in that they used shares to spread risk among workers, but unlike merchant-investor corporations, these cooperatives used equal shares for profits and expenses. Cooperatives and companies took the forefront of miners as by the 1880s claims were largely taken by groups of around a dozen miners using industrial equipment rather than rockers. Chinese miners also worked for wages from American employers. In

1220-556: The 1880s, and their goal was to expedite their client's entry into the United States by any practical means: e.g. hiding stow aways on ships, arranging smugglers to bring people through the Canada or Mexico borders. They also made family immigration schemes where a family member who gave birth in China would claim immigrating family members or others as naturally born children in America. This practice

1281-441: The 19th century, the wealth that resulted was distributed widely because of reduced migration costs and low barriers to entry. While gold mining itself proved unprofitable for most diggers and mine owners, some people made large fortunes, and merchants and transportation facilities made large profits. The resulting increase in the world's gold supply stimulated global trade and investment. Historians have written extensively about

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1342-492: The California granite. Chinese miners were more commonly hired by water companies in order to transport water to hydraulic presses. After the gold rush wound down in the 1860s, the majority of the work force found jobs in the railroad industry. Cantonese labor was integral to the construction of the first transcontinental railroad , which linked the railway network of the Eastern United States with California on

1403-452: The Chinese gods with Catholic Saints. The Taoists also held Confucian traditions and ideas, and maintaintained them with their traditions. There were also those who only followed Confucian traditions, with Christians of the region sometimes comparing Jesus with their Confucius . The most venerated Chinese figure among the Cantonese who came to California was Kuan Yu , who was a considered

1464-526: The Hong Kong China Wing Dam Company emerged in the 1850s. They are described to have hired anywhere from 12 to 20 workers and provided industrial equipment taking larger-scale claims as well. Most Chinese companies unlike American mining companies operated on the basis of a share in order to spread risk between miners rather than a wage system which was orthodox at the time. Smaller-scale workers’ cooperatives among Chinese miners also emerged in

1525-505: The UAE with the exports affirmed by the African states. According to Africa's industrial mining firms, they have not exported any amount of gold to the UAE – confirming that the imports come from other, illegal sources. As per customs data, the UAE imported gold worth $ 15.1 billion from Africa in 2016, with a total weight of 446 tons, in variable degrees of purity. Much of the exports were not recorded in

1586-639: The USA after 1965, they brought radically different cooking styles than the Cantonese cooking that had been brought earlier. The zenith of older Cantonese style cuisine was between 1896 and 1965, a time when Chop Suey restaurants were common place. The California Cantonese have practiced many different religions, but at the beginning of their ancestor's immigration to California, most were Buddhist . Over time however, more settlers converted to Christianity, some joining Catholicism , and others joining Protestant sects. There were also Taoists , who in syncretism, often compared

1647-672: The United States was in Cabarrus County, North Carolina (east of Charlotte), in 1799 at today's Reed's Gold Mine . Thirty years later, in 1829, the Georgia Gold Rush in the southern Appalachians occurred. It was followed by the California Gold Rush of 1848–55 in the Sierra Nevada , which captured the popular imagination. The California Gold Rush led to an influx of gold miners and newfound gold wealth, which led to California's rapid industrialization, as businesses sprung up to serve

1708-546: The Wild , which had much success during the period. Gold rushes occurred as early as the times of ancient Greece , whose gold mining was described by Diodarus Sicules and Pliny the Elder . Within each mining rush there is typically a transition through progressively higher capital expenditures, larger organizations, and more specialized knowledge. A rush typically begins with the discovery of placer gold made by an individual. At first

1769-415: The birthday of Confucius , where no meat is served or consumed, and instead, at 1:00 in the morning, a meatless stew called gai gum choy is served. Oranges are stacked into pyramids for the coming day, and children receive packages of red paper with silver coins, and these are given to all unmarried children regardless of age. On the second day of San Francisco's Lunar New Year, like the first day, no meat

1830-465: The birthplace of American Chinese cuisine , inventing new foods like Chop Suey , adopting fortune cookies , and popularizing Dim Sum to American tastes, as its Dim Sum tea houses are a major tourist attraction. Cantonese restaurants in the United States began during the California Gold Rush (1848–1855), which brought many immigrants across from the Canton region. The first Chinese restaurant in America

1891-512: The census. In the years proceeding 1852, Chinese miner populations developed rapidly, moving to 20,000 miners in 1852. Unlike the first Chinese prospectors, the immigrants in 1852 came on their own account using methods like credit tickets to fund their trip. While pull factors to America were present and prevalent a majority of Chinese miners hailed from Southern China, mainly in the Guangdong Province. Another influential push factor from China

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1952-707: The cleanliness and reliability of this group of laborers. After 1869, the Southern Pacific Railroad and Northwestern Pacific Railroad led the expansion of the railway network further into the American West, and many of the Cantonese who had built the transcontinental railroad remained active in building the railways. After several projects were completed, many of the Chinese workers relocated and looked for employment elsewhere, such as in farming, manufacturing firms, garment industries, and paper mills . Early on, American and Cantonese miners were rivals, as mining

2013-486: The culture of the Australian and North American frontiers . At a time when the world's money supply was based on gold , the newly-mined gold provided economic stimulus far beyond the goldfields, feeding into local and wider economic booms . The Gold Rush was a topic that inspired many TV shows and books considering it was a very important topic at the time. During the time, many books were published including The Call of

2074-537: The default term in America for Martial Arts and other related disciplines. The California Cantonese themselves call Martial Arts wushu , and they built halls called tongs to promote fitness among community members; the earliest Kung Fu masters to teach in California were present as early as 1864. The California Cantonese have maintained ancient traditions from Canton, some that have long since been abandoned in Modern China. Festivals are part of these traditions, such as

2135-432: The early 1850s American and Chinese miners worked side-by-side as labor became more sophisticated and specialized wages became more egalitarian. By the 1850s Chinese miners were earning between $ 39 and $ 50 per month which was around the average monthly wage for American miners. Chinese laborers also had a significant presence in menial labor and quartz mining mills, feeding the machines that crushed rocks and revealed gold from

2196-422: The focus may change progressively from gold to silver to base metals. In this way, Leadville, Colorado started as a placer gold discovery, achieved fame as a silver-mining district, then relied on lead and zinc in its later days. Butte, Montana began mining placer gold, then became a silver-mining district, then became for a time the world's largest copper producer. Various gold rushes occurred in Australia over

2257-804: The gold fields, but later to remain in the growing Chinese settlement in San Francisco . In the latter part of the 19th century, however, British Columbia also came to be referred to as "Gold Mountain" following the discovery of gold in the Fraser Canyon in the 1857 and the subsequent group of Chinese from San Francisco arriving by boat in June 1858, and further Chinese settlers coming from California and directly from China later on to British Columbia (which they also referred to as "The Colonies of T'ang" i.e. China). The term thus broadened to mean "Western North America ". The gold seekers in British Columbia first went to

2318-459: The gold may be washed from the sand and gravel by individual miners with little training, using a gold pan or similar simple instrument. Once it is clear that the volume of gold-bearing sediment is larger than a few cubic metres, the placer miners will build rockers or sluice boxes, with which a small group can wash gold from the sediment many times faster than using gold pans. Winning the gold in this manner requires almost no capital investment, only

2379-437: The heyday of a placer gold rush would last only a few years. The free gold supply in stream beds would become depleted somewhat quickly, and the initial phase would be followed by prospecting for veins of lode gold that were the original source of the placer gold. Hard rock mining, like placer mining, may evolve from low capital investment and simple technology to progressively higher capital and technology. The surface outcrop of

2440-536: The increased population and financial and political institutions to handle the increased wealth. One of these political institutions was statehood; the need for new laws in a sparsely-governed land led to the state's rapid entry into the Union in 1850. The gold rush in 1849 also stimulated worldwide interest in prospecting for gold, leading to further rushes in Australia, South Africa, Wales and Scotland. Successive gold rushes occurred in western North America: Fraser Canyon ,

2501-554: The mass migration, trade, colonization, and environmental history associated with gold rushes. Gold rushes were typically marked by a general buoyant feeling of a "free-for-all" in income mobility , in which any single individual might become abundantly wealthy almost instantly, as expressed in the California Dream . Gold rushes helped spur waves of immigration that often led to the permanent settlement of new regions. Activities propelled by gold rushes define significant aspects of

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2562-615: The mid–1890s. Other notable Alaska Gold Rushes were Nome , Fairbanks , and the Fortymile River . One of the last "great gold rushes" was the Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon Territory (1896–99). This gold rush is featured in the novels of Jack London , and Charlie Chaplin 's film The Gold Rush . Robert William Service depicted in his poetries the Gold Rush, especially in the book The Trail of '98 . The main goldfield

2623-610: The new arrivals who came looking for gold. While some found their fortune, those who did not often remained in the colonies and took advantage of extremely liberal land laws to take up farming. Gold rushes happened at or around: In New Zealand the Otago gold rush from 1861 attracted prospectors from the California gold rush and the Victorian gold rush and many moved on to the West Coast gold rush from 1864. The first significant gold rush in

2684-465: The ore is still sufficiently rich, it may be worth shipping to a distant smelter (direct shipping ore). Lower-grade ore may require on-site treatment to either recover the gold or to produce a concentrate sufficiently rich for transport to the smelter. As the district turns to lower-grade ore, the mining may change from underground mining to large open-pit mining . Many silver rushes followed upon gold rushes. As transportation and infrastructure improve,

2745-402: The peak of the construction work, shortly before completion of the railroad, more than 11,000 Chinese were involved with the project. As the Cantonese railroad workers lived and worked tirelessly, they also managed the finances associated with their employment, and Central Pacific officials responsible for employing the Cantonese, even those at first opposed to the hiring policy, came to appreciate

2806-594: The region. The gold deposits in this area are identified as one of the largest in the world. In South Africa, the Witwatersrand Gold Rush in the Transvaal was important to that country's history, leading to the founding of Johannesburg and tensions between the Boers and British settlers as well as the Chinese miners. South African gold production went from zero in 1886 to 23% of the total world output in 1896. At

2867-682: The rest of the year. As the dragon comes by, coins wrapped in lettuce leaves or red papers are placed in its jaw. Gold Mountain (toponym) Gold Mountain ( Cantonese : Gāmsāan , 金山) is a historical name for either San Francisco , the State of California , or broadly the western regions of North America, including British Columbia , Canada. After gold was found in the Sierra Nevada in 1848, thousands of Cantonese from Toisan City in Guangdong Province (Historically known as Canton) began to migrate to California in search of gold and riches during

2928-537: The second half of the 19th century. The most significant of these, although not the only ones, were the New South Wales gold rush and Victorian gold rush in 1851, and the Western Australian gold rushes of the 1890s. They were highly significant to their respective colonies' political and economic development as they brought many immigrants, and promoted massive government spending on infrastructure to support

2989-520: The smuggling of billions of dollars' worth of gold out of Africa through the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East , which further acts as a gateway to the markets in the United States , Europe and more. The news agency evaluated the worth and magnitude of illegal gold trade occurring in African nations like Ghana , Tanzania , and Zambia , by comparing the total gold imports recorded into

3050-546: The time of the South African rush, gold production benefited from the newly discovered techniques by Scottish chemists, the MacArthur-Forrest process , of using potassium cyanide to extract gold from low-grade ore. The gold mine at El Callao (Venezuela), started in 1871, was for a time one of the richest in the world, and the goldfields as a whole saw over a million ounces exported between 1860 and 1883. The gold mining

3111-416: The way for miners to operate on a claims system. Chinese immigrants participated in every facet of gold production in the later years of the gold rush. Within the claims system that grew in popularity, Chinese immigrants were contracted to find gold from 1849–1850. Starting in 1852 the Chinese population in the American West spiked and Chinese Gold miners made up 25% of miners at their highest and their impact

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3172-575: The world, according to Communities and Small-Scale Mining (CASM). Approximately 100 million people are directly or indirectly dependent on small-scale mining. For example, there are 800,000 to 1.5 million artisanal miners in Democratic Republic of Congo , 350,000 to 650,000 in Sierra Leone , and 150,000 to 250,000 in Ghana , with millions more across Africa. In an exclusive report, Reuters accounted

3233-868: Was a cheaply made piece of equipment that sifted gold out from stream beds. Some miners would take claims along streams individually but jointly registering claims proved to be an effective method of efficiently profiting, and Chinese miners actively participated in this. From 1854-1857 44% of 61 claims made by Chinese miners accounted for parties of two or three miners. This method of joint claims proved to work as well for Chinese miners as American miners, making around 75$ per month per person on claims that were valued at $ 500-$ 600. Individual mining quickly became more organized and sophisticated, and as mining developed so did companies pertaining to mining. Many companies emerged from groups that took claims together consistently and Chinese miners were not excluded from this. Chinese mining companies such as John China Placer Mining Company and

3294-459: Was a highly individualized and competitive industry. While supporters for their rival's exclusion grew to outnumber those who opposed it, the first exclusionary policy in mining was not passed until the late 1850s, because Cantonese miners contributed to California state tax revenues considerably. Over time however, emphasis on exclusion changed from mining competition to protecting California's financial feasibility for native citizens. On May 6, 1882,

3355-764: Was along the south flank of the Klondike River near its confluence with the Yukon River near what was to become Dawson City in Yukon Territory, but it also helped open up the relatively new US possession of Alaska to exploration and settlement, and promoted the discovery of other gold finds. The most successful of the North American gold rushes was the Porcupine Gold Rush in Timmins, Ontario area. This gold rush

3416-661: Was dominated by immigrants from the British Isles and the British West Indies, giving an appearance of almost creating an English colony on Venezuelan territory. Between 1883 and 1906 Tierra del Fuego experienced a gold rush attracting many Chileans, Argentines and Europeans to the archipelago. The gold rush began in 1884 following discovery of gold during the rescue of the French steamship Arctique near Cape Virgenes . There are about 10 to 30 million small-scale miners around

3477-508: Was felt across California. The first Chinese miners in California are thought to have been a group of around 60 contracted miners who arrived in Tuolumne County in 1849. They were hired by British people in Shanghai under a contract that gave them passage money in return for their money to be paid back via monthly wage deductions. In the preliminary two years of the gold rush contracted labor

3538-758: Was known as "paper son", which by 1930 a client would pay $ 100 per year that he had, e.g. 17 years old would cost $ 1,700. The California Cantonese speak a variety of Cantonese that has evolved to reflect California and American culture. Its vocabulary is influenced by American English and American societal concepts foreign to Cantonese speakers in Modern China, either through direct English translations such as "Alpine" (borrowed from Alpine County, California ), or neologisms such as "Yellow Eagle" ( Gold dollar ), "Emancipated Woman" (Feminist), and "Telephone". It also maintains older Qing Dynasty Cantonese vocabulary that has fallen out of use in Cantonese spoken in Modern China. San Francisco Chinatown restaurants are considered to be

3599-405: Was shipping companies encouraging immigration to draw profits from people interested in mining in America. As Chinese people initially showed up to California they and most other individually contracted workers practiced alluvial mining along stream beds. This method of mining was extremely cheap and accessible to all miners. The only material people needed for alluvial mining was a rocker box which

3660-433: Was the most common hiring method, but evidence shows contracts were not easily enforced as excerpts from sea captains show accounts of Chinese miners leaving their contractors once they arrived in America. Chinese miners were not present in California in a substantial manner at the beginning of the Gold Rush. The population of Chinese miners in California did not break 1,000 people until 1851 with 2,700 miners being counted in

3721-493: Was unique compared to others by the method of extraction of the gold. Placer mining techniques were not able to be used to access the gold in the area due to it being embedded into the Canadian Shield , so larger mining operations involving significantly more expensive equipment was required. While this gold rush peaked in the 1940s and 1950s, it is still active today with over 200 million ounces of gold having been produced from

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