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106-622: Miners and prospectors in the California Gold Rush of 1849 found themselves in a legal vacuum. Although the US federal government had laws governing the leasing of mineral land, the United States had only recently acquired California by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , and had little presence in the newly acquired territories. Miners organized their own governments in each new mining camp (for example

212-412: A boomtown of about 36,000 by 1852. Roads, churches, schools and other towns were built throughout California. In 1849, a state constitution was written . The new constitution was adopted by referendum vote; the future state's interim first governor and legislature were chosen. In September 1850, California became a state . At the beginning of the gold rush, there was no law regarding property rights in

318-417: A "Prudent Man" to further invest time and money developing the deposit towards the goal of mining it. The holder of a mining claim does not own the surface, the water, or even the rocks and gravel. A mining claim grants the holder with the preferential right to extract the valuable minerals within the claim, and for uses incident to that goal, such as prospecting , exploration and development. Gold mining

424-424: A Congress-imposed moratorium, the federal government has not accepted any new applications for mining claim patents since October 1, 1994. The 1872 law granted extra lateral rights to owners of lode claims. This gave the owners of the surface outcrop of a vein the right to follow and mine the vein wherever it led, even if its subsurface extension continued beneath other mining claims. This provision, also known as

530-464: A businessman who went on to great success was Levi Strauss , who first began selling denim overalls in San Francisco in 1853. Other businessmen reaped great rewards in retail, shipping, entertainment, lodging, or transportation. Boardinghouses, food preparation, sewing, and laundry were highly profitable businesses often run by women (married, single, or widowed) who realized men would pay well for

636-476: A few years, there was an important but lesser-known surge of prospectors into far Northern California, specifically into present-day Siskiyou , Shasta and Trinity Counties . Discovery of gold nuggets at the site of present-day Yreka in 1851 brought thousands of gold-seekers up the Siskiyou Trail and throughout California's northern counties. Settlements of the gold rush era, such as Portuguese Flat on

742-507: A gold rush in the region. The Mexican–American War ended on May 30 with the ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , which formally transferred California to the United States. Having sworn all concerned at the mill to secrecy, in February 1848, Sutter sent Charles Bennett to Monterey to meet with Colonel Mason, the chief U.S. official in California, to secure the mineral rights of

848-469: A large sea; underwater volcanoes deposited lava and minerals (including gold) onto the sea floor. By tectonic forces these minerals and rocks came to the surface of the Sierra Nevada, and eroded . Water carried the exposed gold downstream and deposited it in quiet gravel beds along the sides of old rivers and streams. The forty-niners first focused their efforts on these deposits of gold. Because

954-488: A method that involved digging a shaft 6 to 13 meters (20 to 43 ft) deep into placer deposits along a stream. Tunnels were then dug in all directions to reach the richest veins of pay dirt . In the most complex placer mining, groups of prospectors would divert the water from an entire river into a sluice alongside the river and then dig for gold in the newly exposed river bottom. Modern estimates are that as much as 12 million ounces (370  t ) of gold were removed in

1060-454: A possession of the United States, but it was not a formal " territory " and did not become a state until September 9, 1850. California existed in the unusual condition of a region under military control. There was no civil legislature, executive or judicial body for the entire region. Local residents operated under a confusing and changing mixture of Mexican rules, American principles, and personal dictates. Lax enforcement of federal laws, such as

1166-410: A previously claimed site. Disputes were often handled personally and violently, and were sometimes addressed by groups of prospectors acting as arbitrators . This often led to heightened ethnic tensions. In some areas the influx of many prospectors could lead to a reduction of the existing claim size by simple pressure. Approximately four hundred million years ago, California lay at the bottom of

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1272-415: A prospector, but that claim was valid only as long as it was being actively worked. Miners worked at a claim only long enough to determine its potential. If a claim was deemed as low-value—as most were—miners would abandon the site in search of a better one. In the case where a claim was abandoned or not worked upon, other miners would "claim-jump" the land. "Claim-jumping" meant that a miner began work on

1378-413: A service done by a woman. Brothels also brought in large profits, especially when combined with saloons and gaming houses. By 1855, the economic climate had changed dramatically. Gold could be retrieved profitably from the goldfields only by medium to large groups of workers, either in partnerships or as employees. By the mid-1850s, it was the owners of these gold-mining companies who made the money. Also,

1484-559: A single dime." This bill was built off of the previous Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007. The proposed bill would have prohibited patent grants from all mining or millsites claimed after September 30, 1994. The bill would have established a maintenance fee and a 4% to 8% royalty of the gross incomes of all unpatented mining or millsite claims. The bill would have also assigned protections to lands, such as areas of wilderness study and areas of environmental concern, that would no longer be open to mining and millsite claims. In addition,

1590-615: A small gold nugget in the roots among the bulbs. He looked further and found more gold. Lopez took the gold to authorities who confirmed its worth. Lopez and others began to search for other streambeds with gold deposits in the area. They found several in the northeastern section of the forest, within present-day Ventura County . In November, some of the gold was sent to the U.S. Mint , although otherwise attracted little notice. In 1843, Lopez found gold in San Feliciano Canyon near his first discovery. Mexican miners from Sonora worked

1696-504: A small number (probably fewer than 500) traveled overland from the United States that year. Some of these "forty-eighters", as the earliest gold-seekers were sometimes called, were able to collect large amounts of easily accessible gold—in some cases, thousands of dollars worth each day. Even ordinary prospectors averaged daily gold finds worth 10 to 15 times the daily wage of a laborer on the East Coast. A person could work for six months in

1802-413: A tiny settlement before the rush began. When residents learned about the discovery, it at first became a ghost town of abandoned ships and businesses, but then boomed as merchants and new people arrived. The population of San Francisco increased quickly from about 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 full-time residents by 1850. Miners lived in tents, wood shanties, or deck cabins removed from abandoned ships. There

1908-499: Is a claim over gold-bearing sand or gravel, often along a stream or river. The mining law opens up land in the public domain , that is, federal land that has been owned by the federal government since it became part of the United States, and that has never been set aside for a specific use. Land dedicated for specific uses such as the White House lawn, national parks, or wilderness areas, is not subject to mineral entry. Land west of

2014-524: Is a lode claim. A mining claim allows some security of tenure for the owner, providing an incentive to invest time and money developing the deposit. Mining claim laws vary from state to state, but claims staked over federal minerals follow federal mining law. Federal minerals are managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Mining claims staked under either State or federal laws ( state claims may only be staked on state-owned and managed lands; federal claims may only be staked on minerals owned by

2120-414: Is one of the most common uses for the staking of mining claims. In Alaska , state mining claims may be up to 160 acres (0.65 km ), and there is no distinction between lode or placer claims. The boundaries of the claim must follow the 4 cardinal directions, with an exception being adjustments for existing valid claims. "Claim jumping", which happens to this day, is a case where one person overstakes

2226-416: Is that some US$ 80 million worth of California gold (equivalent to US$ 2.6 billion today) was sent to France by French prospectors and merchants. A majority of the gold went back to New York City brokerage houses. As the gold rush progressed, local banks and gold dealers issued "banknotes" or "drafts"—locally accepted paper currency—in exchange for gold, and private mints created private gold coins . With

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2332-709: The Accessory Transit Company . Many gold-seekers took the overland route across the continental United States, particularly along the California Trail . Each of these routes had its own deadly hazards, from shipwreck to typhoid fever and cholera . In the early years of the rush, much of the population growth in the San Francisco area was due to steamship travel from New York City through overland portages in Nicaragua and Panama and then back up by steamship to San Francisco. While traveling, many steamships from

2438-515: The California Trail and the California Road ; forty-niners often faced substantial hardships on the trip. While most of the newly arrived were Americans, the gold rush attracted thousands from Latin America, Europe, Australia, and China. Agriculture and ranching expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of the settlers. San Francisco grew from a small settlement of about 200 residents in 1846 to

2544-606: The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 , encouraged the arrival of free blacks and escaped slaves. While the treaty ending the Mexican–American War obliged the United States to honor Mexican land grants, almost all the goldfields were outside those grants. Instead, the goldfields were primarily on " public land ", meaning land formally owned by the United States government. However, there were no legal rules yet in place, and no practical enforcement mechanisms. The benefit to

2650-616: The Great Republic of Rough and Ready ), and adopted the Mexican mining laws then existing in California that gave the discoverer right to explore and mine gold and silver on public land. Miners moved from one camp to the next, and made the rules of all camps more or less the same, usually differing only in specifics such as in the maximum size of claims, and the frequency with which a claim had to be worked to avoid being forfeited and subject to being claimed by someone else. California miners spread

2756-630: The Isthmus of Panama and the steamships of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company . Australians and New Zealanders picked up the news from ships carrying Hawaiian newspapers, and thousands, infected with "gold fever", boarded ships for California. Forty-niners came from Latin America, particularly from the Mexican mining districts near Sonora and Chile. Gold-seekers and merchants from Asia, primarily from China, began arriving in 1849, at first in modest numbers to Gum San (" Gold Mountain "),

2862-631: The Sacramento River , sprang into existence and then faded. The Gold Rush town of Weaverville on the Trinity River today retains the oldest continuously used Taoist temple in California, a legacy of Chinese miners who came. While there are not many Gold Rush era ghost towns still in existence, the remains of the once-bustling town of Shasta have been preserved in a California State Historic Park in Northern California. By 1850, most of

2968-535: The San Francisco Bay in 1849, only 700 were women (including those who were poor, wealthy, entrepreneurs, prostitutes, single, and married). They were of various ethnicities including Anglo-American, African-American, Hispanic , Native , European, Chinese, and Jewish. The reasons they came varied: some came with their husbands, refusing to be left behind to fend for themselves, some came because their husbands sent for them, and others came (singles and widows) for

3074-588: The law of the apex led to lengthy litigation and even underground battles, especially in Butte, Montana , and the Comstock Lode . The acquisition of mining rights on public land in the West is mostly governed by the 1872 act. Subsequent changes to the law include: Provisions of the 1872 Mining Law were changed with the implementation of the 1976 Federal Land Policy Management Act (FLPMA) effective as of January 1981. Many of

3180-481: The tailrace of a lumber mill he was building for Sacramento pioneer John Sutter —known as Sutter's Mill , near Coloma on the American River . Marshall brought what he found to Sutter, and the two privately tested the metal. After the tests showed that it was gold, Sutter expressed dismay, wanting to keep the news quiet because he feared what would happen to his plans for an agricultural empire if there were

3286-403: The "first world-class gold rush," there was no easy way to get to California; forty-niners faced hardship and often death on the way. At first, most Argonauts , as they were also known, traveled by sea. From the East Coast, a sailing voyage around the tip of South America would take four to five months, and cover approximately 18,000 nautical miles (21,000 mi; 33,000 km). An alternative

General Mining Act of 1872 - Misplaced Pages Continue

3392-512: The "placer law" signed into law on July 9, 1870. The Chaffee law of 1869 and the placer law of 1871 were combined into the General Mining Act of 1872. The mining law of 1866 had given discoverers rights to stake mining claims to extract gold , silver , cinnabar (the principal ore of mercury ) and copper . When Congress passed the General Mining Act of 1872, the wording was changed to "or other valuable deposits," giving greater scope to

3498-525: The Act, according to the Mineral Policy Center. A mining claim is the right to explore for and extract minerals from a tract of land. Claim staking is the required procedure of marking the boundaries of the mining claim, typically with wooden posts or substantial piles of rocks. Each western state has slightly different requirements for claim staking. Once the claim is staked, the prospector documents

3604-563: The Animas River watershed, was a key factor in introducing the bill. Sen. Udall introduced the bill as a way to make mine operators responsible for mine spills and stated "We cannot wait for more disasters like the Gold King mine spill for us to act. We cannot continue to do nothing while thousands of abandoned hardrock mines drain toxic metals into our rivers, water supplies, and our drinking water each and every day." The proposed bill, built upon

3710-421: The California foreign miners tax passed in 1851, targeted mainly Latino miners and kept them from making as much money as whites, who did not have any taxes imposed on them. In California most late arrivals made little or wound up losing money. Similarly, many unlucky merchants set up in settlements that disappeared, or which succumbed to one of the calamitous fires that swept the towns that sprang up. By contrast,

3816-802: The Federal government, mining claim occupation permits and detailed Mining Plans of Operations to be submitted to the governing agencies before disturbing the surface. On November 1, 2007, the US House passed the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007 ( H.R. 2262 ) by a vote of 244–116. The bill would have permanently ended new patents for mining claims, imposed a royalty of 4% of gross revenues on existing mining extracting from unpatented mining claims, and placed an 8% royalty on new mining operations. Mining of private mineral rights (including patented mining claims) would not have been affected. Seventy percent of

3922-583: The Great Plains managed by the US Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management , unless designated as wilderness area, is generally open to mining claims. Federal land on or east of the Great Plains was generally acquired by the federal government through purchase, and so is not considered public domain, and is not subject to mining claims. The mining law applies to some mineral products, but not others, and

4028-657: The Hardrock Mining Reform and Reclamation Act of 2015, included a specified maintenance fee of all unpatented claims, with a $ 150 fee for each claim along with a $ 50 location fee. The bill adjusted the percentage of royalties collected from mining production to between 2% and 5% and stated that all mining operators are required to present to the Secretary of the Interior the financial ability to pay for any damages to any land and water resources affected by mining. The bill proposed

4134-536: The Methodist church deemed it necessary to send missionaries there to preach the gospel, as churches in that part of the state were not to be found. The first missionary to arrive was William Taylor who arrived in San Francisco in September 1849. For many months he preached in the streets to hundreds of people without salary, and ultimately after saving often generous donations from successful miners, he built and established

4240-620: The Modocs . The first people to rush to the goldfields, beginning in the spring of 1848, were the residents of California themselves—primarily agriculturally oriented Americans and Europeans living in Northern California , along with Native Californians and some Californios (Spanish-speaking Californians; at the time, commonly referred to in English as simply 'Californians'). These first miners tended to be families in which everyone helped in

4346-460: The Obama administration. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar stated "There is a new administration in town, and we want to see the 1872 mining law reformed." However, in 2010, Senate majority leader, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), who was thought to oppose the bill as written, announced that, due to other legislative priorities, the bill would not be acted upon before Congress adjourned, and so the bill died at

General Mining Act of 1872 - Misplaced Pages Continue

4452-476: The Secretary of the Interior to set the percentage of royalties to be collected from mining productions. The bill died in the 115th Congress. California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California . The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from

4558-547: The adventure and economic opportunities. On the trail many people died from accidents, cholera , fever, and myriad other causes, and many women became widows before even setting eyes on California. While in California, women became widows quite frequently due to mining accidents , disease, or mining disputes of their husbands. Life in the goldfields offered opportunities for women to break from their traditional work. Because of many thousands of people flooding into California at Sacramento and San Francisco and surrounding areas,

4664-593: The bill would have created the Hardrock Minerals Fund, which would require a payment to the Secretary of the Interior of 7 cents per ton of displaced mining material, paid for by all operators of a hardrock mining site. These funds would then be allocated to land and water resources that were impacted negatively by mining operations. The proposed bill, however, died at the end of the 113th Congress in January 2015. The Hardrock Mining Reform and Reclamation Act of 2015

4770-579: The building of the San Francisco Mint in 1854, gold bullion was turned into official United States gold coins for circulation. The gold was also later sent by California banks to U.S. national banks in exchange for national paper currency to be used in the booming California economy . The arrival of hundreds of thousands of new people in California within a few years, compared to a population of some 15,000 Europeans and Californios beforehand, had many dramatic effects. A 2017 study attributes

4876-559: The claim by filing required forms. Originally the forms were filed with the mining district recorder; today they are filed with the Clerk of the County in which the claim is located, and with the US Bureau of Land Management. Papers are likewise filed to document annual assessment work. A lode claim , also known in California as a quartz claim , is a claim over a hard rock deposit. A placer claim

4982-404: The claim is worked every year. For instance, the failure to prosecute the work on the tunnel for six months is considered the abandonment of rights to all the undiscovered veins on the line of the tunnels. In addition, at least $ 100 worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made annually. If this does not occur, the claim or mine upon which such failure occurred shall be made to relocation in

5088-438: The claims of another. This results in civil action, and sometimes violence. Claims staked on Federal-managed lands fall under Federal rules. Typically, the claim size is limited to 660'x 1320', or 20 acres (81,000 m ). The claim must be either placer or lode, and the discovery point must be clearly marked. The claim staking procedure includes setting a monument (a post of at least 3" in diameter and at least 3' visible above

5194-515: The clear intent to distinguish their higher class power over those that could not afford those accommodations. Supply ships arrived in San Francisco with goods to supply the needs of the growing population. When hundreds of ships were abandoned after their crews deserted to go into the goldfields, many ships were converted to warehouses, stores, taverns, hotels, and one into a jail. As the city expanded and new places were needed on which to build, many ships were destroyed and used as landfill. Within

5300-578: The concept all over the west with each new mining rush, and the practices spread to all the states and territories west of the Great Plains . Although the practices for open mining on public land were more-or-less universal in the West, and supported by state and territorial legislation, they were still illegal under existing federal law. At the end of the American Civil War , some eastern congressmen regarded western miners as squatters who were robbing

5406-412: The date of the bill's enactment would not be subject to the royalty. In addition, a reclamation tax of from 0.3% to 1%, the rate set by the secretary of the interior, would be levied on all hardrock mining operations, new and existing, on federal, state, private, and tribal lands. The royalties and reclamation taxes would be used to reclaim abandoned hardrock mines. The proposed legislation was backed by

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5512-634: The dominant activity held throughout the steamships was gambling, which was ironic because segregation between wealth gaps was prominent throughout the ships. Everything was segregated between the rich vs. the poor. There were different levels of travel one could pay for to get to California. The cheaper steamships tended to have longer routes. In contrast, the more expensive would get passengers to California quicker. There were clear social and economic distinctions between those who traveled together, being that those who spent more money would receive accommodations that others were not allowed. They would do this with

5618-567: The easily accessible gold had been collected, and attention turned to extracting gold from more difficult locations. Faced with gold increasingly difficult to retrieve, Americans began to drive out foreigners to get at the most accessible gold that remained. The new California State Legislature passed a foreign miners tax of twenty dollars per month ($ 730 per month as of 2024), and American prospectors began organized attacks on foreign miners, particularly Latin Americans and Chinese . In addition,

5724-402: The eastern United States. At its peak, technological advances reached a point where significant financing was required, increasing the proportion of gold companies to individual miners. Gold worth tens of billions of today's US dollars was recovered, which led to great wealth for a few, though many who participated in the California gold rush earned little more than they had started with. Gold

5830-419: The eastern seaboard required the passengers to bring kits, which were typically full of personal belongings such as clothes, guidebooks, tools, etc. In addition to personal belongings, Argonauts were required to bring barrels full of beef, biscuits, butter, pork, rice, and salt. While on the steamships, travelers could talk to each other, smoke, fish, and other activities depending on the ship they traveled. Still,

5936-404: The effort. Women and children of all ethnicities were often found panning next to the men. Some enterprising families set up boarding houses to accommodate the influx of men; in such cases, the women often brought in steady income while their husbands searched for gold. Word of the gold rush spread slowly at first. The earliest gold-seekers were people who lived near California or people who heard

6042-469: The end of the 110th Congress in January 2009. The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2009 was introduced in the US Senate by Jeff Bingaman (D- New Mexico ), but died in committee. The proposed bill provided that the secretary of the interior will establish a royalty rate of from 8% to 15% of the value of locateable mineral production from any new mines on federal mineral lands. Mines in production on

6148-419: The end of the 111th United States Congress in January 2011. The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2014 was introduced by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) on July 10, 2014. Rep. Peter DeFazio stated "For over 140 years, the federal government has allowed mining companies to extract hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of valuable publicly owned minerals from our public lands without paying American taxpayers

6254-501: The establishment of the Hardrock Minerals Reclamation Fund and a requirement that all mining operators pay a fee of 0.6% to 2% of the annual production value of each mine. The bill died in the 114th Congress. The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2017 was introduced by Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) on September 9, 2017. The bill proposed builds off of the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2015 and requires

6360-429: The federal government) are limited to lands available for claim staking at the time the claims are staked. Thus, if the land is not available for mineral entry (example: withdrawn due to its status as a park or refuge), then the claim is said to be invalid ab initio . An additional requirement is "Discovery", which follows the "Prudent Man Rule." This means that a sufficient indication of valuable mineral(s) would encourage

6466-483: The first Methodist church in California, and California's first professional hospital. When the Gold Rush began, the California goldfields were peculiarly lawless places. When gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, California was still technically part of Mexico, under American military occupation as the result of the Mexican–American War. With the signing of the treaty ending the war on February 2, 1848, California became

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6572-437: The first five years of the Gold Rush. In the next stage, by 1853, hydraulic mining was used on ancient gold-bearing gravel beds on hillsides and bluffs in the goldfields. In a modern style of hydraulic mining first developed in California, and later used around the world, a high-pressure hose directed a powerful stream or jet of water at gold-bearing gravel beds. The loosened gravel and gold would then pass over sluices, with

6678-559: The first supply stores in Sacramento, Coloma, and other spots in the goldfields. Just as the rush began, he purchased all the prospecting supplies available in San Francisco and resold them at a substantial profit. Some gold-seekers made a significant amount of money. On average, half the gold-seekers made a modest profit, after taking all expenses into account; economic historians have suggested that white miners were more successful than black, Indian, or Chinese miners. However, taxes such as

6784-400: The forty-niners was that the gold was simply "free for the taking" at first. In the goldfields at the beginning, there was no private property, no licensing fees, and no taxes . The miners informally adapted Mexican mining law that had existed in California. For example, the rules attempted to balance the rights of early arrivers at a site with later arrivers; a " claim " could be "staked" by

6890-454: The gold in the California gravel beds was so richly concentrated, early forty-niners were able to retrieve loose gold flakes and nuggets with their hands, or simply " pan " for gold in rivers and streams. Panning cannot take place on a large scale, and industrious miners and groups of miners graduated to placer mining , using " cradles " and "rockers" or "long-toms" to process larger volumes of gravel. Miners would also engage in "coyoteing",

6996-523: The gold rush were substantial. Whole indigenous societies were attacked and pushed off their lands by the gold-seekers, called "forty-niners" (referring to 1849, the peak year for gold rush immigration). Outside of California, the first to arrive were from Oregon , the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), and Latin America in late 1848. Of the approximately 300,000 people who came to California during the gold rush, about half arrived by sea and half came overland on

7102-559: The gold settling to the bottom where it was collected. By the mid-1880s, it is estimated that 11 million troy ounces (340 t) of gold (worth approximately US$ 15 billion at December 2010 prices) had been recovered by hydraulic mining. A byproduct of these extraction methods was that large amounts of gravel, silt , heavy metals , and other pollutants went into streams and rivers. Court rulings (1882 Gold Run and 1884 "Sawyer Act" ) and 1893 federal legislation limited hydraulic mining in California. As of 1999 many areas still bear

7208-440: The gold-bearing quartz. Once the gold-bearing rocks were brought to the surface, the rocks were crushed and the gold separated, either using separation in water, using its density difference from quartz sand, or by washing the sand over copper plates coated with mercury (with which gold forms an amalgam ). Loss of mercury in the amalgamation process was a source of environmental contamination . Eventually, hard-rock mining became

7314-438: The goldfields and a system of "staking claims" was developed. Prospectors retrieved the gold from streams and riverbeds using simple techniques, such as panning . Although mining caused environmental harm, more sophisticated methods of gold recovery were developed and later adopted around the world. New methods of transportation developed as steamships came into regular service. By 1869, railroads were built from California to

7420-423: The goldfields and find the equivalent of six years' wages back home. Some hoped to get rich quick and return home, and others wished to start businesses in California. By the beginning of 1849, word of the gold rush had spread around the world, and an overwhelming number of gold-seekers and merchants began to arrive from virtually every continent. The largest group of forty-niners in 1849 were Americans, arriving by

7526-545: The ground, or a rock monument at least 3' in height) at the NE corner of the claim. This is known as the Number 1 corner, and it is here that the claimant places the location notice. Three additional monuments, one at each corner of the mining claim, must be set, numbered in a clockwise direction. Copies of the claim documents must be filed in the local offices of the land managers, and filing fees paid. This must be completed within 45 days of

7632-702: The hills near Genoa , Italy were among the first to settle permanently in the Sierra Nevada foothills ; they brought with them traditional agricultural skills, developed to survive cold winters. A modest number of miners of African ancestry (probably less than 4,000) had come from the Southern States , the Caribbean and Brazil. A number of immigrants were from China. Several hundred Chinese arrived in California in 1849 and 1850, and in 1852 more than 20,000 landed in San Francisco. Their distinctive dress and appearance

7738-634: The huge numbers of newcomers were driving Native Americans out of their traditional hunting, fishing and food-gathering areas. To protect their homes and livelihood, some Native Americans responded by attacking the miners. This provoked counter-attacks on native villages. The Native Americans, out-gunned, were often slaughtered. Those who escaped massacres were many times unable to survive without access to their food-gathering areas, and they starved to death. Novelist and poet Joaquin Miller vividly captured one such attack in his semi-autobiographical work, Life Amongst

7844-402: The land where the mill stood. Bennett was not to tell anyone of the discovery of gold, but when he stopped at Benicia , he heard talk about the discovery of coal near Mount Diablo, and he blurted out the discovery of gold. He continued to San Francisco, where again, he could not keep the secret. At Monterey, Mason declined to make any judgement of title to lands and mineral rights, and Bennett for

7950-505: The late 1890s, dredging technology (also invented in California) had become economical, and it is estimated that more than 20 million troy ounces (620 t) were recovered by dredging. Both during the gold rush and in the decades that followed, gold-seekers also engaged in "hard-rock" mining, extracting the gold directly from the rock that contained it (typically quartz ), usually by digging and blasting to follow and remove veins of

8056-416: The law. The 1872 law was codified as 30 U.S.C. §§ 22-42 The 1872 act also granted extralateral rights to lode claims, and fixed the maximum size of lode claims as 1500 feet (457m) long and 600 feet (183m) wide. The Act of 1872 also set the price for land assumed under the mining act: FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS. Sess. II Ch. 152. 1872. (approved July ninth, eighteen hundred and seventy) a patent shall issue for

8162-472: The list has changed over time. Since 1920, the list of locatable minerals does not include petroleum , coal , phosphate, sodium, and potassium. Rights to explore for and extract these are leased through competitive bidding. Common construction material such as sand and gravel are obtained by purchase. All mining claims are initially unpatented claims , which give the right only for those activities necessary to exploration and mining, and last only as long as

8268-412: The midst of the gold rush, towns and cities were chartered, a state constitutional convention was convened, a state constitution written, elections held, and representatives sent to Washington, D.C., to negotiate the admission of California as a state. Gold placer claim A placer claim is a mining claim on gravel or ground from which minerals are extracted using water. In the United States,

8374-561: The miners "by armed force if necessary to protect the rights of the Government in the mineral lands." He advocated that the federal government itself work the mines for the benefit of the treasury. Western representatives successfully argued that western miners and prospectors were performing valuable services by promoting commerce and settling new territory. In 1864, Congress passed a law that instructed courts deciding questions of contested mining rights to ignore federal ownership, and defer to

8480-467: The miners in actual possession of the ground. The following year, Congressional supporters of western miners tacked legislation legalizing lode (hardrock) mining on public land onto a law regarding ditch and canal rights in California, Oregon, and Nevada. The legislation, known as the "Chaffee laws" after Colorado Territorial representative Jerome B. Chaffee , passed and was signed on July 26, 1866. Congress extended similar rules to placer mining claims in

8586-542: The name given to California in Chinese. The first immigrants from Europe, reeling from the effects of the Revolutions of 1848 and with a longer distance to travel, began arriving in late 1849, mostly from France, with some Germans , Italians , and Britons . It is estimated that approximately 90,000 people arrived in California in 1849—about half by land and half by sea. Of these, perhaps 50,000 to 60,000 were Americans, and

8692-497: The news from ships on the fastest sailing routes from California. The first large group of Americans to arrive were several thousand Oregonians who came down the Siskiyou Trail. Next came people from the Sandwich Islands , and several thousand Latin Americans, including people from Mexico, from Peru and from as far away as Chile, both by ship and overland. By the end of 1848, some 6,000 Argonauts had come to California. Only

8798-575: The placer deposits until 1846. Minor finds of gold in California were also made by Mission Indians prior to 1848. The friars instructed them to keep its location secret to avoid a gold rush . In January 1847, nine months into the Mexican–American War , the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed, leading to the resolution of the military conflict in Alta California (Upper California). On January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall found shiny metal in

8904-477: The placer-claim, including such vein or lode, upon the payment of five dollars per acre such vein or lode claim, and twenty-five feet of surface on each side thereof. The reminder of the placer-claim, or any placer-claim not embracing any vein or lode claim, shall be paid for at the rate of two dollars and fifty cents per acre, together with all costs of proceedings;. It set the price of the land claim to range $ 2.50 to $ 5.00 per acre. This price set by law has remained

9010-467: The population and economy of California had become large and diverse enough that money could be made in a wide variety of conventional businesses. Once extracted, the gold itself took many paths. First, much of the gold was used locally to purchase food, supplies and lodging for the miners . It also went towards entertainment, which consisted of anything from a traveling theater to alcohol, gambling, and prostitutes. These transactions often took place using

9116-597: The provisions of FLPMA revised the surface uses allowed on mining claims under the 1872 mining law by halting or restricting unnecessary or undue degradation of the public lands. The regulation portion of the FLPMA is found at 43 CFR 3809 ("Surface Management regulations"). These regulations were updated and the final rules published in December 2001. These rules effectively replace many of the 1872 Mining Law provisions and require mining reclamation, financial guarantees for reclamation to

9222-405: The public patrimony, and proposed seizure of the western mines to pay the huge war debt. In June 1865, Representative George Washington Julian of Indiana introduced a bill for the government to take the western mines from their discoverers, and sell them at public auction . Representative Fernando Wood proposed that the government send an army to California , Colorado , and Arizona to expel

9328-555: The recently recovered gold, carefully weighed out. These merchants and vendors, in turn, used the gold to purchase supplies from ship captains or packers bringing goods to California. The gold then left California aboard ships or mules to go to the makers of the goods from around the world. A second path was the Argonauts themselves who, having personally acquired a sufficient amount, sent the gold home, or returned home taking with them their hard-earned "diggings". For example, one estimate

9434-466: The record-long economic expansion of the United States in the recession-free period of 1841–1856 primarily to "a boom in transportation-goods investment following the discovery of gold in California." The gold rush propelled California from a sleepy, little-known backwater to a center of the global imagination and the destination of hundreds of thousands of people. The new immigrants often showed remarkable inventiveness and civic mindedness. For example, in

9540-634: The rest of the United States and abroad. The sudden influx of gold into the money supply reinvigorated the American economy; the sudden population increase allowed California to go rapidly to statehood in the Compromise of 1850 . The gold rush had severe effects on Native Californians and accelerated the Native American population's decline from disease, starvation, and the California genocide . The effects of

9646-475: The rest were from other countries. By 1855, it is estimated at least 300,000 gold-seekers, merchants, and other immigrants had arrived in California from around the world. The largest group continued to be Americans, but there were tens of thousands each of Mexicans, Chinese, Britons, Australians, French, and Latin Americans, together with many smaller groups of miners, such as African Americans, Filipinos , Basques and Turks . People from small villages in

9752-451: The royalty money would have gone to a cleanup fund for past abandoned mining operations, and 30% to affected communities. The National Mining Association maintained that, in combination with existing federal, state, and local taxes, the royalty imposed by the bill would have burdened US mining with the highest effective tax rate in the world. The bill was not acted upon by the Senate, and died at

9858-456: The same manner as if no location of the same had ever been made. The original mining law gave miners the opportunity to obtain patents (deeds from the government), much as farmers could obtain title under the Homestead Act . The owner of a patented claim can put it to any legal use. The process of patenting claims has been perhaps the most controversial part of the mining law. Because of

9964-601: The same since 1872. Investors in an alleged diamond deposit in the western United States that became known as the Diamond Hoax of 1872 paid Benjamin F. Butler for amending the General Mining Act of 1872 to include the terms "valuable mineral deposits" in order to allow legal mining claims in the diamond fields. The Mineral Policy Center estimates that mining companies extract $ 2 billion to $ 3 billion in minerals from public lands every year. From 1872 to 1993, mining companies produced more than $ 230 billion from lands claimed under

10070-510: The scars of hydraulic mining, since the resulting exposed earth and downstream gravel deposits do not support plant life. After the gold rush had concluded, gold recovery operations continued. The final stage to recover loose gold was to prospect for gold that had slowly washed down into the flat river bottoms and sandbars of California's Central Valley and other gold-bearing areas of California (such as Scott Valley in Siskiyou County). By

10176-515: The single largest source of gold produced in the Gold Country . The total production of gold in California from then until now is estimated at 118 million troy ounces (3,700 t). Recent scholarship confirms that merchants made far more money than miners during the gold rush. The wealthiest man in California during the early years of the rush was Samuel Brannan , a tireless self-promoter, shopkeeper and newspaper publisher. Brannan opened

10282-414: The staking. In addition, fees for annual rental, filing, and work (or payments in lieu of labor) to fulfill requirements of "annual labor" must be completed by the deadlines set by the regulations in order to hold the claim. Failure to meet any of these requirements will result in a declaration of abandonment, and the claim cannot be restaked by the original locator or a successor in interest for one year from

10388-600: The tens of thousands overland across the continent and along various sailing routes (the name "forty-niner" was derived from the year 1849). Many from the East Coast negotiated a crossing of the Appalachian Mountains , taking to riverboats in Pennsylvania , poling the keelboats to Missouri River wagon train assembly ports, and then traveling in a wagon train along the California Trail . Many others came by way of

10494-530: The third time revealed the gold discovery. By March 1848, rumors of the discovery were confirmed by San Francisco newspaper publisher and merchant Samuel Brannan . Brannan hurriedly set up a store to sell gold prospecting supplies, and he walked through the streets of San Francisco, holding aloft a vial of gold, shouting "Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!" On August 19, 1848, the New York Herald

10600-481: The valuable mineral in a placer claim is almost always gold , although other nations mine placer deposits of platinum , tin , and diamonds . In the United States , a placer claim grants to the discoverer of valuable minerals contained in loose material such as sand or gravel the right to mine on public land. Other countries such as Canada, Mexico, and Australia grant similar rights. Another type of mining claim

10706-457: Was discovered in California as early as March 9, 1842, at Rancho San Francisco , in the mountains north of present-day Los Angeles. Californian native Francisco Lopez was searching for stray horses and stopped on the bank of a small creek (in today's Placerita Canyon ), about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of present-day Newhall , and about 35 miles (56 km) northwest of Los Angeles. While the horses grazed, Lopez dug up some wild onions and found

10812-467: Was highly recognizable in the goldfields. Chinese miners suffered enormously, enduring violent racism from white miners who aimed their frustrations at foreigners. Further animosity toward the Chinese led to legislation such as the Chinese Exclusion Act and Foreign Miners Tax. There were also women in the gold rush . However, their numbers were small. Of the 40,000 people who arrived by ship to

10918-526: Was introduced to the 114th Congress by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona) on February 13, 2015. This proposed bill was built off of the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2014. The bill died in committee. The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2015 was introduced to the 114th Congress by Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) on November 5, 2015. Sen. Tom Udall stated that the Gold King Mine spill of 2015, which spilled 3 million gallons of acid wastewater into

11024-410: Was no churches or religious services in the rapidly growing city, which prompted missionaries like William Taylor to meet the need, where he held services in the street, using a barrel head as his pulpit. Crowds would gather to listen to his sermons, and before long he received enough generous donations from successful gold miners and built San Francisco's first church. In what has been referred to as

11130-605: Was the first major newspaper on the East Coast to report the discovery of gold. On December 5, 1848, US President James K. Polk confirmed the discovery of gold in an address to Congress . As a result, individuals seeking to benefit from the gold rush—later called the "forty-niners"—began moving to the Gold Country of California or "Mother Lode" from other countries and from other parts of the United States. As Sutter had feared, his business plans were ruined after his workers left in search of gold, and squatters took over his land and stole his crops and cattle. San Francisco had been

11236-545: Was to sail to the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of Panama , take canoes and mules for a week through the jungle, and then on the Pacific side, wait for a ship sailing for San Francisco. There was also a route across Mexico starting at Veracruz . The companies providing such transportation created vast wealth among their owners and included the U.S. Mail Steamship Company , the federally subsidized Pacific Mail Steamship Company , and

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