The 1851 map “A New Map of the Gold Region in California” illustrates what California looked like just two years after the start of the 1849 gold rush.
Friday, July 29, 2022
A Look at California in 1851, Two Years Into the Gold Rush
For anyone familiar with California in modern times, it is difficult to imagine what the state must have been like during the California Gold Rush. The famous gold discovery at Sutter’s Mill happened in 1848, but it wasn’t until 1849 that news of the discovery reached the East Coast and the rest of the world. That news transformed the nation, and the great rush to California was on.
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Kind of surprising Johnson's Ranch* didn't make the map.
ReplyDelete*Johnson's Ranch was where the rescue parties left from in their attempts to save surviving members of the Donner Party in 1847. It was one of the few outposts of civilization between Sutter's Fort and the Northern Mother Lode back then.
I've spent a lot of time in that region. In particular, Coulterville. It's near Don Pedro Reservoir which is named in the article.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've spent a lot of time there too. I had a couple mining claims there on Maxwell Creek off of Dogtown Road south of town.
DeleteEveryone interested in California history should read Richard Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast," published in 1840. Ostensibly the history of a sailor, it provides a clear picture of California a decade before gold was discovered. The mast, Mr. Dana sailed before was on a trading vessel that worked up and down the California coast supplying goods to the inhabitants in exchange for, primarily, raw cattle hides.
ReplyDeleteLove that book. one wonders what adventures we'll write about in the future?
DeleteIt's all been done.
If you like in depth historical accounts, check out Lavender's "Bent's Fort"
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