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California Drought Brings Back Gold Fever | National Geographic

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California rivers, low from the recent drought, are ushering in a new gold rush. Professional miners-along with hobbyists like Bruce Meyer-are hurrying to uncover precious metals by panning, sniping, and prospecting at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. ➡ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe About National Geographic: National Geographic is the world's premium destination for science, exploration, and adventure.

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I heard of the discovery of gold in California and thought this was a perfect opportunity to come because my crops were failing this year and I needed more money in order to keep my plantation alive. Expecting to find gold everywhere, I was disaapointed when I saw so many people also searching for gold. As time went on, I became afraid to go back to the sites because the men had become jealous and started to fight. Also, a new law came from the government that we had to pay a $20 tax a month, which angered me even more than the discrimination I received from the white men. At last, me and some other Chinese, moved to San Francisco and I opened a pharmacy.

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When I heard of John Marshall's discovery, all I could think about was going to California with my family and becoming rich. Although most men didn't bring their families along, I brought my wife Luzena Wilson because she could make extra gold with her baking skills. And she sure did. When I arrived at California,  I was surprised with the crowd of people from all around the world. I could see many Chinese, Mexican, African Americans, and many more immigrants. There was so much competition to find gold, but I still worked hard to search for gold and eventually after a few months, I found $2,000 worth of gold for me and my family. After that, we opened a hotel for the miners to stay in and lived comfortably.

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A mixture of greed and prejudice caused some miners to cheat
others. For example, I. B. Gilman promised to free an enslaved African
American named Tom if he saved enough gold. For more than a year,
Tom mined for himself after each day’s work was done. When he finally
had $1,000, Gilman gave him a paper saying he was free. The next day,
the paper suspiciously disappeared. Even though Tom was certain he had
been robbed, he couldn’t prove it. He had to work for another year before
Gilman would free him.

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Once the easy-to-find gold was gone, American miners began to force
Native Americans and foreigners such as Mexicans and Chinese out of
the gold fields to reduce competition. After California became a state in 1850, this practice increased. The California
state legislature passed the Foreign Miners Tax, taxed miners from other countries, $20 a month. That was more than most could afford to pay. As a result, most foreigners left. Driven from the mines, the Chinese opened shops, restaurants, and laundries, many located in San Francisco, which they named Chinatown.

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About two-thirds of them were Americans, while most of these were white men. However, Native Americans, free blacks, and enslaved African Americans also worked the mines. Thousands of experienced miners came from Mexico. Other foreign miners came from Europe, South America, Australia, and China.

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Miners spent their days standing in icy streams, where they strained through tons of mud and sand to find small amounts of gold. Exhaustion, poor food, and disease damaged the miners’ health. Not only was acquiring gold brutally difficult, but the miners had to pay high prices for basic supplies. In addition, few miners grew rich due to gamblers and con artists who swarmed into the camps to defraud the miners of their money.

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"In the short space of twenty-four days, we have had
murders, fearful accidents, bloody deaths, a mob,
whippings, a hanging, . . . and a fatal duel."
Louise Clappe, quoted in Frontier Women

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In 1848, James Marshall, a carpenter was sent by John Sutter, a swiss immigrant, to build a sawmill on the nearby American River. One day, Marshall inspected the

canal that brought water to Sutter’s Mill.“My eye was caught by a glimpse of something shining. . . . I reached my hand down and picked it up; it made my heart thump for I felt certain it was gold.” Due to Marshall's exciting discovery, news spread quickly, and soon, people raced to the American River searching for gold. This is how the California Gold Rush started.