How many California gold rushes have there been?

Question

Just the one in 1849?

Answer 1

Oh, this is a terrific question!

Of course we all know of the discover by James Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Colma in 1848 that led to the great Gold Rush and the '49ers. However, there were indeed others.

Gold was first discovered in Placerita Canyon near the present day city of Santa Clarita (where Magic Mountain is). This is memorialized by a place and monument called "The Oak of the Golden Dream" This was in the early 1840s. This 'rush' ultimately netted about $200,000 in gold. It was significant at the time but nothing in comparison to the one billion dollars in gold pulled out of the mother lode country of the foothills of the Sierra, east of Sacramento, in the late 1840s and 1850s.

But that is not the end of it! Oh no. There was also a mini-gold rush in the mid-1840s in the delta region where the Sacramento and San Juaquin Rivers empty into San Francisco Bay. There were also gold rushes after the 1840s and 1850s in places like Bodie and Calico, both notable 'ghost towns' today.

One could also argue that the 1990s and early 21sat century is showing signs that it could all happen again. With the price of gold above $500 an ounce gold is being sought in some of the old places like Grass Valley as well as in new places in the desert east of Bodie. It could all be happening again!

By the way, there is still plenty of gold in the mother lode and individuals often pan enough to support themselves, although few of them ever find the riches that were found in 1848 and 1849. You might want to watch Gold Fever on the vs. channel sometimes. It is interesting (although a bit slow)!

Answer 2

The 1849 is the big one. There have been little rushes, but none that made such a huge impact. The Alaskan goldrush was similar sized, and had smaller rushes, the Montana rush (1860s) was big, the Goergia rush (1740s) was bigish... the rest are all speed bumps on the History Highway

Answer 3

I belive there has only been one in 1849.