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Volume 072-1 - January 2018 (6 pages)
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Page: of 6
Agriculture and Ranching Born
During the Gold Rush
by Maria E. Brower
F GOLD HADN’T BEEN DISCOVERED BY JAMES
Marshall at Coloma in January of 1848 California
would have had a very different history. The majority
of the men who came during the Gold Rush had no intention of settling in California. Most men had hopes
of striking it rich, then going back home to family and
friends, and being able to have a better life and undertake new opportunities that the gold they brought back
would give them.
Most of the early Argonauts of 1849 had an unrealistic concept of what awaited them in California and what
they would endure once they reached the golden shore.
Due to erroneous newspaper stories, more fiction than
fact, that were widely circulated in America, Europe and
beyond, thousands of men were left unprepared for the
reality of California. Believing reports that gold was laying on the ground waiting to be picked up, they would
learn otherwise after their arrival.
At their first view of San Francisco the 49ers saw the
absence of a wharf, and no town in sight as far as the eye
could see, except for a few hastily-built structures made
out of scrap wood and canvas. During the long sea voyage they had stopped at many tropical ports with towns
and settlements, but now they were confronted by the
starkness of San Francisco, and the problem of unloading
themselves, their trunks, bulky cargo and mining tools
from ship to land.
When the tide was out the passengers found themselves wallowing in mud to reach the shore. Lying in
heaps along the shore or floating nearby in the bay were
mountains of goods. Trunks, chests, valises, clothing,
mining contraptions and machinery had been abandoned
by goldseekers who could not pay extra freight charges
to get their possessions ashore.
The miners before them had moved on to find whatever transportation they could afford and was available, and
made their way by boat, mule or wagon to Sacramento,
and from there to the banks of rivers or creeks. Later arrivals would be digging in ravines, bars, flats, canyons
and “coyote holes” in their search for gold.
Thousands of men who reached the foothills and
stayed any length of time in one place saw crowded gold
camps grow into booming mining towns. California’s
population soared with miners, and a smaller number of
merchants and opportunists.
‘Nevada County Historical Soticty
Bulletin
eee 72 NUMBER 1 JANUARY a,
All goods and merchandise, except for some food and
animals from local farmers, had to be imported from the
Atlantic States, South America or from across the Pacific
by ship, or overland by pack trains. Merchants charged
exorbitant prices, due to the great distance and cost to
get the goods to California—or just because they could.
The life of the miner had many hardships and privations, and some gave up their dream very quickly and
went home. Charles Warren Haskins arrived in September
1849, after a five-month voyage from Massachusetts.
After more than a year of mining he deduced “that the
qualities and habits that are usually necessary for success, those possessing a reasonable amount of intelligence, economy, industry, and proper caution, played no
part as far as mining and extracting gold was concerned.”
Haskins said that when it came down to it, it was a
matter of luck; being in the right place at the right time.’
Being industrious helped, for he saw there were a lot of
the class of men who were too lazy to make the effort to
find a paying mine or work the dirt and gravel. But very
often “the most ignorant, idle and shiftless lout, would
stumble by accident upon a very rich gold deposit.”
A few took their gold and went home if they made a
big strike, while others either gambled it away or it was
used up by high cost of living over a period to time.
There were other men who realized there was a greater opportunity lying before them. These men saw that
good agricultural land could be obtained at relatively low
rates. They determined the soil was rich and suitable for
cultivation. They also saw the immediate need for fresh
fruit, vegetables and meat in the gold camps. When they
thought of the possibilities for the future and considered
the mild weather of California most of the year and compared it to their homes “back in the States,” California
looked like a good investment.
These men either had brought funds with them, or
worked hard and saved their money, or had some luck in
mining that enabled them to buy land and begin farming or ranching (usually in addition to any mining interests they held). Roaming through the hills and valleys of
Nevada County such men looked for land that had a good