Unit 4: Miners Unit 4: Miners

THE DECADE OF THE 1850’STHE DECADE OF THE 1850’S

• Slow-Fur trade was over and there were few settlers

• Uncertain-no mines were open

and farmland was plentiful

• Uneventful in the

Eastern United States

GOLDGOLD

Searching for Gold… Searching for Gold…

• Spanish sought gold when they first came to North America

• 1849 – California Gold

Rush (the 49ers)

Major Gold Finds Major Gold Finds

• 1828-Georgia-Led to Indian dispersal (Trail of Tears)

• 1848-Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento Ca.• 1859-Pike’s Peak area• 1859-Nevada-Gold and silver found• 1863-Montana• 1876-Black Hills of S.D.• 1890’s-Klondike of Alaska;Canada in Yukon

area

Why Gold is ValuableWhy Gold is Valuable

• Rare• Indestructible-Does not tarnish• Medium of exchange (most societies accept this

as money)• Can’t reproduce it• Malleable-Can be broken

to any size• Gold is gold-Pure in form unlike diamonds (A

karat is 1/24 part of pure gold-24K=Pure gold)

Pikes Peak or Bust Pikes Peak or Bust • 1850 – Cherokees found small amount of gold in Arvada

• Fall Leaf, an Indian army scout, returned to Kansas with gold

• Winter of 1857-58 -- Lawrence, Kansas group left for Colorado (due to Fall Leaf’s stories)

• Winter of 1857-58 -- Oklahoma group (William Green Russell), along with Cherokees went West… found several hundred dollars in gold

• John Cantrell joined them, went back East, told everyone about gold

• August 1858 Newspaper – “Gold in Kansas Territory” (Colorado)

• Led to “Pike’s Peak or Bust”

Pikes Peak or BustPikes Peak or Bust

Due to John Cantrell’s

claims of gold, the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush of

1858-59 began

Spring of 1859 – 100,000 “59ers” set off for Colorado

FIRST GOLD STRIKESFIRST GOLD STRIKES

• Idaho Springs (Jan 1859) • Gold Hill, above Boulder (Jan 1859)• Central City/Black Hawk (Apr 1859)

• All tried to keep it a secret…NO LUCK

• Due to the little gold found, only about 25,000 of 100,000 “59ers” stayed

Placer MiningPlacer Mining

• Surface mining• Panning• Needs water• More popular

Placer MiningPlacer Mining

Sluice BoxSluice Box

HARD ROCK MININGHARD ROCK MINING

• More Difficult • Underground • Mined gold ore from

the veins• Required expensive

equipment (brought from east)

• Shafts, tunnels