Trails to Utah and the Pacific: Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869
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The Gold Rush
Though gold was first discovered in California on January 24, 1848, it wasn't until December of that year, when President James K. Polk announced the discovery in his message to Congress, that the gold rush began. In the next two years, 75,000 people traveled the California Trail and California's population increased by 86,000.
The Special Presentation of an Essay called "Chasing a Golden Dream: The Story of the California Trail" provides a brief account of the California Trail, its establishment, use during the gold rush, and legacy. The Special Presentation of Interactive Maps provides a visual depiction of the trail. Search on gold or use the Trail Name Index heading California National Historic Trail to find images, diaries, and letters that depict the gold rush.
For most emigrants, the gold rush experience began with the decision to leave home and a long cross-country journey. Gordon Cone left Waukesha, Wisconsin, for California in 1849. In his diary, he describes his journey by ox team along the California Trail, including arduous passages through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Fortymile desert:
"Sunday September 23rd We travelled all nigh-t, and until eight o'clock this morning- Some of the cattle have given out, and we are fearful that we shall not be able to get all our wagons acrost- We have eig--hteen miles yet to go before we find water, and water is what our cattle are suffering for- The heat of the Sun is almost unendurable; and as the whole country iscovered with a thick coating of a saline matter, the atmosphere is highly impregnated with salt, that makes the thirst of both man and beast into--lerable- In a distance of seven miles that we travelled this morning, we passed twenty six wagons that had been abandoned by emigrants whose teams had given out- A great many cattle are lieing dead beside the road, the ballance of the teams haveing been packed and driven on- These scenes and sa--crifices are among the variety that go to make up the experience of those that cross these plains, mountains, and desarts-
We shall remain in camp until evening and then move on, hopeing to reach "Salmon trout" river by tomorrow morning- This is the most unhapy Sabath that I have exp--erienced on the trip-The great anxiety that I have for my teams, and the fears that they will not be able to get through this desart, wholly dis--quallify me for sober reflection, or serious cont--emplation- "
Cone, Gordon C. Diary, 1849-1850. September 1849, pages 119 - 120
Elijah Spooner also left for California in 1849, leaving his wife and one-year-old son behind in Michigan. Stopping in Salt Lake City , he wrote his wife, "The mormons say there is no trouble in finding all the gold we want Hope it's true, and can get it quick, and then for home, home, sweet home again." In his next letter, he assured his wife of his health despite the cholera epidemic that plagued the California trail from 1849 into the mid 1850s:
Emigrant's grave on the Sweetwater [at
Three Crossings, Wyoming]
A new map of Texas, Oregon, and
California: with the regions adjoining
"Well my Dear Wife I can but hope and wish that you with our little one are in the enjoyment of as many earthly blessings a your circumstances will permit But I fear the imagination has been too keenly sensitive to permit much joy for I doubt not that dark and fearful tidings must have reached you from our line of travel which has caused many a heart to bleed, and which {begin inserted text}may{end inserted text} have wrought many gloomy foreboding in yours - I allude to the sickness and deaths in the first half of the journey - We probably did not see more an 25 or 30 graves on our whole route, but have since learned that two or three weeks later a thousand might be counted between the starting points and Fort Laramie, and many of them containing several tenants - Much of this mortality was only four or five days travel in our rear, yet we knew nothing of it at the time"
Spooner, Elijah Allen. Letters and Diary, 1849-1850. Letter 8-October 20, 1849, pages 3 - 4
- What were some of the dangers and hardships of traveling the California Trail?
- How long did most emigrants take to make the journey to the Golden State?
- Why do you think that so many people were willing to leave their families and homes and make the long and dangerous journey to California?
- According to "Chasing a Golden Dream: The Story of the California Trail," what kind of information did the forty-niners have about the California Trail?
In addition to their journeys, some diarists, such as William Z. Walker, describe their experiences in California. Walker traveled by ox and mule team from Boston, Massachusetts, to Sacramento, California. He describes a party panning for gold and comments on the extravagant prices a prospector had to pay for provisions:
"Mon. Sep. 10th
We arrived at Bear River in the afternoon, where we found a large number of emigrants engaged in digging and washing gold. The method of opperation was very simple: one man dug the earth and put it into a seive attached to a cradle which a second man washed rocked and poured water upon after sufficiently washing the earth it passed thro' the seive in to the bottom of the cradle which is open at one end where it passes out leaving only particles of gold and black sand in the bottom.. In the seive remains particles of rocks roots &c which are thrown away. After washing a sufficient quantity of earth (generally from 20 to 50 pansful) the contents of the cradle are put into a pan washed: Which opperation is performed by dipping the pan in the water and shaking and stirring it to keep the contents loose and pouring the water off, which repeated untill the sand is all floated off with water; the gold being much heavier soon deposits itself in the bottom of the pan. An experienced hand will perform this opperation in 10 minutes without loosing a particle of gold. The amount thus collected by the miners on Bear River was from four to sixteen and sometimes even Fifty dollars per day, each, according to the luck of the miner. Provisions were very high here Flour $40. per hundred, Pork and Bacon $1. per lb. and other things in proportion Gold-rockers were worth $40. Shovels $10. Picks $10. and so on."Walker, William Z.. Diary, 1849. September 1849, page 135 - 137
- How laborious was the mining process?
- What was involved in this process, in addition to digging and washing the gold?
- Why were provisions so expensive in Sacramento?
From a camp outside of Sacramento, another diarist, James Tolles, recorded his impression that "the society here for business is most excellent, the people are all very punctual to their And we are pleased to say that we have not seen or heard any quarreling whatever, and have heard but little profanity." Gordon Cone, on the other hand, took another view of the California culture:
"Men that were respectable in their deportment, chaste in their conversation, and moral in all their conduct when in the States, and under the restraints of society, and civillzation, have here thrown off all restraint, lost their self respect, and have abandoned themselves to most of the vices of this far off region, such as frightful profanity, beastly drunkness, Sabath breaking, and cruel gambling- Extortion is so common here, that it has been stricken from the Catalogue of crimes, and therefore is nothing thought of and indeed the whole catalogue would be annihilated at once, if the standard of crime was graduated by public opinion-Profane swearing and men drinking are common practices here, therefore the mind at once comprehends the magnitude of these evils on the anouncement of the fact, so that a full detail is not necessary, even if it was possible- Altho these evils may be considered universal, yet there are honorable exceptions, and men are found even here that deeply feel that these things ought not to be-"
Cone, Gordon C. Diary, 1849-1850. December 1849, pages 166 - 167
- Why might Tolles and Cone provide such different accounts of the prospectors' behavior?
- What does Cone imply about why the culture of Sacramento was so immoral?
- According to "Chasing a Golden Dream: The Story of the California Trail," how did the gold rush experience impact United States culture?
Like most prospectors, Elijah Spooner was disappointed by his experience in the California gold fields. In April 1850, he wrote his wife:
". . . this gold digging is all a lottery business, except the labor part of it. We thought we had some eight or ten hundred dolls secured at the last writing, but we have worked it out, and got only about half that amount. And now the next thing {begin inserted text}is{end inserted text} pros- pecting for another place, in the bottom of every creek far and near for days, and perhaps for weeks, until a promising location is found The labor as I have previously observed is enormously hard. And I am satisfied that none but iron constitutions can endure it without in-jury Every years hard labor here in the mines, I believe will increase the apparent age of men generally, from five to ten years. This fact is seen in almost every mans countenance: and my own feelings bear witness to it And there are thousands here now, to say nothing of thousands on the way, that will not earn enough {begin inserted text}above their expenses{end inserted text} to carry themselves home, during a years residence."
Spooner, Elijah Allen. Letters and Diary, 1849-1850. Letter 13-April 21, 1850, pages 1 - 2
- What kind of experience did argonauts expect to have in California? What were their hopes for their journeys? What were these expectations and hopes based on?
- What were prospectors' actual experiences like?
- Why was it so difficult for most prospectors to make a profit?
- How do you think that this outcome affected culture in California and the U.S.?
Refer to the Arts and Humanities section of these Collection Connections for a creative project that will enhance and test comprehension of the gold rush experience.