Gold In More Modern History
Prior to American discoveries, Europe enjoyed the distinction
of being the world's largest producer and hoarder of gold.
First it came from the areas of the Mediterranean and then
from Africa. The 16th century brought Spanish explorers to
search for gold in Central and South America. The looting
of Aztec and Inca temples from Mexico to Peru followed, and
more gold than the world had ever seen flowed back to Spain.
South America had supplied most of the world's gold until
the early 1800's.
In 1513 the Caribbean island of Cuba became a Spanish stronghold
in the Americas when gold was discovered. Mining continued
for 20 years before supplies dwindled, sending gold seekers
to other islands and eventually South America. Estimates
range between 600-800 thousand ounces of gold recovered before
fortune seekers moved on.
America's movement towards independence in the 1770's brought
England's European rivals into the picture. Since we suffered
from a shortage of gold, France, and Spain to a lesser degree,
loaned the Colonies over $20 million in gold and silver.
This eventually saved the independence movement, since our
Continental dollars were not backed by gold. Our own first
major gold discovery would not come until almost three decades
later (1799) in North Carolina.
Georgia gold was first discovered on Cherokee Indian territory
in 1828, an area which later became known as Dahlonega (Indian
name for "yellow money"). The federal government
established a mint in the area in 1838 which produced gold
coinage in excess of $6,000,000 until 1861. That year, with
the advent of the Civil War, the mint at Dahlonega closed
down its operations as Georgia withdrew from the Union.
Even presidents find gold! Thomas Jefferson, third chief
executive of these United States (1801-1809), reported finding
a four pound rock-bound specimen that contained an ounce
of gold. This was in his native Virginia, one of the first
gold producing colonies.
The California gold rush of 1849 was quickly followed by
rushes to Australia in 1851, South Africa in 1886 and Alaska
and Canada in the 1890's. In less than half a century the
world's supply of gold had more than doubled.
The first year of the California gold rush was not without
its problems. Diseases ran rampant in many mining camps.
Lack of sanitary facilities brought outbreaks of cholera
and dysentery in the more crowded gold fields.
A lack of fresh fruits and vegetables caused an ailment
called scurvy in which there is a lack of vitamin C. The
results were bleeding gums, loose and lost teeth, exhaustion
and diarrhea.
When physicians were called in to treat miners they often
succumbed to "gold fever" and wound up ignoring
their own health.
Crime, surprisingly, was minimal. Theft was made virtually
obsolete in the face of so much wealth just lying around
in local rivers and streams. That changed, however, once
the "pickings" got leaner and claims were disputed.
By the end of the first year of the 1849 California gold
rush it is estimated that close to 100,000 individuals seeking
their fortunes had made it to area diggings. They came from
foreign lands as well. In fact 25% of all 49'ers were not
Americans. They hailed from as far away as China, Australia,
England and France.
1850 marked the year that the Foreign Miners Tax was evoked.
Talk about discrimination--this tax of $20 a month was primarily
aimed at Chinese and Mexican workers, but affected all foreign
gold seekers as well.
Due mostly to the protests of Irish, English and German
miners, the fee was lowered to $4 monthly in early 1853.
Many of the people who came from other lands during the
gold rush to California did not necessarily come of their
own free will! Australia emptied many of her overcrowded
prisons and shipped criminals to America's gold fields. Louis
Napoleon, president of France, held a lottery in 1850 that
would send the poor to California to seek their fortunes.
This too was just a way of unloading undesirables, political
enemies, prostitutes, etc., while lining his own pockets
with the lottery proceeds.
Sam Brannan will go down in the annals of history as an
extraordinarily astute businessman. During the first year
of the California gold rush, instead of heading to the newly
discovered gold sites, he stayed behind to open several general
stores. These were located in and around the area of Sutter's
mill and fort. They were stocked with all the provisions
needed by miners in the field such as picks, shovels, pans,
and food.
It is said that Brannan bought up every available pan to
be had in San Francisco at 20 cents each and later sold them
for anywhere from $10 to $15 each. The store at the fort
is estimated to have grossed nearly $40,000 during the first
four months. Most of his accepted payment was in gold and
he amassed a fortune without ever putting a pan in water.
Just ten short years after the discovery of gold at Sutter's
Mill, California had extracted more than half a billion dollars
worth of gold. This was 35 times the amount the United States
paid Mexico for the California Territories.
At the start of the California gold rush there was no fixed
price for the yellow metal. It was a supply and demand situation,
with a fluctuating value between a low of $6 per ounce to
a high of $18 per ounce. The price finally stabilized in
1854 at $16 per ounce with the opening of a branch of the
United States Mint in San Francisco.
Much has been written about all the silver that had been
mined at Virginia City's Comstock Lode, but it was gold that
started that rush. In twenty years of mining, the major ore
was silver (57%), but gold was second by only a small margin
(43%).
Placer deposits provided the earliest recoverable gold (nuggets
in streams and rivers). Then men had to tunnel into the earth
to extract lode deposits. Today it is deep (2,000 ft.) drillings
in sedimentary limestone rock and epithermal deposits in
ancient reefs that provide the gold. The earlier discoveries
of sculptured and will defined nuggets are becoming harder
to find with each passing decade, especially in higher weight
categories. A one-ounce, high character nugget today is harder
to find than a comparable five-carat diamond.
Alaska first heard the cry of "gold" in 1896.
The region was the Klondike in Canada's Yukon Territory.
It immediately shifted thousands of workers from productive
salmon fishing and fur trapping and lured them to the gold
fields. The bureau of Geological and Geophysical Survey estimates
that Alaskan miners and prospectors are recovering around
150,000 ounces of placer gold annually.
Goldfield, Nevada -- the ghost town that wouldn't die! Being
rebuilt and recreated as a major tourist attraction, it had
been in a state of arrested decay until recently. This meant
that no further erosion of existing facilities would take
place. Now, however, renovations and reconstruction are progressing
at a record pace.
Most recently, the attraction that has brought more visitors
as well as gold seekers to the area is the report of a single
discovery of a 1 1/4 ounce nugget in the area of the Goldfield
Hotel on Columbia Street. In the early 1900's, $90,000,000
in mineral wealth was unearthed in Goldfield, which is situated
on Hwy. 95 between Reno and Las Vegas.
Is a large single gold nugget find still possible? Judge
for yourself! Jack Bray of Feysville, Australia unearthed
a 267-ounce nugget dubbed the "Golden Aussie" in
August of 1980. He sold his "monster" for $250,000.
In 1983 at a large placer mining operation in Sierra Pelada,
Brazil, a prospector unearthed a 137-pound nugget that fetched
one million dollars on the open market. Latest U.S. finds:
Carl Brunner, a 35-ounce "rock" found in the Wrangell
mountains of Alaska. It assayed out at 75% gold in 1989.
Also in 1989 at a mining operation in Montana a 27-ounce
nugget, .900 fine in purity, was discovered by Arthur Fulmer...
Yes, they are still out there! And let's not forget the recent
huge nugget find in California. A gigantic 60-pound chunk
of gold was discovered near Jamestown by workers at the Sonora
Mining Corp. The 60 pounder was nearly three feet in length
and six inches thick. This big nugget has touched off a new
rush to the area, just 200 miles from Sutter's Mill, the
site of the strike that started the 1849 California gold
rush.
Australia has had some giant nugget finds. There is, of
course, the largest nugget ever found in that country, the "Welcome
Stranger." Discovered in 1869, it weighed an incredible
2,284 ounces. The "Golden Eagle," unearthed in
1931, weighed in at 1,235 ounces. More recently was the "Golden
Aussie" mentioned above.
Australia was the first to apply names to its larger nugget
finds. Most notably the Welcome Stranger, Hand of Faith,
Little Hero and Poseidon come to mind. Several of these nuggets
appeared, until recently, on Australia's gold coins.
If you want to see one of these spectacular nuggets up close,
the 62 pound "Hand of Faith" nugget resides in
the lobby of the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas, purchased
several years ago for one million dollars.
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ASHLAND COUNTY: Old newspaper articles report a significant
show of gold values at the Northern Belle Mine, W 1/2 SW
Sec. 22 T.45N R.4W west of Penokee Gap. Cox (2002) compiled
additional references indicating silver was also found. Exploration
for gold has also occurred in sections 15, 22, 23 and 34
in T.45N R.4W (U.S.G.S., 1976). Cox (2002) describes attempts
to placer mine in Brunschweiler Creek in sec. 22. during
the 1880's. Gold, copper and silver were worked briefly in
an operation called the Chicago Mine in 1879-1881 in the
north 1/2 of sec. 22 (Cox, 2002). Other operations of this
same era and extent were in NE sec. 16, T44N R3W; NW sec.
6 T44N R5W, SE sec. 12 T45N R3W (Cox, 2002).