Fast Facts

Gold was discovered January 24, 1848 by James Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma. Gold was valued from $12.00 to $35.00 an ounce. At one point, eggs (if any) were $3.00 each; whiskey was $16.00 a bottle, pills were $10.00 each without advice, $100 with. California Highway 49 is the official Mother Lode trail of the 49'ers (the 1849'ers, that is!) Types of mining included panning, sluicing, hydraulicking, hardrock or quartz mining, and dredging.

The world's largest nugget, the "Welcome Stranger", weighing in at 200 pounds, was found in Australia in 1869 by two men whose cart got stuck in a muddy road and had to remove a "large rock" (of solid gold!) that was in their way. Oh, those annoying obstacles.... The world's second largest gold nugget, and California's largest, was found at Carson Hill in Calaveras County in 1854. It weighed in at 160 pounds. Three historic limestone caverns are located in Calaveras County: Moaning Caves in Vallecitos, Mercer Caverns at Murphys, and California Caverns at Cave City. Amador City is the smallest incorporated city in America. Historic D'Agostini's winery, in Shenandoah Valley near Plymouth, is the oldest in California. The Mariposa Gazette is the oldest California newspaper in continued publication. Hundreds of movies and television features about the Old West and the Gold Rush have been made in Tuolumne County, featuring the Railtown trains and the Sierra Railroad. Bret Harte and Mark Twain made Tuolumne and Calaveras counties famous with their stories. The deepest mines on the continent, the Kennedy and Argonaut mines at Jackson, produced more than half of the gold mined in the Mother Lode. Mining ceased there in 1958. Knight's Foundry in Sutter Creek is the only existing water-powered foundry anywhere. Gold Bug Mine in Placerville is the only municipally-owned hardrock mine in existence. Rare tours of quartz mining are available here.

GOLD RUSH COUNTIES:
MARIPOSA | TUOLUMNE | CALAVERAS | AMADOR | EL DORADO | PLACER | NEVADA | SIERRA

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