California is known all over the world for its rich mineral history and the plentiful gold rushes that led to its development over the years. It’s no wonder that the Smith River has become a hotbed for gold prospectors. This article outlines the history of gold activity on the pristine emerald waters of this river […]
Dutch Flat is considered one of California’s richest historic gold mining sites. For a time, this mine in Placer County was bustling with activity. The ground was heavily claimed and worked extensively for decades. The site is now very popular, sitting right alongside Interstate 80 on the pass between Sacramento and Reno. When gold was […]
This is where to California Gold Rush started. The gold deposits throughout El Dorado County were extensive and rich, attracting thousands of men to the goldfields. Gold was dug and stakes were claimed. The rivers were full of gold nuggets, but perhaps even richer were the ancient tertiary channels high above were even richer. Lode […]
The Sierra Nevada Mountains were abuzz with miners following the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill. The exceptionally rich gold deposits found in the creeks and rivers around Sutter’s Mill and Coloma attracted thousands and thousands of men. It wasn’t long until other exceptional gold strikes were made. One of the most important in all […]
San Francisco is now one of the most famous cities in the USA, but at one time it was just isolated little village on the bay. That all changed with the rise of the California Gold Rush, when thousands of men poured into California in search of the elusive yellow metal. San Francisco became the […]
The gold discoveries around Redding were easily overshadowed by other gold strikes in California, but that doesn’t mean they are any less significant. Yes indeed, there is still plenty of gold waiting to be found by hard working prospectors in the hills around Redding, California. There is a lot of open ground available for gold […]
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust In the 1850s, the same thoughts were likely echoing in the minds of prospectors on the Santa Catalina Island off the coast of California. During the California gold rush, these enterprising miners began quietly searching for […]
Gold prospecting is such an exciting as well as rewarding venture. In past centuries, the activity has huge impact on the lives of many people throughout the world. For most of us today, we prospect for gold as a recreational activity – a way to get out into nature. Then and now, the key to […]
As boom towns went, Bodie, California was a pretty slow starter. Gold was discovered north of Mono Lake in 1859, initially by four men who were subsequently joined by other prospectors. They only mined for a very short time until one of the miners, a W.S. Body, was killed in a surprise November blizzard. Although […]
It might be a surprise to some that there is gold in the Santa Ana Mountains. This is one of the most populated areas of the United States, and one generally doesn’t think of the big city when they are going out looking for gold. The best mining occurred southwest of Los Angeles near the […]
It’s no secret that California is one of the best states to prospect for gold. In fact, some would consider it the best place in the country to look for gold. In recent years there have been some frustrating restrictions on some mining methods, most notably suction dredging. This has hampered many prospectors ability to […]
The Eagle’s Nest Mine in California is famous for consistently producing high-grade crystalized gold. Much of the specimen crystalized gold sold in the United States has either come from the Eagle’s Nest Mine or the Round Mountain Gold Mine in Nevada. Before 1982, there were several claims in the Michigan Bluff mining district in Placer […]
With the continued ban on suction dredging, more and more claims are being dropped Several years ago, it was pretty challenging to find a place to prospect for gold in California. The gold price was at an all-time high, and it seemed that everyone was out in the field trying to get rich by mining […]
Quincy is a historic community of about 5,500 people located in central Plumas County. It is at the northern end of the famous California Mother Lode, which is one of the richest gold mining regions in the world. The town was established in 1854, a few years after the initial discovery of gold at Elizabethtown, […]
The California gold rush brought tenths of thousands of miners to California in 1948 and by 1950 there were prospectors on nearly every river in Northern California. Not long after the discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, miners began finding gold farther north in what later became Shasta, Trinity, and Siskiyou Counties. The […]
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