A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Greece, New Zealand, Brazil, Chile, South Africa, the United States, and Canada while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.
Big Bear Lake is a reservoir in the western United States, located in the San Bernardino Mountains in San Bernardino County, California. It is a snow and rain-fed lake, having no other means of tributaries or mechanical replenishment.
The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at 11,503 feet (3,506 m) at San Gorgonio Mountain – the tallest peak in Southern California. The San Bernardinos form a significant region of wilderness and are popular for hiking and skiing.
The Comstock Lode is a lode of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range in Virginia City, Nevada, which was the first major discovery of silver ore in the United States and named after American miner Henry Comstock.
The Otago Gold Rush was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago, New Zealand. This was the country's biggest gold strike, and led to a rapid influx of foreign miners to the area – many of them veterans of other hunts for the precious metal in California and Victoria, Australia. The number of miners reached its maximum of 18,000 in February 1864.
Located in Los Angeles County, California's San Gabriel Valley, the Boy Scouts of America's San Gabriel Valley Council (#40) was one of five councils serving Los Angeles County. It was headquartered in Pasadena.
California's involvement in the American Civil War included sending gold east to support the war effort, recruiting volunteer combat units to replace regular U.S. Army units sent east, in the area west of the Rocky Mountains, maintaining and building numerous camps and fortifications, suppressing secessionist activity and securing the New Mexico Territory against the Confederacy. The State of California did not send its units east, but many citizens traveled east and joined the Union Army there, some of whom became famous.
The Pacific coast theater of the American Civil War consists of major military operations in the United States on the Pacific Ocean and in the states and Territories west of the Continental Divide. The theater was encompassed by the Department of the Pacific that included the states of California, Oregon, and Nevada, the territories of Washington, Utah, and later Idaho.
Hart was a short-lived gold mining town located in the Mojave desert, in San Bernardino County, California. It existed between 1908 and 1915, and was located on the northeastern edge of Lanfair Valley near the New York Mountains. The area is now in the Castle Mountains National Monument, administered by the National Park Service.
Holcomb Valley, located in the San Bernardino Mountains about five miles north of Big Bear Lake, was the site of the most gold mines in Southern California. It was named after William F. Holcomb, who found gold there in 1860. That year started the largest gold rush in the Southern California region. The boomtown of Belleville grew up near there and flourished for about ten years before being abandoned. The site is now registered as California Historical Landmark #619.
Gold mining in Colorado, a state of the United States, has been an industry since 1858. It also played a key role in the establishment of the state of Colorado.
Quartz reef mining is a type of gold mining in "reefs" (veins) of quartz. Quartz is one of the most common minerals in the Earth's crust, and most quartz veins do not carry gold, but those that have gold are avidly hunted by prospectors. In the shallow, oxidized zones of quartz reef deposits, the gold occurs in its metallic state, and is easily recovered with simple equipment. Quartz reef mining played an important role in 19th century gold-mining districts such as Bendigo, Victoria in Australia, Central Otago in New Zealand, and the California mother lode.
Gold Hill in Grass Valley, California, was the site of one of the first discoveries of quartz gold in California. While quartz gold was also found in other areas of Nevada County, California during the same time, it is this find near Wolf Creek that led to quartz-mining frenzy and subsequent creation of the Gold Country quartz-mining industry. The location is honored as a California Historical Landmark.
The Salt Spring Hills are a low mountain range in the Mojave Desert, in northern San Bernardino County, California. They are just outside the southeastern corner of Death Valley National Park, southeast of the Saddle Peak Hills. The road between Shoshone and Baker passes through the hills.
William Francis "Grizzly Bill" Holcomb, was an American prospector and the first to discover gold in the region which became known as Holcomb Valley, near present-day Big Bear Lake, California. Holcomb Valley had the most gold of any Southern California field. The boomtown of Belleville grew up there and for a time was the third or fourth largest in Southern California. Holcomb was the first justice of the peace in Belleville and later was elected to county offices.
Birchville is a historic mining and agricultural community in Nevada County, California. Birchville is located about 10 miles northwest of Nevada City and about 2 miles northeast of French Corral. It is situated at an elevation of 1,765 ft (538 m) above sea level.
Little York is the name of one of the first gold mining towns established in Nevada County, California as well as the name of the township in which it was situated. The town was located on the Lowell Ridge between Steephollow Creek and the Bear River, about 13 miles east of Nevada City, California and about 1 mile southwest of Dutch Flat, California at an elevation of about 2800 feet.
William Robert "Bob" Holcomb was an American politician and attorney. Holcomb was the longest serving mayor of San Bernardino, California, to date. He held office as San Bernardino's mayor from 1971 until 1985, and returned to office again from 1989 until 1993. Holcomb has been widely credited with preserving the independence of the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District and its local water supply.
The Santa Fe And Salt Lake Trail Monument was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.576) on May 17, 1957. Santa Fe And Salt Lake Trail Monument marks the place two Historic trail merged in Cajon Pass in San Bernardino County, California. The Old Spanish Trail and the Mohave Trail-Mojave Road merged in Cajon Pass. The large white marker is just off the Interstate 15 in Cajon Pass, was U.S. Route 66 in the past. It was built by the Pioneer Society of San Bernardino to remember and honor the pioneers that came west. The marker is 12 feet tall and 7 feet square at the base. Cajon Pass was home to the Serrano Indian, Native Californians that lived in the nearby Atongaibit village, in what is now Hesperia.
Manchester was a mining town in the Los Burros Mining District in the southern Big Sur region of Monterey County, California from about 1875 to 1895. The town was reached by a 20 miles (32 km) road from King City to Jolon. From Jolon travelers could ride or take a stage or wagon to the Wagon Caves, followed by a difficult 14 miles (23 km) trail over the steep Santa Lucia Mountains to the site, about 4 miles (6.4 km) inland of Cape San Martin. Prospecting began in the area in the 1850s.
