You are hereImportant Events in the History of Gold in the Mother Lode
Important Events in the History of Gold in the Mother Lode
- It was in 1848 when a man named James Marshall found gold in the tailrace in John Sutter’s Mill.
- A nugget that weighed seventy-five pounds was found in Woods Creek, Sonora district, and a nugget that weighed twenty-five pounds was found in the Mokelumne River.
- President James Polk lets out the news about the richness of the gold fields to the world. (Dec. 5)
- In 1849 the gold rush started. A ship arrived to San Francisco with people seeking for gold. These people were the first 49ers. Lode mining started at the Mariposa Mine and gold production increased from $245,300 in 1848 to $10,151,300 approximately. Additionally a nugget that weighed three hundred and sixty ounces was found in Sullivan Creek in Toulumne County.
- George McKnight discovered a rich gold bearing quartz veins at Grass Valley on Gold Hill Ledge in 1850.
- A man named George D. Roberts discovers gold on Ophir Hill. This later developed into the site of the Empire Mine. (1850)
- A twenty-five pound gold nugget was also found at Downieville and miners started using Long Toms to work the gravels.
- The production of gold also increased to $41,273,106. Then the first ghost town came about.
- In 1851 the well-known Dame Shirley traveled with her husband to Rich Bar. A nugget that weighed 426 ounces was also found in the French Ravine.
- In 1852 the production of gold reached its highest point in California at $81,294,700. Hydraulic mining also started and the large scale of the mining of the buried river channels began at Forest Hill.
- In 1853 rich gold deposits were discovered in Columbia in Toulumne County. A number of the 49ers also left to the rush that was happening in Fraser River in British Columbia. The production of gold was at $67,613,480 by this time. A 283 ounce gold nugget was found in the digging site in Columbia.
- In 1854 the greatest amount of gold to ever be found in California was discovered at Carson Hill in Calaveras County; the mass of gold weighed 195 pounds. The production of gold at this time was at $69,433,930.
- In 1855 almost all of the rich surface deposits were exhausted. It was said that the gold rush was over however mining continued on for another hundred years. Another large nugget was found in the French Ravine in Sierra County that weighed 532 ounces. The production of gold at this time was at $55, 485,390.
- In 1859 in Magalia district, Butte County, the largest nugget to have ever been found was discovered; the Magalia nugget weighed 54 pounds. The Comstock Lode rush started and a great number of the 49ers join in. the production of gold continues to reduce and the total production at this time was of $45,846,600.
- In 1860 another large gold nugget is found in the French Ravine in Sierra County that weighed 93 ounces. An enormous nugget that weighed 1596 ounces was found in the Monumental mine in the Sierra City district. The production of gold continues decreasing to $44,095,160.
- In 1864 Mark Twain went to the Mother Lode country and the following year he wrote “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, this is when he became well known. The production of gold continued to reduce to $24,071,420.
- In 1869 three big gold nuggets were discovered. The first one was located at Remington Hill in Nevada County and weighed 107 ounces. The second one was found at the Little Grizzly Diggings in Sierra County and it also weighed 107 ounces. The third nugget was huge and weighed 1893 ounces and was found in the Monumental Mine in the Sierra City district. The production of gold reduces to $18,265,450.
- In 1879 a gold pocket of $300,000 is found at the Bonanza Mine in the Sonora area. Gold production increased a little bit at $19,626,650.
- n 1880 John Sutter passed away in Pennsylvania having lost his long gold battle. Hydraulic mining reached its highest point during this time as well. The production of gold increased to $20,030,760.
- In 1883 the production of gold increased to $24,316,870, which had been its highest level in twenty years.
- In 1884 the Sawyer Decision forced most of the hydraulic mines to close down. This caused the production of gold to drop to $13,600,000.
- In 1898 Bucket line dredges started to be used on the Feather River. The production of gold increased to $15,906,470.
- In 1922, 47 miners were trapped 4,000 feet underground by a fire in the Argonaut Gold Mine in the Jackson district.
- In 1929, which was the peak of post World War boom, the lowest point in gold production occurred since 1849 and was down to $8,526,703.
- In 1930 the Gold production started to increase due to the depression and because of the low operating costs. The production of gold during this time was at $9,451,160.
- In 1933 to 1935 the price of gold went up from $20.67 to $35 per fine ounce. This rise eventually ended up turning into a great increase in gold output and in much larger exploration activities. The production of gold was at $31,165,050.
- In 1940 the production of gold came to be close to $51 million. This was the most important yearly output since 1856. Thousands of miners were working in the quartz mines at Mojave, Grass Valley, Alleghany, Jackson, Sutter Creak, Nevada City Jamestown, and the French Gulch. There were a lot of active bucket-line dredges and dragline dredges that turned into main producers of placer gold. The production of gold was at $50,948,585.
- In 1942 World War II brought about an abrupt plunge in gold production. War Production Board Limitation Order L-208 that was issued on October 8, caused the old mines to be closed down. The production of gold decreased to $29,679,895.
- In 1945 Order L208 was lifted and some mines and dredges started operating again in January 1. A few of the bucket line dredges restarted operation, however only a small number of important lode mines at Grass Valley, Alleghany, and Sutter Creek were opened again. The gold mining industry was not able to recover its past status because of the increased production costs that occurred due to wartime inflation. The production of gold was at $5,177,830.
- In 1956 the mines of the Empire Star Mines Ltd., and Idaho-Maryland Mines, Inc., at Grass Valley were closed down. The production of gold mining concluded almost 106 years of operation in the area.
- In 1962 the last dredge of the Folsom field in Sacramento County was closed down after having operating for more than sixty years. One of the last active lode gold mines in California, the Sixteen-to-One in the Alleghany region, reduced operations.
- In 1964 the Brush Creek mines, which was a significant source of gold in the Alleghany district, Sierra County, stopped operating.
- In 1968 the last gold dredge that was operating in California at Hammonton was closed down. This caused the end of continued commercial gold mining in California. The production of gold was at $616,000.
- In 1968 the U.S. Treasury suspended purchases of newly minted gold. The price in the free market went up to $44 an ounce early in 1969, and in November if fell to $38.50 due to more stability in international currencies.
- In 1975 the government lifted the forty-year ban on private ownership of gold. This is when activity started again in the Mother Lode.