Anniversary of the CA Gold Rush -- Did your ancestors participate in this or earlier Gold Rushes?

c. 1846 NC Map showing "Gold Region"

Today is the anniversary of the start of the “Gold Rush.”

“James Marshall, a carpenter, discovered gold in the American river in California in 1848. The resulting 'gold rush' attracted approximately 300,000 people looking to make their fortune.” (This Week in History (PBS))

Did your ancestors seek their fortune by participating in the CA gold rush?  Share their story !

Some resources to learn more about this time period :

+ The Gold Rush (American Experiences, PBS)

+ Stake Your Claim In California Gold Rush Records (Archives.com, Ruth Lang)

+ Gold Rush (California State Library)

+ California Gold Rush (About.com, Kimberly, Powell)

+ California Gold Rush (Fold3.com)

+ Order without law? Property rights during the California gold rush (Karen Clay & Gavin Wright)

+ The Gold Rush: California Transformed

Note that CA was not the only state to have a gold rush.  In fact, North Carolina had a gold rush which took place much earlier followed by a Georgia gold rush.

Learn more about the gold rush in North Carolina via The History of Gold in North Carolina (UNC-TV). Access some of the records that survive for NC by searching the State Archives of North Carolina online catalog MARS for the term “gold mine.”

Are you aware of other gold rushes which occurred?  Where? When? What records might be extant?

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